Ward

INDIANAPOLIS -- With such a deep and fast field, many Indy 500 observers have maintained that just about any car in the lineup is capable of finding Victory Lane. Even with so many "favorites," there are some strong drivers who have been somewhat overlooked.

Take Jeff Ward. Even before landing one of the best rides in the biz when he signed with Chip Ganassi before the start of the 2002 IRL season, Ward had scored three top-four finishes in five Indy 500 runs, including finishing second behind Kenny Brack in 1999. Until last season, when mechanical problems forced Ward into the pits and ultimately caused him to finish 32 laps down, Ward had completed 794 of 800 possible laps in his first four Indy appearances, including leading a total of 52 laps.

And that track record at Indy certainly had something to do with Ganassi's decision to sign Ward when the owner expanded his operation to include an IRL car.

"Jeff has a great record here at Indianapolis. I think Jeff's a sleeper (for Sunday)," said Ganassi, who owns the CART teams of Brack and pole sitter Bruno Junqueira, both of whom are running at Indy on Sunday. "He's done everything I expect of him. Great racer, a great qualifier. Solid. Mature. Nothing fancy. Gets the job done. A racer from head to toes.

"He's a great guy. I love having him around. He and I get along great. I think he has a big future in this sport and probably with this team."

Ganassi didn't have to look long before choosing Ward.

"He was on (the short list of) two or three names."

After four races this season, Ward sits 11th in IRL points. He led 29 laps in the season opener at Homestead en route to a fourth-place finish. He managed a 10th-place finish at Fontana, but an accident at Phoenix and engine problems at Nazareth hurt him in the points.

But based on the first four races, Ward is confident about his prospects for Sunday and the rest of the season.

"We're going to win some races," said the 40-year-old, who will start 15th. Ward has started in the top-10 at Indy in three of his five previous starts. "We've had a car to win the first four races we've run and we've just got caught up in some guy's mess at Phoenix and a motor blew at Nazareth and we had a car problem at California and we were running good at Miami. We had the fastest race laps down there.

"So we have a car to win, we have a team to win. It's going to happen. Hopefully here will be the first one."

Luck has been in short supply for Ward and his No. 9 car this season, and he knows he'll need some on Sunday if he hopes to score his first Indy 500 victory. After all, anything less than a win means failing to reach your goal.

"This race is different than any other race. The disappointment here is not winning because the month is so long and the preparation. But all of us know there's only going to be one of those guys, so it's tough," said Ward. "I've been here six times and been up there quite a few times. (A.J.) Foyt ran here, what, 30 times and only won four times (in 1961, '64, '67 and '77). The odds are ... you would have thought if he ran 35 times here he'd have won more than four times, but that's how hard this place is to win. There's so much luck involved. He was good enough to win every race, but he was only lucky enough to win it four times."

Foyt, who owns two cars entered in this year's 500, made 35 Indy 500 starts and shares the all-time record of four race victories with Rick Mears and Al Unser. Foyt's 555 laps led places him fourth all-time.

"That's what this race is -- you have to be lucky enough to win it. Like (Foyt) says, you've got to be lucky then good. That's what I want to be at the end of the race is lucky. You took at the talent to get there and then the luck comes in with yellows and whether your car finishes or if someone gets in the way. That's where we need to be at the end -- just catch the break."

Despite being in search of luck, Ward isn't about to become superstitious.

"Nothing bothers me. I wouldn't want to have any (superstitions or pre-race rituals) because then I'd have to worry about all that stuff in order to race good. The only superstitions I have is when I'm out there on the track -- I just deal with what I get, that's all I can do."

Redon ready

	Redon

Of this year's Indy 500 rookie class, names like Kanaan, Franchitti, Scheckter and Papis get the most mention. But also part of the group is Laurent Redon, who will start 16th on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Frenchman is quietly leading the IRL rookie class in points and is seventh overall in the points standings. The former F1 test driver and Formula 3 champion finished a career-best third at Fontana earlier this season, accounting for 35 of his 81 points. He also has three top-10 starts and only one DNF.

With only mediocre finishes in the three races outside of Fontana, Redon, who drives an Infiniti engine, hasn't gotten the amount of attention of a Tomas Scheckter, who drives for a higher-profile Team Cheever and has been suspended once this season for overly-aggressive driving. But Redon isn't concerned about turning heads ... yet.

"My goal is to have a good season and at the end of the season to be the rookie (of the year), so attention would come at that time and I understand that," said Redon. "Now we're just in the middle of the season, and it means nothing in the middle of the season, so that's normal and I have no problem with that. I just want to have a good race."

The Infiniti engines, also used by Eddie Cheever's three cars, Robbie Buhl, Sarah Fisher and Shigeaki Hattori, have been said to have more horsepower than their Chevrolet counterparts. But the engines' reliability in longer races has been brought into question, especially after Cheever, Buhl and Hattori each suffered blown engines relatively late in races.

But Redon isn't worried about the engine not lasting the full 500 miles.

"I'm pretty sure the engine is getting stronger now. In my opinion, it's the best engine right now," said Redon, who also made two IRL starts at the end of 2001 before officially beginning his rookie campaign this season. "We had problems at the beginning of the year. Now I think they found the problem and resolved it because there are five or six cars with Infinitis here testing for weeks and we didn't have any problems, so I believe now that they've fixed the problems, so we'll be strong."

Strong enough to win?

"It's the 500. Everybody can win, I think. I'm going for (the win), but if by the end we are in the top-5, I'll be happy."

Sunday's final result will certainly play a role in forming Redon's opinion of his first Indy experience, but so far so good.

"It's nice (to be here). The weather's getting better -- that helps. I'm very happy to be here and I hope to stay in America a long time."