Football
Associated Press 19y

Rice enjoys time in spotlight

INDIANAPOLIS -- Buddy Rice isn't awed yet by his stardom. An appearance on Letterman's show? Well, that's another story.

At the moment his car's front wheels crossed the strip of bricks
at the end of the rain-shortened Indianapolis 500 a year ago,
Rice's life changed forever. Now, no matter what he does or where
he goes, no matter how many other races or championships he wins,
he always will be defined by his victory at Indianapolis.

"I don't think you'll understand the true repercussions of what
the 500 does for you until years down the road,'' Rice said this
week before the start of practice for the May 29 race. "I do more
interviews, obviously, that's the biggest thing. For that whole
year, there was a lot of media.''

Rice went on a media tour immediately after the 2004 race and
made a second TV appearance in March with his boss, team co-owner
David Letterman, where he read a Top 10 list of reasons he loves
racing ("When the car's going well, I purr like a kitten'' was one
of them).

He cracked up at rehearsal.

"They gave me the list, and I said I wasn't going to say that.
Then Dave called, and it was pretty funny,'' Rice said. "Between
us and the writers, it was comedy hour the whole time. We could
hardly get through it.''

On the race track, the victory brought instant respect and
credibility. The 29-year-old driver's image is now engraved on the
silver Borg-Warner Trophy, one of the most prestigious prizes in
sports, along with every other winner in the 88-year history of the
500.

"Certain events have that aura about them, and the Indianapolis
500 is like that,'' said two-time winner Arie Luyendyk. "You
compete against the same people week in, week out on other race
tracks, but when you beat them at Indy, it's more special.''

Johnny Rutherford won at Indianapolis three times.

"You win one of these races and suddenly you're [always] an
Indy 500 winner,'' Rutherford said. "You don't buy tradition, you
build it. The Indianapolis 500 is a great American tradition.''

Rice first came to Indianapolis as a rookie with Cheever Racing
in 2003, when he finished 11th. He drove in 12 other races that
season, including four top-10 finishes, and left Cheever for Rahal
the next season as a replacement for injured driver Kenny Brack.

"The full-time ride was already a locked-in deal,'' he said.
"The question was whether Kenny was going to come back and whether
they were going to run a second or third car for him or not.''

Brack, who won the Indy 500 in 1997, was seriously injured in a
crash in the final race of the 2003 season and still has not
returned.

For Rice, everything went right last year at Indianapolis. He
won the pole position, led 91 laps and was in front when the race
was halted by rain with 20 laps to go. He earned four other poles
and two more wins last season to finish third in the IndyCar Series points.

"Obviously, you knew fairly early on I was in for the full
season, but still we had a lot of make-up to do and things to take
care of,'' Rice said. "Finally, by the 500, everything had come
together for us and that got the ball rolling for us, and that
helped us chase to third in the championship.''

This month didn't get off to the same kind of start.

Wednesday's practice session ended quickly when Rice lost
control in the second turn, backed hard into the outside wall, then
spun about 4½ times before his smoking, mangled No. 15 car rolled
across the 2½-mile oval track and stopped.

Rice sat in the car for several minutes before track workers
helped him out. Although he walked away from the crash, he still
went to a hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a severe back
bruise and concussion. He will not be cleared to drive until at
least next week, meaning he's likely to miss this weekend's
qualifying for the pole and would start near the back of the 33-car
grid.

The crash seemed to typify a season that hasn't gone as planned.

Through four races this year, he's 11th in the standings after a
season-best third at Motegi, Japan.

"We haven't started off exactly how we wanted to, but I think
there's plenty of time right now to make up the ground and do what
we have to do this year,'' he said.

His Rahal Letterman teammates are veteran Vitor Meira and rookie
Danica Patrick, who is trying to become the fourth female driver at
Indianapolis.

"Last year, all three of our drivers were new to us,'' team
owner Bobby Rahal said. "Here we are a year later, two of them
have been with us a year and we have a lot more experience with the
car, a lot more experience with the drivers. I think maybe we're in
a little stronger position in some respects than we were last
year.''

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