Gurney’s Eagle Chassis Looks to Gain Ground
Looking for any advantage against opponents racing in the tried-and-true Reynard chassis, Dan Gurney unveiled his new Eagle 987 chassis two weekends ago at the Miller Lite 200 in Lexington, Ohio.
Rookie driver Alex Barron has driven the Toyota-powered Eagle twice. He finished 16th on the Mid-Ohio course, but was involved in a spectacular crash--driving onto and resting atop Bryan Herta. Sunday, he finished 24th at the Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America in Wisconsin.
When the CART FedEx Championship Series continues in Vancouver in two weeks, Santa Ana-based All American Racers teammate P.J. Jones is also expected to strap into an Eagle.
Barron, from Vista, has tested the Eagle and Reynard chassis on the same day on the same course. Most drivers in the series, including the Toyota team at Arciero-Wells Racing, use Reynard.
“The front end of the Eagle is more responsive, you have quite a bit of understeer on the Reynard,” Barron said. “And [the Eagle] doesn’t push as much air down the straights, meaning the trap speeds are a little quicker.
“It’s no easier to drive [but] it does have a quicker and smoother shifter mechanism--it doesn’t take as much effort to shift.”
Barron’s car had only five test sessions before its first race.
“I believe it’s a better chassis,” Barron said. “Aerodynamically, it has its advantages over the Reynard; every chassis has its own characteristics and we need to find out more about what this car is about mechanically. . . . The most important thing for us is to put time on it.
Which made Sunday’s 10-lap performance a complete disaster.
The car’s performance, though, was consistent with its debut.
“The car was good; we got the new [RV8D engine] and we were more competitive right off the bat,” Barron said. “The first practice session, we were 18th on the grid.”
Barron, 28, is only three years removed from racing karts; he competed in Formula 2000 in 1996 and the Toyota Atlantic Series last year.
His best finish this season is 12th.
Jones, too, is optimistic about the Eagle chassis.
“I think [the Eagle] has a lot of potential,” said Jones, who did the initial testing of the chassis.
Jones, in a Reynard, fared only slightly better than Barron on Sunday; he went off the course into a gravel area after 14 of the race’s 50 laps.
“We’re trying to make a better car than everyone can buy so that when we get the [same] horsepower, we’ll have the advantage,” Jones said. “There’s no way we’ll overcome the deficit in power right now. You still have to go down the straightaways.”
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The announcement by Arciero-Wells Racing over the weekend that it signed Scott Pruett for the 1999 season means Orange’s Robby Gordon won’t return as a driver.
Gordon wasn’t mentioned in the press release, but said Monday there was no friction between owner and driver. Simply, Gordon didn’t exercise his option in his multi-year contract with Arciero-Wells.
“It wasn’t like I was let go--when they were ready to make a decision, I hadn’t decided that was the place for me,” said Gordon, 29, who signed on with the Rancho Santa Margarita-based team in January. “I had to make a decision by Aug. 1, but the dominoes weren’t falling--it’s not like Robby doesn’t want [team owner Cal Wells III] and Cal doesn’t want Robby.
“I haven’t decided what I want to do next year yet.”
With the possibility of Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser leaving Target/Chip Ganassi Racingand the retirement of Bobby Rahal, there could be considerable movement among drivers for 1999.
“His only challenge,” Wells said of Gordon, “is picking though the multitude of different opportunities.”
Wells said replacing Gordon with Pruett, 38, a 10-year veteran of the series, won’t set the team back. Pruett will leave Patrick Racing.
“Scott brings additional maturity and focus to our [program],” Wells said. “His unique understanding of the dynamics of champ car racing is unequaled in the industry.”
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Saturday’s Speedway program at the Orange County Fairgrounds featured the first West Coast motorcycle demolition derby, which was won by Charles Ermolenko of Cypress. Riders, armed with foam baseball bats, tried to pop two balloons--either on both fenders or a fender and the helmet--with the last man standing the winner.
Ermolenko outlasted Gary Ackroyd (Newport Beach), who was ruled to have come off his motorcycle to try to pop Ermolenko’s balloon.
Mark Adams of Tustin finished third in the 17-man event.
“I heard about this on Monday,” Ermolenko said. “I said, ‘No way would I get involved in something like this.’
“It’s a break from the norm, something different. I still can’t believe I won.”
Ermolenko rode Speedway in Europe for seven years before returning to Costa Mesa this season. Saturday was his first night of racing since breaking his leg two months ago. He is 11th in the points standings.
Saturday’s upcoming Harley Night promotion will feature something just as unusual, the Death Sleds, a match race featuring motorcycles pulling riders in sleds attached by a chain.
