1996 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World

1996 Walt Disney World

Race details
1st round of the 1996 Indy Racing League season
Date	January 27, 1996
Official name	Indy 200 at Walt Disney World
Location	Walt Disney World Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.000 mi / 1.609 km
Distance	200 laps 200.000 mi / 321.869 km
Weather	Dry with temperatures reaching up to 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Buddy Lazier ( Hemelgarn Racing)
Time	19.847
Fastest lap
Driver	Buzz Calkins ( Bradley Motorsports)
Time	20.954 (on lap 188 of 200)
Podium
First	Buzz Calkins ( Bradley Motorsports)
Second	Tony Stewart ( Team Menard)
Third	Robbie Buhl ( Beck Motorsports)

The 1996 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World was the first round of the 1996 Indy Racing League.^[2] The race was held on January 27, 1996 at the 1.000 mi (1.609 km) Walt Disney World Speedway in Bay Lake, Florida.

Report

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Name	Lap 1	Lap 2	Best (in mph)
1	91	Buddy Lazier	20.011	19.847	181.388
2	21	Roberto Guerrero	20.516	20.210	178.310
3	35	Arie Luyendyk	20.810	20.305	177.296
4	41	Scott Sharp	20.524	20.430	176.211
5	12	Buzz Calkins R	20.751	20.517	175.464
6	14	Davey Hamilton R	21.072	20.537	175.293
7	20	Tony Stewart R	20.891	20.624	174.554
8	17	Stan Wattles R	21.118	20.752	173.477
9	9	Stephan Gregoire R	20.994	20.780	173.244
10	2	Scott Brayton	20.863	20.787	173.185
11	90	Lyn St. James	21.186	21.039	171.111
12	11	Mike Groff	21.209	21.095	170.657
13	54	Robbie Buhl	21.535	21.107	170.560
14	33	Michele Alboreto R	21.360	21.121	170.446
15	75	Johnny O'Connell R	21.695	21.462	167.738
16	18	John Paul, Jr.	22.466	Waved off	160.242
17	16	Johnny Parsons	23.832	23.451	153.512
18	25	David Kudrave	25.325	24.598	146.353
19	4	Richie Hearn† R	20.062	19.900	180.905
20	3	Eddie Cheever†	20.703	20.812	173.888

• † Hearn and Cheever had to change to a backup car for the race, following a crash in a practice session after qualifying.

Failed to qualify or withdrew

• Eliseo Salazar - for Team Scandia - Crashed in practice and was hospitalized with a leg injury.
• Rick DeLorto R for Delorto Motorsports - Too slow - did not complete drivers test and was not allowed to qualify.
• Bill Tempero for Tempero-Giuffre Racing - Too slow - did not complete drivers test - not allowed to qualify
• Butch Brickell R for Brickell Racing - Broke two vertebrae in a pre-season test crash on January 13.
• Jim Buick for O'Brien Motorsports - Did not participated in drivers test and was not allowed to qualify.

Race

Indycar rookies Tony Stewart and Buzz Calkins emerged as race leaders most of the afternoon, while former CART veterans Eddie Cheever, Scott Brayton, Arie Luyendyk, and Buddy Lazier all fell by the wayside. On lap 189, Scott Sharp and Eddie Cheever tangled and crashed in turn one, which set up a restart with 6 laps to go. Calkins and Stewart restarted together nose-to-tail, and Calkins held off the challenge to win by 0.886 seconds.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	12	Buzz Calkins R	Bradley Motorsports	200	1:33:30.748	5	130	35
2	20	Tony Stewart R	Team Menard	200	+ 0.886	7	37	33
3	54	Robbie Buhl	Beck Motorsports	198	+ 2 laps	13	1	32
4	33	Michele Alboreto R	Team Scandia	198	+ 2 laps	14	0	31
5	21	Roberto Guerrero	Pagan Racing	197	+ 3 laps	2	0	30
6	11	Mike Groff	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	195	+ 5 laps	12	0	29
7	75	Johnny O'Connell R	Cunningham Racing	195	+ 5 laps	15	0	28
8	90	Lyn St. James	Team Scandia	192	+ 8 laps	11	0	27
9	18	John Paul, Jr.	PDM Racing	190	+ 10 laps	16	0	26
10	3	Eddie Cheever	Team Menard	184	Accident T1	20	0	25
11	41	Scott Sharp	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	184	Accident T1	4	0	24
12	14	Davey Hamilton R	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	173	Accident T2	6	2	23
13	17	Stan Wattles R	Leigh Miller Racing	144	Accident T2	8	2	22
14	5	Arie Luyendyk	Byrd-Treadway Racing	132	Gearbox	3	0	21
15	2	Scott Brayton	Team Menard	105	Handling	10	0	20
16	9	Stephan Gregoire R	Hemelgarn Racing	69	Gearbox	9	0	19
17	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	61	Brakes	1	28	18
18	16	Johnny Parsons	Blueprint Racing	45	Suspension	17	0	17
19	4	Richie Hearn R	Della Penna Motorsports	17	Accident T2	19	0	16
20	25	David Kudrave	Tempero-Giuffre Racing	4	Transmission	18	0	15

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Buzz Calkins 35 2 Tony Stewart 33 3 Robbie Buhl 32 4 Michele Alboreto 31 5 Roberto Guerrero 30 Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings. References ↑ "1996 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-10-26.  ↑ Siano, Joseph (January 27, 1996). "Camaraderie Is Watchword On Eve of First Indy 200". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-01.  External links IndyCar official website www.indy200.com at Internet Archive Wayback Machine Walt Disney World Speedway IRL IndyCar races 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Previous race: None IndyCar Series 1996 season Next race: 1996 Dura Lube 200 Previous race: None 1996 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Next race: 1997 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World