Long Beach Grand Prix : Notebook : Scott Pruett Driving in Fast Lane After Just Four Indy Car Races

In his first full campaign on the CART circuit, Scott Pruett finds himself in fast company--right alongside three-time Indy 500 champion Rick Mears in the fourth row of today’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Pruett, 29, of Roseville, Calif., was the eighth-fastest qualifier in his Judd-powered Lola. A former go-kart, IMSA/GTO and Trans-Am champion, he moved into Bobby Rahal’s seat with the Truesports team when Rahal switched to Kraco this season.

Pruett has driven in almost every kind of event at Long Beach, including the Pro/Celebrity race, and last year he paid Dick Simon to let him drive one of his cars in the CART race, for the experience. He qualified 13th and finished 18th when his engine died.

The ride cost him $70,000--”all the money I had,” Pruett said.

Although he qualified better this year, he said: “These guys are tough. The competition is a lot tougher this year. This is going to be CART’s best year.”

Since only seven drivers--but with far more experience than his four Indy car races--are starting in front of him, Pruett was asked if he’s happy with his position.

He shrugged and said, “You always want to do better.”

Safe ride: The Horton Safety Team that watches over CART and its supporting American Racing Series events invited a reporter to go along in one of its two chase trucks during Saturday’s qualifying session.

Carl Horton, who used to build ambulances, started the contract operation with CART six years ago. The outfit follows the entire Indy car circuit, except for the Indy 500, and also utilizes a golf cart-mounted emergency response rig in the pits and a $750,000 mobile trauma center, which director Steve Edwards says is “an emergency room on wheels.”

Each truck team consists of three firefighters and a physician or paramedic, positioned at entry points to the race track. All wear yellow fireproof Nomex suits and two-way portable radio headsets to stay in touch with events around the course.

Edwards warned that, typically, long periods of inactivity are broken by bursts of multiple incidents.

Sure enough, early in the first session, parked near Turn 3, they heard that Bernard Jourdain had gone into the runoff area at the end of Shoreline Drive. Edwards, Don Riggle--riding “shotgun” on the rear deck--and Greg Passauer bailed out and bounded over the iceplant-covered hill.

About the time they reached Jourdain, Pancho Carter blew his right rear tire and slid into the runoff area alongside Jourdain.

Neither required emergency aid, but then a radio call came in that Scott Brayton was stalled in the middle of the track on the back side of the course. Passauer beat Edwards back to the truck, reached over the front seat to start the engine, and they were rolling.

Reaching Brayton, they attached a tow line and soon came upon Carter, limping back on his shredded wheel. They cut Brayton loose for his crew to pick up and sped back to their station, allowing the track to go green again.

Edwards: “There’s always a sense of urgency when you go out there, but during qualifying they really want us to clean up and get out.

“The attitude of the fans is strange. We don’t cause the accidents, but when we’re cleaning them up they sometimes blame us for holding up the race. We’re changing that. Yesterday we got three standing ovations because we got it done in such a hurry.”

Who’s on first? Derek Daly, who will be driving the Raynor Motorsports entry today, went to the Angels’ game against the Oakland Athletics at Anaheim Stadium Thursday--the first baseball game he has ever seen.

“I found it’s not that interesting, not that exciting,” Daly said. “I believe you have to understand the strategy to appreciate (it).”

After the A’s Dave Henderson hit a home run in the first inning, a fan sitting behind Daly slapped him on the back and said, “Henderson really jacked one out of here, huh?”

Daly turned to him and replied, “I’m sorry. I’m from Ireland. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Well, maybe Daly prefers cricket.

“I always found cricket boring, also,” he said.

Crowd-chaser: For the first time in 15 years, the main event won’t be the final event.

The Grand Prix will start at noon, an hour earlier than usual, and run about two hours. The Toyota Atlantic race is scheduled to start at 2:35 p.m. and will take about an hour.

Arrivederci, Teo: Teo Fabi has a special incentive to drive fast today.

“I have a new daughter at home in Italy, and I want to finish this race as soon as possible,” he said.

Fabi’s wife Gloria gave birth in Milan Wednesday to a 7-pound 1-ounce girl they have named Martina. Fabi is driving the Quaker State March-Porsche.

A time and a place: Trans-Am driver Tom Kendall said he was recently pulled over for speeding by the California Highway Patrol.

“It struck me later that (this weekend) I’d be going 160, 170 (m.p.h.) down Shoreline Drive, and they’d be standing there holding the crowds back,” Kendall said.

A hero’s hero: Parnelli Jones, who didn’t finish high school but has done well in the tire business since retiring as a race driver, says Roger Penske is one of the men he most admires.

“My hero, as far as business was concerned, has always been Roger Penske,” Jones said. “He’s educated, and I felt I could have done a lot better if I had had more education.”

As Jones spoke, he had just come off the golf course.

“(Penske) is also a workaholic, which I’m not,” Jones added. “I admire what he does.”

More power: Only six cars in today’s main event will be powered by the Chevrolet Indy V-8 engine. Led by Rick Mears, Chevrolet swept the first five places at Phoenix last week and look as if it will dominate CART racing for the second year.

Only Penske’s two cars--Mears and Danny Sullivan--plus Mario and Michael Andretti with the Newman-Haas team, Al Unser Jr. for Rick Galles and Emerson Fittipaldi for Pat Patrick have the engines, which are built in England.

There’s a notion that Penske, who with Chevrolet funded the original project in ‘83, tries to limit the distribution.

But Dick Amacher, manager of Chevrolet’s Engineering Raceshop operation, said Penske owns only 25% of Ilmor Engineering Ltd., along with Chevrolet Mario Illien and Paul Morgan, developers of the engine.

“When we have let out the engine to other competitors,” Amacher said, “Roger hasn’t had a lot to say about it.”