Lazier Partners Racing adds Cripps for Indy 500

[Source: Lazier Partners Racing press release]

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INDIANAPOLIS (May 6, 2014) – In February, engineer David Cripps was at the Sochi Olympics helping the United States earn four medals in men’s and women’s bobsled completion, but now he is back where he is most comfortable – the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Lazier Partners Racing (LPR) co-owner Bob Lazier announced today that Cripps will be the lead engineer for the team’s No. 91 University of Iowa Stephen A. Wynn Institute for Vision Research Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone car in this year’s Indianapolis 500. The car will be driven by 1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier.

As the U.S. Bobsled team’s technical director in Sochi, Cripps’ job was to make the team’s sleds as fast as possible. His job with LPR is no different, and few know how to make a Verizon IndyCar Series car as slippery and fast at the Speedway better than Cripps. His record in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race is eye-opening.

On four occasions, drivers in cars engineered by Cripps have won the coveted Rookie of the Year award for the Indianapolis 500. And though he has not sipped milk in victory lane yet, Cripps has been the engineer on five cars that have finished the Greatest Spectacle in Racing in second place.

LPR will be attempting to qualify for its second consecutive race with Vail, Colo.’s Lazier driving. Lazier, in addition to winning Indy in 1996, is the 2000 Verizon IndyCar Series champion.

This year’s Indianapolis 500 will be Lazier’s 18^th start in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. In addition to his 1996 Indy 500 win, Lazier has finished second twice (1998 & 2000), fourth (1997) and fifth (2005).

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As Lazier Partners Racing continues to augment its competition department with key personnel, the team also is bolstering its portfolio of sponsors. The leading producer of the world’s most reliable lawn mower engines and other small engines, Briggs & Stratton, signed as an associate sponsor on the No. 91 University of Iowa Stephen A. Wynn Institute for Vision Research car this week.

For more than 100 years, Briggs & Stratton engines have been known for their durability, reliability and ease of use. Briggs & Stratton joins other associate sponsors Herman Miller and Phillips Energy Partners supporting Lazier Partners Racing in 2014.

Herman Miller is also a 100-year-old-plus company and is known for producing award winning furniture through dealers and retailers around the world. The Phillips name has been well-respected in the oil and gas industry for nearly a century. Since 2006, Phillips Energy Partners has worked with many mineral owners to help them get the most out of their mineral rights.

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Buddy Lazier will be 46 when he takes the green flag in this year’s Indy 500. Is that too old to win? Ask Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Unser or Al Unser. Fittipaldi was 46 when he won in 1993, while the Unser brothers each recorded their last wins at the age of 47.