Hotchkis Is Feeling Like a Big Wheel

Racing’s stars of tomorrow, CART champ car style, will be on display today during the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights race as a prelude to Sunday’s Marlboro 500 at California Speedway.

Brazil’s Cristiano da Matta, 25, has already clinched the series title with four wins in 13 races, but any number of young prospects for future CART rides will be battling for recognition in the 50-lap, 100-mile race on the two-mile oval.

One of the most promising is Mark Hotchkis, 29, of Pasadena, who has spent the season as sort of a designated driver. Left without a team when Team Kool Green decided to cut its effort to one driver, Hotchkis has driven as a substitute for injured drivers in eight races.

For the first time, he will be in his own car today after Mattco Raceworks bought a new Lola for him to drive. Hotchkis made the most of his opportunity Friday, qualifying for today’s race on the front row, alongside Mattco teammate Tony Renna.

Renna, a rookie from Deland, Fla., won the pole with an Indy Lights-record lap of 187.668 mph, slightly faster than Hotchkis’ 187.201.

Earlier in the season, Hotchkis drove for Mattco when Chris Simmons and Renna were sidelined because of injuries.

“I sat out the first two races, just looking around, hoping someone would see me, but since then I’ve been pretty busy substituting,” the second-generation driver said. “Now Mattco has gone all out to give me a chance at Fontana. They even hired an extra engineer and a couple of mechanics to make sure I had everything I needed to win.

“Fontana will be very important to me, to my future. If I win, I will open a lot of eyes. I have a great chance to win. If I don’t, I might be back where I am today. It has been my childhood dream to get an opportunity to drive in CART.”

Hotchkis and Simmons were teammates last year with Team Green, along with Naoki Hattori, who this year is Green’s only full-time driver. Hattori will move up to CART next season with Walker Racing as a teammate of Gil de Ferran.

Hotchkis has been on the pole three times in Indy Lights but has not won. His best finish was a second at Michigan Speedway in 1996.

His father, John, campaigned in the International Motorsports Assn., and drove several times in the 24 Hours of LeMans.

“I started going to races with my dad when I was 5 or 6 years old,” Hotchkis said. “As soon as I was old enough, I was racing go-carts around Southern California and then went to Skip Barber’s racing school and started racing seriously.”

Hotchkis is one of several Southern Californians who will be racing Indy Lights before hometown fans today.

Clint Mears of Bakersfield is defending champion at Fontana after winning last year’s inaugural from the pole, and his cousin, Casey Mears, finished third at Nazareth, Pa., earlier this season. Clint is Indy car legend Rick Mears’ son, Casey the son of off-road champion Roger Mears.

Cory Witherill of Santa Monica, a Navajo and the only full-blooded Native American in professional racing, will be running his fourth race in his rookie season after qualifying 13th.

Indy Lights, CART’s official development series, has become quite cosmopolitan. Of the top 10 drivers, only one, Geoff Boss of Narragansett, R.I., who finished second at Long Beach, is an American. Among the others are three Brazilians, plus one each from France, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Japan and Austria.

Brazil has already clinched the Elf Nation’s Cup.

CART driver Paul Tracy has been suspended from the 1999 season opener for infractions stemming from an incident during the Oct. 18 race in Surfers Paradise, Australia, it was announced by Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach.

During the 18-race season, Tracy was involved in 10 incidents that resulted in contact with fellow drivers. The one in Australia involved “blocking, unjustifiable risk and unsportsmanlike conduct” after Tracy made contact with Michael Andretti.

Tracy will miss the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami, scheduled March 21 at Homestead, Fla. It will be the first time a driver has been excluded from a CART race for disciplinary reasons.

The Handford Device, which was designed to reduce CART’s champ car speeds, apparently was doing its job during the first day of practice.

Adrian Fernandez posted the day’s fastest lap, 236.564 mph, during morning practice. Last year, the fastest practice lap was 242.333 mph by Mauricio Gugelmin, who later set the official track record of 240.942 during qualifying.

Gugelmin’s speed prompted CART officials to seek a way of slowing their cars at Michigan and California Speedways, resulting in the Handford Device.

Qualifying for the Marlboro 500 starts today at noon.

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Getting the Green Light

* What: CART’s PPG-Dayton Indy Lights race; qualifying for CART’s Marlboro 500.

* Where: California Speedway in Fontana.

* When: Today. Qualifying for Marlboro 500 begins at noon; Indy Lights race is at 3 p.m.

* About the race: Indy Lights is CART’s developmental series. Today’s race is a 50-lap, 100-mile race on the two-mile oval. The Marlboro 500 is Sunday at 12:30 p.m.