Salles Makes a Scoring Run for Gurney

Gualter Salles finally got on the scoreboard for Santa Ana-based Dan Gurney’s All American Racers team at last Sunday’s accident-filled Grand Prix of Detroit.

Salles, who had completed only one of six races going into the event, finished 11th after qualifying second-to-last in the 26-car field. The 28-year-old Brazilian earned two points--his first since joining the team this season--while producing his best finish of 1999.

“I was real happy about that finish,” Salles said from his home in Miami Beach. “We’ve been running real strong, but mechanical failures have been preventing us from finishing races. We’ve still been running much stronger in races than in qualifying, though.”

Salles joined CART’s Davis Racing in 1997 and his seventh-place finish at Laguna Seca that year remains his best CART result. Last year he drove in six races for Payton-Coyne, qualifying fourth at Long Beach.

He had one guest appearance this year at Long Beach, where he finished last for Payton-Coyne. Then he dropped out of the CART picture until Gurney asked him for a second opinion on the Toyota-powered car in mid-June, prior to the G.I. Joe 200 in Portland. Since then, Salles has replaced Alex Barron as the team’s lone driver.

“We wore them down with reliability and skill and a little good luck,” Gurney said after the race. “Points are points and we’re very happy to have them.”

Drivers who weren’t as fortunate as Salles included several with local ties.

Former Orange County resident Max Papis failed to finish for the first time this season when he crashed on the opening lap. Papis, who had completed all but 13 laps this season going into the race, rubbed wheels with another car going into the first turn and went airborne into the tires.

On Lap 23, Robby Gordon of Orange and Jan Magnussen got tangled up in the hairpin while battling for 17th place. Magnussen continued without his front wing, but Gordon was done for the day.

The most incredible wreck occurred six laps from the end of the 71-lap race. Cristiano da Matta, who drives for Rancho Santa Margarita-based Arciero-Wells Racing, lost traction with his back wheels coming out of Turn 2 and collided with the outside wall. All but the cockpit was destroyed on da Matta’s Toyota-powered Reynard, but the 25-year-old Miami resident walked away unhurt.

“When da Matta crashed, I was right behind him,” Salles said. “I had to swerve left, right and then left again to avoid him and the debris. That was close.”

Da Matta’s teammate, Scott Pruett, was one of 17 cars still running at the end. Pruett finished eighth after qualifying 17th.

This weekend CART heads to Lexington, Ohio, for the Miller Lite 200. Salles said his team is making a change in the suspension and hopes it will generate a better starting position on the 2 1/4-mile road course.

“This weekend we hope to be more competitive in qualifying,” Salles said. “This is going to be the first time we will use [the new suspension]. The car has been doing pretty good in the fast corners, but not the slow ones, so we hope this will help.”

FUNNY CAR

Even John Force could probably use a weekend off after his latest hair-raising experience behind the wheel of his Funny Car at Sears Point Raceway last weekend.

The Yorba Linda resident was matched against Chuck Beal in the first round of the Nationals in Sonoma on Sunday, when the engine in Beal’s car exploded as they neared the finish line.

The force of the explosion sent the car’s outer shell hurtling into the opposite lane, where it landed behind Force’s vehicle. Beal reached the finish line well ahead of Force, who had lost traction just after the green light. But Beal then swerved into the opposite lane, directly in Force’s path, and collided with the wall. Force then pushed Beal’s car about 100 yards up the track, leaving the vehicle destroyed and Force’s car with severe damage to the body and chassis.

The incident was similar to what happened at the 1996 Nationals at the Texas Motorplex, where, after winning a round, Force’s car was hit from behind by Ray Higley.

It was the first time Force has lost a first-round race this season and only his 16th first-round loss in the 1990s. However, it’s the second straight year he has gone out in the first round at Sonoma.

PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY

A power outage prior to the Sprint Car Racing Assn. main event Saturday night forced cancellation of the race. The main event will be run prior to the regularly scheduled SCRA Sprint Car race on Aug. 21. Points for the division remain unchanged.