Guerrero Still Not on Track

Roberto Guerrero, hoping to resuscitate his flagging racing career, was scheduled to make his NASCAR Busch Grand National series debut Saturday in the Auto Club 300 at California Speedway in Fontana before he crashed his new Monte Carlo in testing last week at Charlotte, N.C.

Guerrero, 41, suffered a broken right shoulder blade and two cracked ribs last Thursday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

It was another disheartening turn of events for the native of Medellin, Colombia, a two-time Indianapolis 500 runner-up who has been out of racing since finishing 25th at the Brickyard last May.

“I’m very disappointed,” Guerrero said this week from his home in San Juan Capistrano. “To start your career with an accident is not the ideal, of course.

“But at the same time, seeing how well it had gone in those few laps when I was only just starting to sort of get ahold of the car, I think there’s a lot of potential.”

Driving a stock car for the first time, the 16-year Indy car veteran had completed 20 laps without encountering any problems.

“Unfortunately, the throttle stuck open on the 21st lap and I hit the wall in Turn 3,” he said. “Up until then, the guys [in the crew] were really happy. . . . I was really amazed because I was still kind of finding my way around the car. I felt like there was still a lot to come from the car and from myself.

“It’s a little bit of a setback, but we’ll pick up the pieces and go ahead.”

For the engaging Guerrero, that seems to be a recurring theme.

His Indy car career started with a bang in 1984, when he finished second to Rick Mears in the Indy 500 and was the PPG Cup series rookie of the year.

He followed up with a third-place finish at Indy in 1985 and a fourth-place showing in 1986.

His 1987 season, however, was marked by disappointment and a near-fatal crash and his career took a turn for the worse.

Though he won two races, he let a seemingly sure victory at the Indy 500 slip away when his clutch turned balky and his car stalled in the pits during his final stop. Al Unser Sr. swept past for his fourth victory at Indianapolis, and Guerrero again finished second.

Then, on Sept. 10, 1987, Guerrero was critically injured during testing at Indianapolis. Comatose and near death for weeks, he battled back and returned to racing at the Indy 500 in 1988, only to be forced out after an opening-lap collision.

His career has since been filled with similar incidents.

In 1992, he won the pole at the Indianapolis 500 but finished last after his cold tires lost their grip on the second parade lap, sending his car spinning into the wall.

In 1997, three of his last four races ended in accidents, and he also crashed out in the 1998 opener.

Later in 1998, after causing a six-car crash in a race at Fort Worth, Guerrero was fired by Pagan Racing.

He was picked up by Cobb Brothers Racing less than two months later and led for 22 laps in the Lone Star 500 at Fort Worth, becoming the first driver of an Infiniti-powered car to lead a lap in Indy Racing League competition, but he was again left without a ride last May when Cobb suspended operations because of budget constraints.

Guerrero, though, said he never considered retiring.

“I feel I’m in great shape,” he said before last week’s crash. “I’m in better shape than I was when I was 25. I still think I can do a decent job. I still enjoy it.”

When the new Hispanic Racing Team approached Guerrero about sharing a Busch series ride with his brother Jaime, 28, the Indy car veteran jumped at the chance.

“I’d been kind of shopping around and then this thing showed up and I said, ‘Why not? I’ll give it a go,’ ” Guerrero said. “NASCAR is so popular right now. I’ll try it and see what happens.”

He hopes to return to Charlotte for testing early next month with his sights set on the CarQuest Auto Parts 300 at the same track May 27.