Indy Champion Gives Lloyd, Gomez Gift of Brickyard Wisdom

Sam Schmidt Motorsports Drivers Getting Schooled at the Indy 500

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

What do you do when you’re on top and want to stay there?

According to Indy Pro Series championship points leader Alex Lloyd you keep your nose to the grindstone and work even harder than you did before.

Alex Lloyd. Photo: RonMcQueeneyIRL

Lloyd and teammate Logan Gomez of Sam Schmidt Motorsports were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first day of full practice on Tuesday (May 8th). They weren’t there to speed around the 2.5 mile oval in their Indy Pro Series cars, which won’t see the Brickyard again until May 24th practice and qualifications for the Freedom 100 on Carb Day (May 25th).

The two racers were spending a lovely May afternoon in a Gasoline Alley garage, and on pitlane, watching and listening as 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Lazier and the SSM crew were setting up their Dallara/Honda for Lazier’s attempt to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing for a second time.

Lloyd comes into the fourth race of the Indy Pro Series season with a sterling three for three record this year. He’ll be making a bid not only to start the 2007 IPS season four of four, but also to become the first man to win races on both the Indianapolis road course (he won the 2006 Liberty 100 contested during the US Grand Prix weekend) and on the oval track where the famous Indianapolis 500 is contested.

That feat would put him in a league unmatched by such legends as AJ Foyt, Rick Mears and even Michael Schumacher!

Sam Schmidt Motorsports Racers Quick in Indy Open Test Last Month

Both Lloyd and Gomez come out of the recent (April 27th-28th) Open Test at the Speedway with a general idea of how they want to run their races on Carb Day. They both were extremely quick at Indy, placing first and fourth respectively on the timesheets over the two-day practice. For Gomez, it was a remarkably good effort given that he’d never driven on the Brickyard prior to the encounter last month.

SSM Drivers Multimedia Slideshow. Click on Photo to Start. Produced by: AllanBrewer

Lloyd followed with a fast showing at Milwaukee in private testing the following week, besting the other Indy Pro Series racers gathered to get a taste of the IndyCar machines during a “bonus” testing day for teams.

On Tuesday, however, Alex and Logan were looking to learn how a former 500 winner goes about his business on the most famous super-speedway in the world.

“He’s already given us a few little tips and hints about how to race on this track, and in this race,” said Lloyd. “I plan to go up on top and see what Buddy’s doing, see what I can learn. I can then hopefully transfer that to the Freedom 100, and put that to good use in my race.”

“I can add a little bit from what we learned in the Open Test, and put it together with what I’ve learned from guys who’ve won here before,” he continued, “and put that into the Indy Pro Series car and find the best way to go ahead.”

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The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Freedom 100 on May 25th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast as part of ESPN2’s coverage of Carb Day at 4PM EDT on May 25th.