TURNING THE PAGE

Coming off the best season of his career, the last thing Scott Pruett expected was his worst.

But Pruett’s transition from his spot on the pole in last year’s final race for Patrick Racing to the cockpit of his champ car for Arciero-Wells hasn’t been the smoothest.

Engineering changes at Arciero-Wells left Pruett behind the learning curve on the Rancho Santa Margarita-based team, which was already behind the eight-ball because it uses the still-developing Toyota engine.

Frustrating season?

Yes.

Rewarding?

Yes. But for a different reason.

Scott Pruett, author, is sitting pretty.

He and his wife, Judy, recently self-published “12 Little Race Cars,” a book for children up to about 10 years of age. Its success has shocked them.

The Pruetts unveiled their 32-page rhyming and counting book over Father’s Day weekend in Portland, Ore., during the Budweiser/G.I. Joe’s 200. They took 1,000 books with them, and sold out.

The first printing was 10,000 copies, and they have sold 7,000 in three weeks, mostly on a Website, https://www.wordweaverbooks.com.

The Pruetts, who have two daughters, Lauren, 11, and Taylor, 1 1/2, are considering a second book, and for good reason. After talks with Mattel and Fisher-Price, cartoons, CD-ROMS and toys are a possibility down the road.

“It’s far exceeded any of our expectations,” Pruett said. “We did it for our own enjoyment and fun. We had no expectations. We thought, ‘Let’s give it a go--if it doesn’t go well, we can say we had a great time doing it.’ ”

It began with the Pruetts playing a rhyming game on a rainy day at their Sacramento-area home, and ended with Judy pushing the project forward as Scott began the racing season.

Future books will likely benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which Pruett works with closely. His golf tournament in Northern California cleared $70,000 for the charity.

The book’s artwork is designed by Glen Eytchison of Irvine and Sacramento’s Mike Dietz.

“[Eytchison] helped bring the story to life with the illustrations,” Pruett said. “In doing it, we wanted to achieve something that wasn’t just appropriate at the track, but was slick enough it could hold its own in any book store, that you’d be drawn to it for the color and characters.”

Pruett the author may be in a celebratory mood, but Pruett the driver is still trying to find his way.

He joined Arciero-Wells this season. Fascinated by technological development, Pruett looked forward to his association with Cal Wells III. But engineer Kenny Anderson left before the season began. Gordon Coppuck filled in temporarily, until John Dick was hired from Team Green after the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“Trying to build the relationship between driver and engineer, that’s the key relationship in racing,” Pruett said. “A good relationship can take a mediocre driver and make him look great, or a bad relationship can make a good driver look terrible.

“We’ve had limited testing, and the testing we’ve tried to do has been hampered by rain. It’s been a bit of a struggle.”

Pruett’s best finish this season is 10th in Nazareth, Pa., and best qualifying effort is 15th in Milwaukee.

Pruett finished 17th (after qualifying 18th) in his most recent race in Cleveland. He will try to improve on that Sunday in the Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

“I came into [the program] with the right attitude,” Pruett said. “I knew and felt in my heart that I had a good understanding of where the program was and where it’s going, and it’s been on par.

“Quite honestly, it is my worst season ever, according to my finishes. It is frustrating. But my focus is turning the program around, giving input to the team and Toyota. The satisfaction is going to be when we put this team on the podium--and it’s going to happen.”

It’s a story he hopes to be part of.