Lost in the shuffle of a torrid points race are the disappointing seasons suffered by three IRL drivers this year.

No one would blame this trio if they're counting the days to the end of the year.

Jaques Lazier

	J. Lazier

When Jaques Lazier started his 2002 campaign, both he and his Team Menard outfit were sky high with optimism. Lazier thrilled fans with a wheel-rubbing chase to the Yamaha 400 checkered flag at California Speedway that saw him finish second, just inches behind Sam Hornish Jr.

"I'll tell you what, I'm really happy that we came through at the end. We had some struggles throughout the race," Lazier said.

The California resident ran his car out of fuel near the halfway mark of the race, only to draft his way back to the front.

"We just continued to fight all day long," Lazier said. "Here we are in second place on the podium. I'm just incredibly excited to be a part of the Johns Manville team."

That excitement turned to depression when Lazier fractured his back several weeks later at Nazareth, Pa. From that point forward, Team Menard needed to install a revolving door at its shop to accommodate its rotating roster of drivers.

P.J. Jones never got to run a race, Raul Boesel underachieved and Mark Dismore got the axe after the Michigan 400. Rookie Vitor Meira stepped in and has done well for a rookie, but not well enough when measured by the team's history. Certainly not as well as Lazier showed at the season's outset.

Greg Ray

	Ray

Greg Ray had what he thought was a golden opportunity. During the offseason, he was named to replace Dismore at Kelley Racing. Part of the deal included the hiring of his long-time engineering mentor Thomas Knapp.

Most figured the reunion would result in a return to Victory Lane for the former IRL champ. Instead, it started both down a long road that yielded little more than an assortment of crew and driver uniforms.

After testing at Homestead, Fla., less than a week before the start of the season, Ray learned his ride was going to Al Unser Jr. No one is certain what precipitated the decision beyond Unser's union with sponsor Corteco, but Unser moved to Kelley and Ray moved to the sidelines.

Then, the Plano, Texas, native announced his enlistment with fellow Texan A.J. Foyt. Foyt lost the services (and Banco Chile money) of Eliseo Salazar when the Chilean crashed testing for the Indy 500.

Knapp followed Ray to Foyt, but the magic failed to materialize. Knapp exited and then, at Nashville, Salazar returned, bloating Foyt's team to a three-car operation. Ray's decision to vacate Foyt for the last two events of the year threatens to leave him winless for the first time since 1998.

"Aside from leading 41 laps at Richmond earlier this year, it's obvious that our overall performance has not met our expectations -- neither mine, nor those of my team at Foyt Racing," Ray said.

Ray has signed with Sam Schmidt for the remainder of 2002, but his future beyond that is undecided. A return to Foyt isn't out of the question.

Buddy Lazier

	B. Lazier

Finally, 2002 must be a season Buddy Lazier would like to forget. Lazier and his Hemelgarn team have led just one race (Kentucky for three laps) and has only one top-five finish (third -- also at Kentucky) to their credit.

This, in a season where almost every member of the operation returned from a 2001 campaign that included four wins, seven top-fives and 438 laps led.

It would be easy to say Lazier's dip in performance is due in part to the increased competition in the IRL. But Lazier's setbacks have been freakish in nature (remember the pit fire at Richmond?), engine-related (he's been running at the end of just eight races) and accident riddled (three crashes).

The prospects of Lazier righting his season are not promising if you look at his 2001 stats for the last two races. He finished 11th at Chicagoland and 17th at Texas last year.

Still, as long as there are races left, Lazier and Ray can end their seasons on a high note. For Jaques Lazier, however, it's "wait till next year."