Drivers Wanted for Indy Road Course

From a long-term viewpoint, the U.S. Grand Prix will need an American driver on the Formula One circuit if Tony George’s new Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is going to succeed.

Success is assured for the 2000 inaugural because of the novelty of having a Formula One race inside the sacrosanct walls of the world’s most famous racing facility, but Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen aren’t likely to be enough down the road.

Not even the great Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, arguably more respected names than the current top twosome, could attract more than a few idle curious at Phoenix, Las Vegas, Dallas or Detroit, all of which gave up as the U.S. standard bearer on the international schedule.

Jeff Gordon is the driver most often mentioned as a Formula One prospect. He is young, marketable and has shown a remarkable talent for road racing, having won five consecutive Winston Cup races at Watkins Glen, N.Y., a former Formula One site, and Sears Point, Calif.

Gordon says he’s not interested, that adding to his three Winston Cup championships is more appealing to him.

“Maybe at one time I would have considered if it was the right opportunity, but not right now I wouldn’t,” he said. “I love where I’m at. I don’t know why I would want to go anywhere else. I think this is where it’s at, and I don’t want to live in Europe. I like it over there, I enjoy vacationing there, but I want to live here.

“Things are going real well for me, and I can’t imagine doing anything different. I do think it would be great if an opportunity arose for an American driver, but right now I don’t think it’s possible.”

There appears to be few other prospects.

The Indy Racing League runs only oval races, so it is producing no road-racing talent. CART’s champ car circuit runs road races, but it is dominated by foreign drivers such as Dario Franchitti of Scotland, Juan Montoya of Colombia, Max Papis of Italy, Paul Tracy of Canada and Gil de Ferran of Brazil.

Michael Andretti, the leading American in CART, has already tried Formula One and probably will never try it again, even though his father Mario is a former world champion. Al Unser Jr., who once tested for Formula One and had tremendous name value a few years ago, has fallen on hard times, having driven 66 races since 1995 without winning. He is going through an expensive divorce and soon will be out of a ride, having been dropped by Roger Penske for next season.

Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 CART champion, talked of trying Formula One a couple of years ago, but he will be 34 before next season and probably isn’t as enthusiastic about world-wide travel as he might have been then.

Old favorites Alex Zanardi of Italy and Jacques Villeneuve of Canada, who won CART championships before joining Formula One, both promise to be around for Indy’s 2000 race, despite rumors that one or both might return to the U.S.

“Don’t believe it,” Zanardi said of talk he might rejoin CART car owner Chip Ganassi. “It’s not true. I have taken the decision that CART is not just a page that I turned, but it’s actually a different book from what I’m trying to write right now.

“I have great memories from CART. It is very possible that I may change my mind and to go back to America and not just see my old friends again but enjoy some more of that racing. But right now it is not in my mind.”

Zanardi won CART titles in 1997 and ’98 before returning to Formula One this year.

Villeneuve, the French-Canadian who won the Indy 500 and the CART crown in 1995, then won the Formula One title two years later, has had a miserable season with British American Racing, but BAR director Craig Pollock said he will be back.

“Jacques is confirmed for next year,” said Pollock. “He has a contract.”

Villeneuve raised some European eyebrows when he told British writers that “A champ car is actually more of a challenge [than Formula One] because you have to cover such a broad spectrum of events.”

Such talk is sacrilege in the world of Grand Prix.

In the meantime, work is continuing on Indianapolis’ new 2.61-mile course that runs in the opposite direction from the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400. The race is scheduled for Sept. 24, 2000.

It will be the first time since the track was built in 1909 that anything other than an oval race has been run there.

“We could run a car on it right now--all the asphalt is down--but we still have . . . auxiliary construction work to do before we can start testing,” said Kevin Forbes, IMS director of construction. Among items under construction are a new pagoda control tower at the start-finish line, 36 Formula One garages and suites, a four-story media building and a special pit lane to accommodate Formula One cars.

The track will head north up the front straightway from the starting line, make a 90-degree turn into the north infield and snake its way south until it rejoins the oval near Turn 2 and races through Turn 1 onto the front straightaway.

BREAKING IN

The debut of Bob Kersee and his Olympic gold medalist wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, in NASCAR Winston Cup racing didn’t go quite as hoped last week in Michigan.

After Tom Hubert posted some quick practice laps, he crashed the Joyner-Kersee Racing car shortly before qualifying. The team, co-owned by Kurt Roehrig, brought out a backup car, but Hubert failed to make the 43-car field.

Kersee sees parallels between racing, his new sport, and track, his old one.

“I’ve got to compare this sport to track and field,” he told Justin Long of the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record. “So when I saw Tom go into the wall, it kind of reminded me of when Gail Devers in the ’92 Olympics hit the last hurdle [while leading].

“You’re looking at it, but you can’t believe it. You’re hoping it’s not you, but you realize it is. Your heart drops and then you realize, ‘OK, that’s life.’ Then you concentrate on the problem.”

Kersee, who is in Spain for track and field’s World Championships, hopes to field a car at two more Cup races this year and then run a full schedule next season.

The Kersees are the second pair of African Americans to own a Winston Cup car this year, joining Joe Washington and Julius Erving.

L.A. STREET RACE

Kenny Irwin, 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup rookie of the year, has been added to the field for the Featherlite Southwest Tour race, main event of the Labor Day weekend Ford L.A. Street Race. Irwin will join veteran Ken Schrader and Craftsman Truck champion Ron Hornaday for the 125-mile race on a one-mile course that circles the Sports Arena.

CART driver Adrian Fernandez, who was planning to make his NASCAR debut in the race, is recuperating from a broken wrist and is not expected to drive. The Mexican driver was injured Aug. 6 in Detroit and has missed three races. He is expected back Sept. 5 for a CART race in Vancouver, but it is unlikely he will try to drive a stock car the next day.

LAST LAPS

Rip Williams, after taking over the Sprint Car Racing Assn. lead by a point over defending champion Richard Griffin last week, will start a two-week suspension for rough driving. He will miss Saturday night’s race at Perris Auto Speedway and next week’s at Ventura Raceway.

Drag-boat racing will return to Long Beach Marine Stadium on Sunday as a feature attraction of the 67th International Sea Festival of Long Beach. Dale Ishimaru, in Whisky River, will head a field of blown fuel hydroplanes that will cover a quarter-mile in just over five seconds at speeds of 240 mph. Also on the program will be closed-course circle race boats and 90-mph water skiers.

The honor of winning Irwindale Speedway’s first track championship goes to Lee Ladd of Thousand Oaks, who has clinched the NASCAR mini-stock driving title. Ladd, 61, has won four main events in his Ford Pinto and will be on the starting line--as champion--for Saturday night’s 20-lap feature.

Protests from residents near the Rose Bowl have caused the starting time for the Toyota World Supercross on Nov. 20 to be moved from 6 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Speedvision, the event promoter, will be fined $3,000 for every minute the show runs past 7 p.m. It will be the third round of a four-moto world-championship series. Other races will be in France on Oct. 2, Brazil on Nov. 6 and Germany on Nov. 27.

Dick LaHaie, who won one NHRA top-fuel drag racing championship as a driver and four more as a crew chief, will join Don Prudhomme’s team next year to run Larry Dixon’s top-fuel effort. Curiously, the weekend the announcement was made, Dixon won his first race of the year at Brainerd, Minn. Dale Armstrong, who has crewed Dixon’s top fueler this year, will switch to Ron Capps’ Camaro funny car next season.

This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP, Goody’s 500

* When: Today, first-round qualifying, 2 p.m. (ESPN2); Saturday, second-round qualifying, 10:45 a.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN, 4:30 p.m.)

* Where: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (oval, .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns).

* Race distance: 266.5 miles, 500 laps.

* Defending champion: Mark Martin ended Jeff Gordon’s bid for a record fifth straight Winston Cup victory. Martin edged Roush Racing teammate Jeff Burton by 2.185 seconds. Gordon finished fifth.

* Last race: Bobby Labonte won the Pepsi 400, his third career victory at Michigan Speedway. Labonte beat Gordon by .865 seconds.

* Next race: Southern 500, Sept. 5, Darlington, S.C.

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL, Food City 250

* When: Today, qualifying, 1 p.m.; today, race (ESPN2, 4 p.m.)

* Where: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (oval, .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns).

* Race distance: 133.25 miles, 250 laps.

* Defending champion: Kevin Lepage.

* Last race: Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled away from Jeff Gordon for a decisive victory in the NAPA 200 at Michigan Speedway. Earnhardt led 68 of the 100 laps.

* Next race: Dura Lube 200, Sept. 4, Darlington, S.C.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS, O’Reilly Auto Parts 275

* When: Today, qualifying, 2 p.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN, 11:30 a.m.)

* Where: Heartland Park (2.1-mile paved road course), Topeka, Kan.

* Race distance: 157.5 miles, 75 laps.

* Defending champion: Stacy Compton won the Lund Look 275K, edging Terry Cook by .892 seconds.

* Last race: Greg Biffle took the lead on pit road on his final stop and went on to beat Dennis Setzer to win the Ram Tough 200 in Madison, Ill.

* Next race: Virginia Is For Lovers 200, Sept. 9, Richmond.

INDY RACING LEAGUE, Colorado 200

* When: Saturday, qualifying (Speedvision, 11:30 a.m.); Sunday, race (Fox Sports West, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Pikes Peak International Raceway (oval, 1 mile, 10 degrees banking in turns), Fountain, Colo.

* Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

* Defending champion: Inaugural race.

* Last race: Greg Ray won for the second time in his IRL career, taking the MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200 in Dover, Del. Ray passed Stephan Gregoire on the 172nd of 200 laps.

* Next race: vegas.com 500., Sept. 26, Las Vegas.

FORMULA ONE, Belgian Grand Prix

* When: Saturday, qualifying (Speedvision, 4 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speedvision, 4:30 a.m.)

* Where: Spa-Francorchamps (road course, 4.329 miles), Belgium.

* Race distance: 190.476 miles, 44 laps.

* Defending champion: Damon Hill.

* Last race: Mika Hakkinen led the Hungarian Grand Prix from start to finish for his fourth victory of the season. Series points leader Eddie Irvine finished third.

* Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Sept. 12, Monza.