Two-time defending Barber Dodge Pro Series champion Jeff Simmons of East Granby will move to the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Series in 2000, taking the next step toward his goal of driving in the FedEx CART Series. Simmons will be announced today as the driver for Barry Green and his Team Kool Green. The Indy Lights series is CART's developmental series. < "I've been talking to a few teams for a while," Simmons said. "[Green's team] was probably my No. 1 choice from the start, though."

As the shutters clicked along a busy thoroughfare in lower Manhattan Monday, Jeff Simmons stood smiling, his driver's suit on, helmet under his arm. There was confidence in knowing when his next race will be. He was there with the other 32 drivers in the starting lineup for Sunday's Indianapolis 500. But unlike most of the other drivers standing around him for the photo shoot at the Charging Bull statue, Simmons doesn't know where racing...

Jeff Simmons has landed a chance to return to the Indianapolis 500. The East Granby driver agreed Monday to drive A.J. Foyt Enterprises' second car and this weekend will attempt to earn his fourth Indy 500 start. "It's an honor to get the chance to run this event and get the opportunity to run for A.J. Foyt," said Simmons, 31, who will team with Darren Manning. "I can't wait to get on the track." Simmons finished 11th in the Indy 500 last year for Rahal Letterman Racing, but was let go by the team in July.

Jeff Simmons has landed a chance to return to the Indianapolis 500. The East Granby driver agreed Monday to drive A.J. Foyt Enterprises' second car and this weekend will attempt to earn his fourth Indy 500 start. "It's an honor to get the chance to run this event and get the opportunity to run for A.J. Foyt," said Simmons, 31, who will team with Darren Manning. "I can't wait to get on the track." Simmons finished 11th in the Indy 500 last year for Rahal Letterman Racing, but was let go by the team in July.

There's one place to pass at Lime Rock Park. At least that's what drivers say about the 1.53-mile road course. "We lied," Brian Simo said. To say Simo used every inch of the track and zipped past cars like a mad commuter during rush hour Monday might be stretching the truth. To say he ran into his teammate from behind on the way to the finish line is no lie. Simo didn't have much trouble getting by Chris Neville with nine laps left to win the BF Goodrich Trans-Am race at the Dodge Dealers Grand Prix.

Jeff Simmons has waited many years for a chance to secure a regular gig in the highest ranks of open-wheel racing. Simmons' biggest audition comes this weekend when the East Granby driver takes over the IRL IndyCar ride of racing legend Al Unser Jr., driving for one of the most famous owners in the sport. Unser announced his retirement Wednesday. "I'm getting the feeling that things are starting to go in the right direction here," Simmons said Friday in a phone interview from Kansas City, where he will race in Sunday's Argent Mortgage 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Pay to the order of Jeff Simmons. Those seven words, much to the delight of Simmons, were worth six figures to the 1998 SCCA Barber Dodge Pro Series champion. What's a Barber Dodge, you ask? "Some people think it's a truck," Simmons said. "You know, a Dodge pickup." Hardly. From both a technical and financial aspect, a Barber Dodge is a scaled-down version of an Indy car. Thanks to Skip Barber and his Career Enhancement Award, Simmons didn't need to win Lotto or rob a bank to defend his Barber Dodge title.

Since he was 5 and began competing at the lowest levels of auto racing, Jeff Simmons has dreamed of driving in major open-wheel racing. For Simmons, though, the realization is beginning to sink in that the sun may be setting on that dream. Simmons, of East Granby, says he expects this will be his final season competing in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series, the steppingstone division behind the Indy Racing League's top level IndyCar Series. Simmons sits fifth in the Pro Series standings, following his second win of the season last week at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

It's a long awaited chance born of the most heartbreaking of incidents. An opportunity threaded together by the most tragic of ironies. This weekend, Jeff Simmons of East Granby makes his debut driving for Rahal-Letterman Racing in the IRL IndyCar Series. Simmons takes over the ride that became open after rookie driver Paul Dana was killed in a practice session crash before the season-opening race March 26 in Homestead, Fla. For Simmons, it's the full-time opportunity at the top level of American open-wheel racing that he has long strived for. Simmons, 29, methodically climbed the ladder of open-wheel minor league circuits, finding success at each stop.

As the shutters clicked along a busy thoroughfare in lower Manhattan Monday, Jeff Simmons stood smiling, his driver's suit on, helmet under his arm. There was confidence in knowing when his next race will be. He was there with the other 32 drivers in the starting lineup for Sunday's Indianapolis 500. But unlike most of the other drivers standing around him for the photo shoot at the Charging Bull statue, Simmons doesn't know where racing...

After nearly a month of preparation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Simmons doesn't expect to have any trouble falling asleep when he hits the pillow Saturday night. Simmons, of East Granby, will be making his third start in the Indianapolis 500 Sunday. "For the 500, in the past, I've slept well the night before," said Simmons, who will make his second consecutive Indy start for Rahal Letterman Racing. "You get some nerves right beforehand. It's not just another race, but you have to prepare for it in kind of the same way that you do for everything else.

A decade ago, there was no need to promote the Indianapolis 500. The race promoted itself. Each Memorial Day weekend, ordinary Americans unable to change the oil in their own cars became fans of open-wheel racing. Most could tick off the superstars of the sport -- Andretti, Unser, Foyt, Mears -- even if Indy was the only race they watched. But the simple days of tape delay (which ended in 1986) and Jim McKay are gone. The rift between the Indy Racing League and CART divided the sport and left fans confused about which was the real open-wheel tour.

It's a long awaited chance born of the most heartbreaking of incidents. An opportunity threaded together by the most tragic of ironies. This weekend, Jeff Simmons of East Granby makes his debut driving for Rahal-Letterman Racing in the IRL IndyCar Series. Simmons takes over the ride that became open after rookie driver Paul Dana was killed in a practice session crash before the season-opening race March 26 in Homestead, Fla. For Simmons, it's the full-time opportunity at the top level of American open-wheel racing that he has long strived for. Simmons, 29, methodically climbed the ladder of open-wheel minor league circuits, finding success at each stop.

Since he was 5 and began competing at the lowest levels of auto racing, Jeff Simmons has dreamed of driving in major open-wheel racing. For Simmons, though, the realization is beginning to sink in that the sun may be setting on that dream. Simmons, of East Granby, says he expects this will be his final season competing in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series, the steppingstone division behind the Indy Racing League's top level IndyCar Series. Simmons sits fifth in the Pro Series standings, following his second win of the season last week at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Jeff Simmons has waited many years for a chance to secure a regular gig in the highest ranks of open-wheel racing. Simmons' biggest audition comes this weekend when the East Granby driver takes over the IRL IndyCar ride of racing legend Al Unser Jr., driving for one of the most famous owners in the sport. Unser announced his retirement Wednesday. "I'm getting the feeling that things are starting to go in the right direction here," Simmons said Friday in a phone interview from Kansas City, where he will race in Sunday's Argent Mortgage 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Any young driver with aspirations of making it to the top of major open wheel racing in the United States has fantasized at one time or another about racing in the Indianapolis 500 Jeff Simmons dreamed that dream as a kid racing quarter midgets around tiny Connecticut tracks in the early 1980s. "I watched the 500 every year as a kid," Simmons said. "I remember Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan battling it out there, Danny Sullivan's famous spin and win, probably one of the most memorable moments I remember.

After nearly a month of preparation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Simmons doesn't expect to have any trouble falling asleep when he hits the pillow Saturday night. Simmons, of East Granby, will be making his third start in the Indianapolis 500 Sunday. "For the 500, in the past, I've slept well the night before," said Simmons, who will make his second consecutive Indy start for Rahal Letterman Racing. "You get some nerves right beforehand. It's not just another race, but you have to prepare for it in kind of the same way that you do for everything else.

A decade ago, there was no need to promote the Indianapolis 500. The race promoted itself. Each Memorial Day weekend, ordinary Americans unable to change the oil in their own cars became fans of open-wheel racing. Most could tick off the superstars of the sport -- Andretti, Unser, Foyt, Mears -- even if Indy was the only race they watched. But the simple days of tape delay (which ended in 1986) and Jim McKay are gone. The rift between the Indy Racing League and CART divided the sport and left fans confused about which was the real open-wheel tour.

Two-time defending Barber Dodge Pro Series champion Jeff Simmons of East Granby will move to the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Series in 2000, taking the next step toward his goal of driving in the FedEx CART Series. Simmons will be announced today as the driver for Barry Green and his Team Kool Green. The Indy Lights series is CART's developmental series. < "I've been talking to a few teams for a while," Simmons said. "[Green's team] was probably my No. 1 choice from the start, though."

There's one place to pass at Lime Rock Park. At least that's what drivers say about the 1.53-mile road course. "We lied," Brian Simo said. To say Simo used every inch of the track and zipped past cars like a mad commuter during rush hour Monday might be stretching the truth. To say he ran into his teammate from behind on the way to the finish line is no lie. Simo didn't have much trouble getting by Chris Neville with nine laps left to win the BF Goodrich Trans-Am race at the Dodge Dealers Grand Prix.