Veteran Guerrero grabs late deal

Guerrero finished second in his rookie season to race winner Rick Mears in the 1984 Indy 500, was third the following year, fourth in 1986 and was leading the race by nearly a lap in 1987. Guerrero then stalled the car on his final pit stop and by the time it refired, Al Unser was in the lead and went on to win his fourth Indianapolis 500.

Later that season, Guerrero was testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he slammed hard into the second turn wall. The driver from Colombia was in a coma for 21 days. He recovered and returned to racing, but he was never the same afterwards. He did achieve some success, such as winning the pole for the 1992 Indianapolis 500 only to spin out and crash on the backstretch on the pace lap.

Since that time, Guerrero has been a tragic figure in auto racing, but he refused to give up. He arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this week without a ride, but he struck a deal with team owner A.J. Foyt late Thursday night.

Guerrero is a veteran of 15 Indianapolis 500s. He took to the track late Friday in Foyt's car, which is co-entered by Kenny Brack, the defending Indianapolis 500 winner who cannot compete in the race this year because he is a member of Team Rahal in CART. Guerrero's fastest lap was 219.227 miles per hour in a G Force/Oldsmobile Aurora.

'It was awesome,' Guerrero said. 'I was a little itchy to get back in the car but after a couple of laps it felt really comfortable like I had been here practising for three weeks. That is a credit to the set-up of the car. From the fifth lap on I was wide open. A.J. wouldn't trim it out more because he wanted me to just get some laps today. I'm on cloud nine."

Foyt will be assisted by Jeff Sinden and Joe Kennedy, who had hoped to field a car in this year's Indianapolis 500 for rookie Guy Smith but the financing for the team did not materialise.

'Roberto has always been quick here and he has a lot of laps here so when I found out he was looking for a ride, I decided to put him in my third car,' Foyt said. 'I've hired Jeff and Joe to run the car. We've worked together the past couple of years it seems and they have done a good job for me. They bring in some of their own people so it doesn't stress my regular crew who can focus on Eliseo Salazar and Jeff Ward.'