Swift Team Gets Back on Track

San Clemente-based Swift Engineering reenters the CART FedEx Championship Series with Tarso Marques at the wheel for the Firestone Firehawk 500 Saturday in Motegi, Japan.

Dale Coyne Racing entered an agreement with Swift to field a Ford-powered chassis. Swift engineers, not race team members, will set up the car to the get the most out of it in Motegi.

“It will really be the first time that Swift will be running the car under Swift’s name, and we’ll have all the responsibility for the performance of the car,” Swift President Gary Holmes said.

The chassis has registered four first-place finishes, 11 seconds and 10 thirds in the last three years, with 74 top-10 finishes in 157 starts. But Holmes expects the car to perform even better with his people tweaking the chassis.

“The key is coupling the technical people from within Swift, the original design and aerodynamics team, with the people who know what to do at the race track,” Holmes said.

Team manager Peter Scott of Carlsbad and race engineer Casper van der Schoot of San Clemente, who ran Helio Castro-Neves’ team last season for Carl Hogan Racing, were hired by Holmes to handle the race work, along with the chassis’ chief designer, Tom Huschilt of San Clemente.

Five races into the season, this will be Swift’s 2000 debut. The company severed its relationship with Gerald Forsythe’s team this year. Before that agreement ended, Marques had clocked successive laps at Phoenix International Raceway of 20.7, 20.5 and 20.4 seconds in a chassis prepared by Swift technicians. Marques was faster than Bryan Herta in a second Swift chassis prepared by Forsythe’s team members.

Herta, by the way, is the track record-holder at Phoenix; Marques had never sat in a Swift chassis.

“Firestone engineers tell us that our times were set with a harder and slower tire compound than the one used by Paul Tracy, who had the previous fast lap during testing this year in a Honda-powered car at 20.6 seconds,” Holmes said.

Because the Swift chassis is custom-designed to the engine, the chassis was redesigned for a Ford engine after the Honda-powered Forsythe deal ended. “We’re going into Motegi with nothing more than the confidence in our team and assembly people that the car is going to be intact,” Holmes said.

In reality, the Motegi race is being used to shake down the chassis, something most teams do during Spring Training in Homestead, Fla., in early February.

“At Motegi, the No. 1 consideration for success is [maintaining] the integrity of the car; No. 2 is finishing the race, which would be unheard-of for a car that hasn’t run a single mile of testing,” Holmes said.

Basically, don’t expect much--yet.

SPEEDWAY

After two weeks, the rider to beat appears to be San Bernardino’s Charlie Venegas, who has won three of the four main events in scratch and handicap racing at the Costa Mesa Speedway.

“I’m really happy things are starting off this way,” Venegas said. “I work hard at what I do, I worked hard over the summer on my form, and I’m picking up where I left off last year.”

Venegas, 33, finished sixth last season. He holds a 19-point lead over Gary Hicks of Riverside.

“He [has been] deadly serious, which sometimes worked to his detriment in the past,” said Brad Oxley, two-time defending season champion and also the race promoter. “This year, it seems like he comes to the race like he wants to ride the bike and have fun. I’ve found that when you do that, it pays dividends. I think he’s been too serious in the past. He might be a handful this year if he can just lighten up a little bit.”

Venegas will be busy on weekends. For the third year in a row, he will be competing in Auburn, racing there on Fridays and Costa Mesa on Saturdays. His first race in Auburn is tonight.

Oxley said last week’s racing was especially impressive. “Sometimes it gets a little predictable,” he said. “But the races went down to the last second, guys were flipping through the air, the crowd was really into it. It was a little more interesting than most nights.”

NHRA

Anaheim’s Cory McClenathan had the top qualifying run at the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway on Sunday, clocking a track-record elapsed time of 4.5777 seconds (312.35 mph). It was the third-fastest time this season, and the 25th time McClenathan has been the top qualifier. However, his weekend was a disappointment; he lost in a quarterfinal to Larry Dixon when a broken rocker exhaust stand killed power to his engine at 1,000 feet.

“Qualifying No. 1 is only a temporary confidence- and ego-builder; winning the race is what it’s all about,” McClenathan said.

“I feel awful. We just can’t seem to get a break. The rocker exhaust stand breaking is a freak thing, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Our luck will change, and when it does, you’ll be seeing the MBNA dragster in the winner’s circle.”

Yorba Linda’s John Force won the Funny Car title.

If you have an item or idea for the motor racing report, you can fax us at (714)966-5663 or e-mail us at martin.henderson@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ON TRACK

Orange County Speedway

Through May 7

Speedway motorcycles

1. Charlie Venegas, San Bernardino94

2. Gary Hicks, Riverside75

3. Brad Oxley, San Juan Capistrano63

4. Bobby Schwartz, Costa Mesa57

5. Shawn McConnell, Brea55

6. Randy DiFrancesco, Bakersfield45

7. Ryan Fisher, Norco41

8. Eddie Castro, Ojai35

9. Charles Ermolenko, Cypress29

10. Gary Ackroyd, Newport Beach28

10. Jim Estes, Winnetka28

Schedule

Saturday--Mother’s Day (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 20--Olympic of Speedway (speedway, sidecars).

June 3--Harley Blowout (speedway, sidecars, Harley races); 10--Jack Milne Cup (speedway, sidecars); 17--Father’s Day (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 24--Championship 25-lap Classic (speedway).

July 8--Fan Appreciation Night w/Razzo (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 14--Friday sidecar, quad, midget championship; 15--Fair Derby (speedway); 16--Youth Motorized Olympics (Jr. speedway series), Vintage Dirt Track races.

Aug. 5--Demolition Derby (speedway, sidecars); 12--Kids Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 19--Harley-Davidson Night (speedway, sidecars, Harley races and show); 26--Dan Nay Night (championship speedway, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway).

Irwindale Speedway

Through May 7

Super Late Model

1. Greg Voigt, Goleta234

2. Ben Walker, North Hills192

3. Dan Holtz, Bakersfield188

4. David Brandon, Palmdale162

5. Tim Woods, Chino160

6. A.J. DiMarzo, Saugus154

7. Charles Utts, Camarillo130

8. Rod Johnson, Saugus126

9. Brian Kelley, Arleta118

10. Dennis Arena, Duarte116

Super Stock

1. T.K. Karvasek, North Hills198

2. Jeff Green, Long Beach190

3. Mike Price, San Pedro154

4. Greg Benner, Whittier150

5. Don Rogers, Simi Valley138

6. Steve Gilmore, Granada Hills136

6. Yagel Berkovitz, Burbank136

8. Kevin Wood, Saugus132

9. Dean Cato, Fullerton126

10. Doug McComb, Thousand Oaks124

Late Model

1. James Weston, Goleta238

2. Tony Green, Oak Hills 236

3. Todd Burns, Riverside218

4. David Hessing, Canyon Country202

5. Guy Goldstein, Cathedral City200

6. Richard Hooper, Palmdale188

7. Deryk Ward, Palm Springs176

8. Steve Nickolai, Simi Valley172

9. Mike Haney, Alta Loma140

10. Dan DiGiammarino, Highland134

Grand American

1. Dean Kuhn, Oceanside88

1. Robert Rice, Hawthorne88

3. Rip Michels, Mission Hills84

4. David Andrews, Frazier Park78

5. Tom Topping, Los Angeles76

6. Jimmy White, Covina72

7. John Watkinson, Canyon Country68

7. Roger Carufel Jr., Saugus68

9. Henry Ford Jr., Alta Loma62

10. Bruce Gallion, Lancaster60

10. Steve Luecht, Chula Vista60

10. Brian Tully, Redondo Beach60

Schedule

Saturday--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds, T.Q. Midgets, Figure 8s; 20--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Legends Cars, Mini Stocks, Speed Trucks; 27-- NASCAR Super Late Model Twin 50s, Super Stock, Mini Stock cars, Figure 8s.

June 3--NASCAR Late Models Twin 40s, Super Stock, Grand American Modifieds, Formula Mazda, Figure 8s; 10--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Spec Trucks, Legends Cars; 17--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, Speed Trucks, Mini Stocks, Figure 8s, American Race Trucks; 24--NASCAR Home Depot Winston West 250, Super Late Models.

Perris Auto

Speedway

Through May 7

SCRA Sprint Cars

1. Richard Griffin, Silver City, N.M.654

2. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix491

3. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda481

4. Ricky Gaunt, Torrance457

5. Tony Jones, Corona441

6. Steve Ostling, Corona434

7. Mike English, Norwalk418

8. Mike Kirby, Lomita359

9. Troy Rutherford, Ojai357

10. John Scott, Hesperia351

PASSCAR Street Stocks

1. Luke Dodd, Riverside139

2. Ron Sanders, Wildomar125

2. Tim Shadduck, Hemet125

4. Henry Wesolowski Sr., Temecula112

5. Ron Warkington, Riverside109

6. Rusty Stewart, Lakewood102

7. Everett Burns, Riverside100

8. Art Hovind, Corona79

9. Eddie Lagor, Nuevo72

10. Ken Searcy, Nuevo69

Champ Trucks

1. David Schuyler, Lompoc181

2. Dino Napier, Corona154

3. Todd Cunningham, Corona150

4. Jack Dodd, Riverside142

5. Gary Cecil, Corona120

6. David Jackson, Victorville118

7. Mike Hixson, Murrieta113

8. Mark Anderson, Sky Valley103

9. Cap Pidgeon, Signal Hill95

10. Art Peterson, Cathedral City95

Schedule

Saturday--Stocks, Trucks, Bandit Sprints, Cruisers; 20--USAC Midgets, Late Models; 27--SCRA Sprints, 50 laps.

June 3--SCRA Sprints; 10--Stocks, Trucks; 17--Flat Track Motorcycles; 24--Stocks, Trucks, Cruisers.