By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

American pilot Michael Goulian of Massachusetts fought back tears twice Sunday after an emotional triumph in the third annual Red Bull Air Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Goulian not only won his second air race of the season but vaulted from third place to take a slim lead in the world championship with one event remaining at Texas World Speedway Nov. 17 and 18.

The 50-year-old pilot began tearing up during the winner’s interview and when he stood on the podium during the national anthem. He becomes the first American in 10 years to win a Red Bull Air Race in the United States.

“Right now, the season (championship) doesn’t even mean anything – to win at Indy is amazing,” Goulian said before kissing the bricks. “Sometimes the day just works out for you and today did.”

He said he grew up watching the Indianapolis 500 on TV with his dad and began flying at 15 years. The pilot recalled that many 500 drivers were his idols.

“It still feels like a dream,” Goulian said. “I kept wondering how I ever got to this point in my life, doing something that I never dreamed of when I started flying and to win here.”

Goulian was edged by Canadian Pete McLeod in the first heat but advanced by posting the fastest time among the seven pilots who lost heat races. He was faster than Cristian Bolton in the Fast Eight. Flying an Edge 540 V2 aerobatic airplane, Goulian (1 minute, 6.208 seconds) then edged McLeod (1:06.736) in the final four by a halfsecond. 

A crowd of 40,000 watched pilots reach speeds of 230 mph, endure 10G forces and fly between 80-foot-high air-filled pylons. The point chase tightened dramatically in the first round when slowest qualifier Kirby Chambliss of Texas outed points leader Martin Sonka of Czechoslovakia by 1.32 seconds.

Chambliss, the last American pilot to win in the United States in 2008 over Detroit, erred in his second run.

“Winning is any pilot’s most difficult maneuver anywhere,” Chambliss said. “I love racing here because of the history of the track. For me, being here to race is always significant.” Retired four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt served as grand marshal.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

Whiteland Raceway Park’s new owners, husband and wife Andy O’Gara and Sarah Fisher, have not wasted time in making improvements to the outdoor karting track and facilities. O’Gara, a Beech Grove native, and Fisher, who live in Franklin Township, bought the track with Wink Hartman, a Midwest oil company owner, last month and held the first practice for karting enthusiast Saturday and Sunday.

They bought the track from longtime Mike Swails on short notice after learning that it would be torn down The facility features a nine-turn road course with a high-banked wall and oval where Andy and younger brother Kyle O’Gara, a developmental drive for Sarah Fisher Racing, began racing karts owned by father John O’Gara, former IndyCar team manager.

“When Andy called to tell me that Mike had offered us the purchase of WRP, we immediately agreed to work through the details of the renovation effort,” Fisher stated in a news release.

The renovation began immediately with ridding the grounds of weeds, moving the property and resealing the oval and road course and entrance. Open practices will be from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. the next two Sundays. Fisher and Hartman formerly owned Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series from 2008-14.

The first racing program under new ownership is Saturday, Oct. 13, for karts with practice at 4 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m. The owners are planning a vintage midget car and IndyCar displays, autographs with IndyCar drivers and a $1,000 kart feature winner’s prize. They are hopeful of rescheduling another event Oct. 20 or Nov. 3.

“First and foremost, please know that our ultimate goal is to restore Whiteland Raceway Park to its former glory,” the new owners said in a joint statement. “We want to preserve the history and heritage of WRP while bringing new life to the facility.”

A grand opening will be held in 2019 with plans for quarter-midget racing on the oval and to have rental karts. Upgrading rest rooms and lighting is a priority. Future improvements also call for a new banked wall, repairs to fences, bleachers and flag stand, new picnic tables, parking lot expansion, new electronic timing system and in-ground roll-on kart scaling system plus sales of kart apparel and parts.

The facility opened in 1958 and is considered the oldest kart track in the United States. It is located at 654 N. Front St., between Tracy and Whiteland roads, in Whiteland. O’Gara and Fisher also own Speedway Indoor Karting. For updates visit www.racewrp.com or call 317-800-1648.

Pit notes
• Southsider Mark Tunny outraced Mark Hadley of Greenwood for first place and $20,000 in the rain-delayed 42nd running of the World Figure-8 three-hour championship last month. Tunny completed 396 laps and edged Hadley, last year’s winner, by three-quarters of second. Hadley led Laps 244-272, but Tunny passed him in slower traffic for his second World Figure-8 title.
• South Bend’s Ryan Newman has signed with Roush Fenway Racing to drive the No. 6 Ford in the 2019 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.

The car has been driven by Trevor Bayne and Matt Kenseth this season. Newman has 18 career Cup wins, including a Brickyard 400 triumph. He wraps up a five-year tenure with team owner Richard Childress. The Cup series continues Sunday at Dover, Del.