Botched pit stop blows victory for Buhl

Buhl ran out of fuel one lap from the chequered flag when he was chasing race-leader Buddy Lazier in the closing stages of Sunday's Belterra Casino Indy 300.

Lazier was in front when the field pitted for the final time during a caution period on lap 160. This is when Buhl's pit crew made a mistake, which may have cost the team the race.

As Buhl pitted, crew chief John O'Gara - who also changes the right front tyre - signalled Buhl to leave the pits without realising the fuel nozzle was still engaged. As Buhl's car took off, the fuelman - Kevin Martin - tried to pull it out of the opening in the car. Buhl's departure unravelled the fuel hose and knocked the fuel tank over in the pits, spilling highly flammable methanol fuel in the pit. Roy McAdams, the vent man, got ran over by the left rear of Buhl's car, hitting his right leg.

Bill Weider, the tyre specialist, was hit by the fuel tank, but was uninjured.

"I screwed up," O'Gara said. "I was on the other side of the car and didn't see that they weren't done refuelling and I waved him out."

The most serious damage may have come to Buhl's hopes to win the race because he did not get enough fuel into the car to make it to chequered flag.

"I know we probably needed at least another gallon between second and first place," O'Gara said. "Robbie had a good car. It's just unfortunate."

When the green flag waved on lap 166, Buhl was in sixth place and with a lighter fuel load, was able to easily pass the cars in front of him. He blew by Hornish for fifth on lap 168 and passed Al Unser Jr. for fourth one lap later. On lap 172, he passed third-place Billy Boat and passed Sharp for second on lap 179.

From laps 182-189, Buhl and Lazier raced side-by-side around the entire race course as Buhl tried his best to make the pass for the lead. Finally, he went low in the third turn on lap 189 and passed Lazier for the lead at the start/finish line.

The two cars continued to battle until midway through the 199th lap when Buhl radioed to his crew that he was out of fuel. With no fuel hose or fuel tank to refuel the car, Buhl was forced to stay on the race course where he finally ran out of methanol and finished ninth, one lap down.

"They told me about the fuel rig problem while we were still under caution," Buhl said. "I was able to get by Buddy Lazier for the lead with seven laps to go before he got the lead back two laps later. I wish we could have had the last lap and a half. It would have been fun. I enjoyed it. It's fun racing.

"But when the car was starved for fuel, it was disbelief. That's how our year has been, whether it is one thing or another. We have an excellent team at Dreyer and Reinbold. We have to keep doing the same thing we are doing. This shows how competitive the IRL is. As this series grows, you will only see more close racing throughout the field."

Team owner Dennis Reinbold suffered another heartbreaking defeat after it appeared Buhl could finish in victory lane. Buhl won the first race ever for this team at Disney World in 2000, but since that time, the team has come close, but not finished in victory lane.

"We tried to anticipate when the fuel was in because every second counts," Reinbold said. "When you do that, he didn't have the hose all the way out. It stuck in and stretched and pulled the tank over. It's hard for John to see what is happening on that side of the car. He was anticipating pulling it out as quickly as possible. He had to get all the fuel in that he could.

Despite the pit problem, the team nearly recovered to win the race, but that obstacle ultimately cost the win because Buhl didn't get enough fuel.

"That's what I was thinking, I thought it would be a great way to overcome adversity and still finish on top," Reinbold said. "We didn't get that opportunity, unfortunately, today.

"If it wasn't easy, I wouldn't enjoy racing so much. In spite of what happened today, I still love it and we will fight harder next time."