Simmons treks to Homestead in hope.

Jeff Simmons has flown to the inaugural race of the 2004 Menards Infiniti Pro Series season at the reconfigured Homestead-Miami Speedway , but what happens when he gets there is another story entirely.

Simmons, who finished second in the 2003 championship to Mark Taylor, has experienced an off-season of frustration after a successful rookie campaign on the ovals. With two wins - at Gateway and Kentucky - a pole at Pikes Peak and nine top-five finishes in twelve races, the 26-year old figured that his on-track performance would guarantee him another shot at the championship. But the familiar racing nemesis, financial considerations, raised its ugly head in the winter months.

"After finishing second in the championship last year, I thought I would at least have an MIPS ride for 2004, but it's come down to the same old story of money," Simmons said, "Having been out of a racecar for two full years in 2001 and 2002, it's frustrating to see that scenario unfolding again this year.

"All I can do is be ready and available to drive at a moment's notice and continue to search for funding. Hopefully, at some point, I'll have the opportunity to stay with one team in a single series for more than one year."

Simmons has had success in the car at every level of racing, from national quarter-midget championships as child to a pair of open-wheel championships in the Barber Dodge Pro Series - the same series that brought Juan Pablo Montoya and Kenny Brack to racing prominence.

He had planned to follow Taylor and third-place finisher Ed Carpenter into the Indy Racing League this season, but the opportunities available required financial backing but, while progress to put together a deal for the 2004 Infiniti Pro Series season has slowed, Simmons is still hopeful that something can be found at the last minute. Especially at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, where it took him all of nine laps to shake off the two years of rust and assume the lead at his first Infiniti Pro Series
race last year.

"With zero testing before the season last year, we were still able to lead in the first race and finish in the top-five the next two races," Simmons said of his 2003 stint with Keith Duesenberg Racing, in which he piloted the #20 car to second-place in the points standings despite the handicap of being a single-car team.

"We earned more points than anyone in the second half of the season, so it would have been nice to come into this season with momentum and continuity. But I guess it wasn't meant to be."

Simmons exhibited his trademark speed as a MIPS rookie in 2003, with five top-five finishes in the last six races of the season punctuated by the two victories and a pair of second-place finishes on the superspeedways at Michigan and Texas. He also displayed another racing trait, consistency, by completing the most laps of any MIPS starter and established league records by qualifying in the top-five at nine consecutive races and running at the finish of eleven straight races. Now, however, he finds the Western Union car occupied by another US driver frequently stymied by money worries, Phil Giebler.

"I still have a couple of opportunities in Indy cars that could pan out a little later in the year, but I wish I was in a car now," Simmons reflected, "If I get the chance to drive in the Pro Series at Homestead, I'll be thrilled. I think that even without testing I'd have as good of a chance of winning the race as anyone and better than most."

Until the call comes, however, Simmons will be in the pits with cell phone in one hand and helmet in the other, with his driving gloves tucked neatly inside and ready for action. If the phone should ring, he will be ready to race. If not, he will put the weekend to use either coaching another driver in the MIPS or spotting in the Indy Racing League main event.

"The more involved I can be, the better, and hopefully I'll be able to gain some knowledge and experience even if I'm not driving," he said.