Tony Stewart led 165 laps at New Hampshire before an electrical failure with 18 laps to go, and Scott Sharp inherited his first Indy car win.
Scott Sharp won after Tony Stewart's car failed with 18 laps to go, with Buzz Calkins second and Michele Alboreto third. The race was the IRL's opening round of 1996-1997, held on 18 August 1996 at New Hampshire.
The 1996 True Value 200 opened the 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season at New Hampshire. Tony Stewart dominated the race, passing Arie Luyendyk on Lap 15 and leading 165 laps, until an electrical failure with 18 laps to go ended his run. Scott Sharp inherited the lead and went on to score the first Indy car win of his career.
When and where was the True Value 200 run?
The race was held on 18 August 1996 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. The 1.703 km (1.058 mi) oval hosted the opening round, because the IRL had originally wanted every season to end at the Indianapolis 500.
CART had counter-scheduled its Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America on the same day, so the IRL field was made up of its regular runners and a handful of drivers who had raced elsewhere during the break.
A dominant run ended in the pits, and a veteran of the regular grind collected a first win from the back of the lead pack.
How had the season and the drivers prepared?
The 11-week hiatus between seasons gave some IRL drivers a chance to race elsewhere. Eliseo Salazar took part in four CART events with Dick Simon Racing, while Michel Jourdain Jr. raced at Detroit. Richie Hearn ran in Toronto, and Tony Stewart competed in four NASCAR events, scoring a top-ten finish in his Truck Series debut.
Sharp also won a sports-car race at Sonoma Raceway, in his second IMSA GT start of the year. Sharp was one of four regular IRL drivers who competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that summer, along with Michele Alboreto, Fermin Velez and Mark Dismore, and Dismore's car finished the race.
Pre-season testing had started at the new Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the IRL would hold its first race in September. Twenty drivers took part in a three-day test from 26 to 28 June, and Richie Hearn set an unofficial track record there of 222.359 mph. Dismore had signed on a permanent basis at Team Menard, replacing the late Scott Brayton.
Goodyear also ran private tests at New Hampshire on 8 to 10 July. Hearn crashed hard on the first day, but he was uninjured. An IRL open test planned for 23 to 25 July was called off after complaints from NASCAR drivers about the surface breaking up in a race two weeks earlier, so officials scheduled two days of testing for 14 and 15 August instead.
Who was in the field?
The entry list was released on 5 August, and it included a number of changes. Johnny Parsons was absent from the Blueprint No. 16 car, while Eddie Cheever bought his own car and formed a team. Stephan Gregoire left Hemelgarn Racing to drive for Team Scandia, subbing for Michel Jourdain Jr. in that race.
PDM Racing entered Tyce Carlson in a second car, and Scandia fielded a fourth car for Marco Greco. Tempero-Giuffre Racing entered sportscar driver Jon Field, and ABF Motorsports entered supermodified driver Mike Ordway. The series also confirmed that it would visit Pikes Peak International Raceway, another new oval, on 27 July 1997.
Testing before the weekend showed how tight the rules were for newcomers. After Carlson passed a refresher test, the same car went to Tim Connolly, a Whelen Modified driver who passed his own test, and to Ted Christopher, who ran out of time after three phases. Five other drivers were left waiting for their turn.
How did practice and qualifying unfold?
Richie Hearn led a rain-affected Friday morning practice at 175.335 mph, followed by Arie Luyendyk and Tony Stewart. In the afternoon Hearn was still the best, at 172.297 mph, ahead of Dismore and Stewart. Johnny Unser crashed in Turn 2 and travelled down the back straight without steering until he crashed again in Turn 3. The car was lost for the weekend, and Project Indy withdrew.
On Saturday morning Michele Alboreto jumped to the front with 173.364 mph, ahead of Stewart and Buddy Lazier. Brad Murphey crashed in Turn 2 and was left out of qualifying, while ABF Motorsports returned with Joe Gosek at the wheel of the No. 96.
Lazier set the early pace in qualifying at 172.664 mph, before Alboreto improved to 175.125 mph. Stewart, Dismore and Luyendyk fell short, but Hearn set the two fastest laps of the day. His best lap of 175.367 mph gave him his first Indy car pole. Luyendyk and Lazier made up the second row, and Dismore qualified fifth, a career-best result.
Eliseo Salazar took sixth and Stewart seventh. John Paul Jr. took eleventh in his 1993 Lola, and Tyce Carlson, who had only a single timed lap after missing his qualifying turn, started 16th, ahead of Davey Hamilton and Roberto Guerrero. The track record stood at 177.436 mph, held by Andre Ribeiro, which was about two miles per hour faster than Hearn's pole lap.
How did the race begin?
An estimated twenty-four thousand spectators watched Hearn keep the lead at the green flag, while Luyendyk passed Alboreto for second. The first caution came immediately, as Jim Guthrie lost control leaving Turn 4 because of a leak, and Robbie Buhl also found the wall at Turn 1 after losing grip.
Green flags returned on Lap 7, and Luyendyk went around Hearn in Turn 3 to take the lead. Stewart, who had started seventh, had already passed Salazar and a slow-starting Dismore before the restart, and he passed Lazier during the restart. He caught the leading trio on Lap 11 and took the lead on Lap 14 with help from traffic.
Stewart then began to pull away. By Lap 25 he led by 10 seconds, and by Lap 30 the margin had grown to 22 seconds. Sharp climbed into the top ten and ran eighth, while Hearn faded to fifth and Lazier passed Alboreto for third on Lap 29.
A second caution followed when Joe Gosek, running 17th, spun and crashed in Turn 4. Dismore spun exiting his pit box and was left facing backwards, and after damaging his clutch and running over an air hose, he was given a stop-and-go penalty and retired a few laps later.
How did the middle of the race play out?
Stewart's pace was too fast for anyone to match, and he simply kept building his advantage. Luyendyk's lead lasted only two laps after the restart, and by Lap 64 Lazier had passed Luyendyk for second. Three laps later the Indy 500 winner had Stewart in his mirrors and was told not to let him through.
On Lap 68, Stewart dived inside Lazier in Turn 3, and the two cars made contact that sent Lazier into the wall. Lazier was still recovering from back injuries picked up at Phoenix, and he was furious. He used profanities on the ABC broadcast and later apologised for them. Stewart's front wing was only cosmetically damaged.
The race restarted on Lap 77, and Stewart ran a lap of his own from Lap 81 after passing Hearn, the only top-ten driver who had not pitted. He lapped Alboreto on Lap 102, and Mike Groff took his place 13 laps later. With clouds gathering, Sharp closed on Luyendyk and then caught both of the leaders.
How did rain change the race?
Hearn had planned to pit on Lap 123, but a rain caution appeared seconds before he reached the pit entry, so he had to drive past the closed pits. He lost second place to Luyendyk as a result. One lap later a heavy shower brought out a 45-minute red flag.
At the restart on Lap 127, Sharp passed Hearn on track. Stewart continued his domination, lapping Hearn on Lap 144 and Sharp again on Lap 149. On Lap 152 Luyendyk developed problems with his right-front wheel and was out of the race for 30 laps, before returning in the final stages to score points. Hearn made an unscheduled stop on Lap 161 to clear debris from his radiator, and he later retired with an overheating engine.
How did Sharp inherit the win?
Stewart was comfortably heading for an undisputed victory, a few seconds from lapping the field a third time, and he was running consistently at about 165 mph. With 18 laps to go, while his team was preparing a final pit stop, an electrical failure struck as he came out of Turn 2. He pitted, but the car shut down in the pits, and every attempt to restart the engine failed.
Sharp inherited the lead with a 20-second gap over Mike Groff, and the other leaders had dropped out. He was nursing his car, because the team suspected they were short of fuel for the finish without another stop. Calkins got by Alboreto with nine laps left and kept him at bay to take second.
Who finished where at New Hampshire?
Sharp won, Calkins was second and Alboreto third. Groff fell to fourth after pitting for a splash of fuel with six laps to go, and Davey Hamilton finished fifth. Marco Greco took seventh, earning the first top-ten finish of his career.
| Finish | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Scott Sharp | First Indy car win, and first for a Lola in the IRL |
| Second | Buzz Calkins | Passed Alboreto with nine laps to go |
| Third | Michele Alboreto | Held off by Calkins late on |
| Fourth | Mike Groff | Pitted for a splash of fuel with six laps to go |
| Fifth | Davey Hamilton | First top-ten finish of his IRL career |
| Seventh | Marco Greco | First top-ten finish, from a Scandia entry |
| Retired | Tony Stewart | Led 165 laps before electrical failure with 18 laps to go |
| Retired | Richie Hearn | Pitted for debris and retired with overheating |
| Retired | Mark Dismore | Clutch damage from a pit-box spin, then retired |
What did the win mean for Foyt and the series?
The win was the first for Sharp at Indy car level, and it was also the first in the IRL for a Lola chassis on Goodyear tyres. It was the first win for A. J. Foyt's team since Foyt's own 1981 Pocono 500 victory as a driver, and only the second win for a Foyt driver after Jim McElreath's 1970 Ontario 500.
The race recorded five lead changes among four drivers. For Eddie Cheever, it was his first race as a driver-owner, and he ran as high as seventh before brakes and engine problems ruined his race. Eliseo Salazar lost several laps with fuel problems.
