Unser’s Daughter Inspires a Victory

Stuck in a winless slump, Al Unser Jr. got some inspiration from his ailing daughter to keep racing.

It paid off Saturday when Unser ended a five-year victory drought by winning the Vegas Indy 300 at Las Vegas.

“Cody never gives up, and that’s what it’s all about,” Unser said. “She inspires me.”

Unser dedicated the win to his 13-year-old daughter, who has been paralyzed since February 1999 with a rare neurological infection in her spinal cord.

Unser, competing in only his third Indy Racing League race, led the last 20 laps to win an Indy-car race for the first time since 1995.

Unser, who was running second when leader Scott Goodyear’s engine failed with 20 laps to go, finished 12.531 seconds ahead of pole sitter Mark Dismore.

It was the final IRL race before the Indianapolis 500 next month, a race Unser has won twice.

“You just carry this momentum into the month of May,” Unser said.

Unser won in his backup car, which he qualified at the last minute Friday after his primary car ran 17 mph slower than Dismore.

He started in the 11th row, then gradually worked his way up as a variety of mishaps took cars in front of him out of the race.

Dismore last led on lap 155 and appeared to have the dominant car, but a decision to make a pit stop while the race was under a green flag cost him the lead and he never recovered.

“We were rolling the dice,” Dismore said. “If it had worked we would have been heroes.”

Unser and Dismore were the only two cars on the lead lap when the checkered flag came down in front of a sparse crowd at the Las Vegas Speedway.

Sam Hornish Jr. finished third, followed by Jeret Schroeder and Robbie Buhl.

Dismore led 90 of the 208 laps, but it was Unser who was in position when Goodyear’s engine began smoking and Unser passed him on the 188th lap.

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Andy Houston passed Dennis Setzer on the final lap to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Line-X 225 on Saturday at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway.

Houston, who overcame a fifth-lap altercation with points leader Mike Wallace, dove to the inside of Setzer in the first turn of the 73rd and final lap and drove away to a 1.616-second victory.

“In all honesty, I didn’t have a plan,” Houston said. “I was waiting for him [Setzer] to slip. I took him all the way to the curb in Turn 1. If I was trying to hold off a guy for the win, I’d do that too. It was a great day.”

Jack Sprague finished third, followed by Wallace, Rick Crawford, Jimmy Hensley and Bryan Reffner.

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Rubens Barrichello knew his Formula One career was headed nowhere unless he found himself a good ride.

Now, he has one of the best, and hopes to parlay the third pole of his career into his first victory today in the British Grand Prix.

“I’m pleased for the way things are going for me,” Barrichello said after getting around the 3.194-mile Silverstone, England, road course in 1 minute, 25.703 seconds--a speed of 134.17 mph. “It’s really the first chance I’ve had in a competitive car to go on a track that I know.”

The Brazilian should be happy even though he’s winless in 116 races over eight seasons. This is his first with the vaunted Ferrari team.

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It was a night for first-time winners as James Weston and Dave Hessing split victories in the NASCAR Late Model Twin “40s” before 4,988 at Irwindale Speedway.

Hessing, of Canyon Country, passed Todd Burns on the 38th lap of the first of the 40-lap races. Burns, of Riverside, lost control of his car coming out of Turn 4, eventually colliding with Steve Nickolai. The race was called after 38 laps.

In the second 40-lap race, Weston, of Goleta, got past pole sitter Mike Haney on the first lap and never was pressured as he won going away.

In the 40-lap NASCAR Super Stock race, T.K. Karvasek of North Hills led for the first 38 laps, lost the lead to Jeff Green on lap 39, but got it back on the final lap to win.

J.J. Ercse of Lakewood grabbed the lead on the 10th lap then won the 20-lap USAC Western States Three-Quarter Midget race. Bob Reed of Riverside won the 25-lap NASCAR Mini Stock race.