Easing An Indy Itch -- Simply Participating In The Indy 500 Is A Dream For Many. But Locals Tom Armstrong And Bruce Mccaw, Who Have Entered Two Cars In The May 29 Race, Have Higher Goals.

For some, Indy itch strikes early in life, as it did for Tom Armstrong of Issaquah when he was a youngster in Marietta, Okla.

For others, it surfaces later, as it did for Bruce McCaw of Bellevue when, as a result of newfound friendships in 1970, he discovered that there was more to automobile racing than sports cars and road courses.

But no matter when the itch hits, the only known antidote is an annual trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, preferably as a participant.

As the founders and principle backers of the PacWest Racing Group, Armstrong, McCaw and Wes Lematta of Camas, Clark County, qualify as full-fledged participants. They have embarked with drivers Dominic Dobson of Bellevue and Scott Sharp of East Norwalk, Conn., on an IndyCar adventure, seemingly with the money and expertise to succeed.

PacWest has invested millions in four 1994 Lola cars, the leasing of Ford Cosworth engines and the hiring of 25 full-time employees. Now, after having marginal success in the year's first three races, the group is preparing for the May 29 Indianapolis 500. The first of four days of qualifying is Saturday.

"Our goal is to qualify in the top 10, finish in the top 10 and finish both cars," said Armstrong, vice president and general manager.

For most new teams, those goals would be considered excessive. For PacWest, maybe not.

"I think it's unprecedented that we've come into the sport like a mature team instead of like a team that just shows up," said Armstrong, 57. "We're trying to come into the sport not at 30th place and three years later be at 15th. We're trying to come in at 10 or 12 and work our way up into the top 10."

Armstrong, a hopelessly incurable automobile fanatic (he owns 29 cars ranging from vintage to high performance), has been retired since selling his company, Ridgway Packaging, in 1988. McCaw, the 47-year-old president of PacWest, is a director of McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc., and a minority owner of the new NBA franchise in Vancouver. Lematta owns Columbia Helicopters, Inc., of Portland. Dobson, who is Lematta's nephew, also has a piece of the PacWest financial action.

Friendship tied to cars

Armstrong, who said he owned a car before he had a driver's license, and McCaw became friends 10 or 12 years ago in part as a result of their participation in vintage-car races in the Seattle area and elsewhere.

McCaw had been a racer of sports cars at Seattle International Raceway in the 1960s. In 1970, he became acquainted with Bill Daniels, a cable TV pioneer who owned an Indy car, and Sam Hanks, longtime Indy car racer and official. They took him to the 500 that year, and he was hooked.

Armstrong and McCaw took race-driving lessons together at the Bob Bondurant school in Sonoma, Calif.

J. Kirk Russell, technical director for Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), has been around Indy cars for more than 30 years. He said he is impressed with PacWest's structure. Significant, he said, was the hiring of John Anderson, an Australian, as team manager and British engineer Alan Mertens as technical director.

Anderson has been manager for other Indy car teams, including most recently A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

Potential seen as great

"The potential (of PacWest) is above any team I've worked for before," Anderson said by telephone from the team's Gasoline Alley shop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I'd say, with Tom and Bruce and the program they've put together it was like jumping into the deep end with a new team - two cars and two drivers. We've had our headaches and problems, but they all seem to be resolving."

Armstrong said developing an alliance with Mertens was a key to the PacWest structure.

"We had a strategy of building the team around a star person," Armstrong said. "We chose Alan as that person. He not only brought engineering experience and the knowledge of how to win, but he brought Galmer Engineering."

Galmer Engineering, founded in England by Mertens and veteran car owner Rick Galles, developed and built a chassis that Al Unser, Jr., drove to victory in the 1992 Indianapolis 500. McCaw eventually bought out Galles' interest and became Mertens' equal partner.

Galmer no longer produces an Indy car chassis, but the engineering facilities are available to PacWest. Future development of a chassis is a possibility.

What PacWest needs to do now is remain patient, Russell said.

"We've got a very competitive group," he said. "When you look at that and see that Sharp is new to Indy cars this year and Dobson has only done a few races in the last couple of years . . . from that there are some things that need to be learned and caught up on.

"But I think there is some real depth to the team."

Sharp, whose best finish in the year's first three races was ninth at Phoenix, is in 14th place in the driver standings; Dobson, whose best finish was 12th in Australia, is 19th.

During practice earlier this week Sharp, who passed his speedway rookie test May 1, had a best-lap average speed of 220.637 mph (25th fastest); Dobson had gone 220.275 (23rd).

Armstrong, McCaw and Lematta formed PacWest last year, when it ran four races with Dobson in an out-of-date 1992 Galmer powered by an equally historic Chevrolet A engine. Results mirrored the equipment.

"In about October we decided we would do at least a partial season with new equipment and top people," Armstrong said. "A few weeks later we talked ourselves into two teams and a full (16-race) season because we had a chance to hire Sharp."

PacWest bought four Lola chassis at $450,000 each. It signed a two-year, 12-engine lease agreement with Cosworth for $1.8 million that does not include the cost of rebuilds - $25,000 each.

"Our budget includes 50 engine rebuilds ($1.25 million)," Armstrong said.

Armstrong said he thinks team personnel and equipment are responsible for about 85 percent of a car's success and the driver 15 percent. Engineering an edge

"So if you have an Emerson Fittipaldi kind of driver, that's maybe your competitive edge," Armstrong said.

"But if you don't have a Fittipaldi kind of driver, maybe a Galmer Engineering is your competitive edge, or an Alan Mertens. . . . I really think you have to have every one of the elements - the cars, the development program, the drivers, the money, the strategy."

Prize money from races and the season point fund is significant - last year's top two drivers, Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell, earned more than $2.5 million each for their teams. But considering the investment, prize money doesn't cover the costs.

"Obviously, the business doesn't work without big sponsorship," Armstrong said. "We're fortunate to have the financial base to do it different. Usually you stumble around until you find a sponsor. We've just come in and said we're going to make the commitment and as we do it and do it well we'll get the sponsorship."

Meanwhile, it's May and Armstrong and McCaw are satisfying their Indy itch as best they can.

------------------------------------------------------. The PacWest drivers.

DOMINIC DOBSON

Vitals: 36 years old; 5 feet 9, 155 pounds.

Residence: Bellevue.

Racing highlights: Has driven in 42 IndyCar races since 1985, including past six Indy 500s, where his finishes have ranged from 12th (1991) to 23rd (last year). His best finish in an IndyCar was seventh at Detroit in 1989 in a car owned by Bruce Leven of Seattle.

This year: Australia, qualified 26th, finished 12th; Phoenix, 14th/24th; Long Beach, 17th/17th.

SCOTT SHARP

Vitals: 25 years old; 5 feet 8, 155 pounds.

Residence: East Norwalk, Conn.

Racing highlights: A two-time winner (1991 and 1993) of SCCA Trans-Am Series championship; made IndyCar debut in 1993 season finale at Laguna Seca, finishing 22nd; has passed Indianapolis 500 rookie test.

This year: Australia, qualified 18th, finished 11th; Phoenix, 13th/9th; Long Beach, 21st/28th.