Shifting Gears

The wheelbase of Cal Wells III’s racing empire keeps getting wider.

Wells, the San Clemente resident whose Precision Preparation, Inc., shop in Rancho Santa Margarita is home to two CART FedEx Championship Series teams, two Toyota Atlantic teams and Ivan Stewart’s annual off-road runs through Baja, will build a new shop within three years in Charlotte, N.C., and field NASCAR teams next year.

“I believe it’s important to invest in NASCAR’s popularity, to invest in that intense competition and seize the opportunities as they develop,” Wells said.

Jeff Huber, a former off-road driver for Wells in the 1980s, will be the general manager and oversee the NASCAR operation.

PPI will field a Grand National team next year, with hopes of it evolving into a Winston Cup team in 2001.

Negotiations are also taking place with Procter and Gamble for sponsorship of a Winston Cup team next season.

“As we expand into new areas, we might retreat in others,” Wells said of his racing empire. “My hope is that we can keep all these plates in the air.”

Wells said he’s looking for a young talent to pilot the Grand National car, a more established driver for the Winston Cup entry.

Branching into NASCAR was natural, he said.

“I think it’s important to be part of the biggest racing series in the world,” Wells said. “And while we’re only going to be a small part, if you’re a real racer and you want to race in the multiple disciplines available today, NASCAR and CART are the places to be.

“Racing is what I do.”

Though Wells doesn’t drive the car, he is nevertheless driven by the opportunity to compete, much like former NFL Coach Joe Gibbs, who fields NHRA and NASCAR teams.

“I wouldn’t say it’s ego that drives me, but the pure competition,” Wells said. “As the series continues to grow in popularity, it also increases in stability, and those things are important in the industry and critical to its survival. But the big reason is I love to race.”

Wells, who owns Arciero-Wells Racing with Frank Arciero, has focused on the open-wheel champ cars of drivers Cristiano da Matta and Scott Pruett in recent years. Wells says CART and NASCAR teams will both benefit from his joint involvement.

“There’s a number of cooperative arrangements my sponsors can enjoy,” Wells said. “That’s what we’re focusing on, and that allows us to do what we want to do, which is race cars at the top levels.

“It can only have a positive impact.”

The biggest challenge facing Wells is finding the people to be successful. “We have a lot of real good people, but I need a lot more of them,” Wells said. “The right people are tough to find. Our CART program is buttoned down with extraordinarily good people. Our start-up group in North Carolina is very good. Our biggest challenge is getting them all together, but it will also be our biggest reward.”

Da Matta, a CART rookie, has been very good this season, finishing as high as fourth and qualifying as high as sixth. He is 18th overall in the series.

Pruett has been less successful, largely because he has had three different engineers this year, but scored a season-best seventh on Sunday.

Wells’ Toyota Atlantic team has been extremely successful: Anthony Lazzaro leads the series after six of 12 races; Andrew Bordin, seventh in the standings, won the last race at Road America.

Stewart won the Baja 500 and is again a favorite to win the Baja 1000 in November.