All Is Not Wells

Cal Wells III keeps peeking through the blinds from his second floor office. Overlooking the eight mechanics’ bays below him--four are full of race cars--Wells is eyeing his crew piecing together the Toyota Tundra that Ivan “Ironman” Stewart will drive next month in the Baja 2000.

It looks as if Wells would rather be turning wrenches with them.

In the old days, when he and his brother, Dave, were Wells Racing, that’s what Cal would have been doing. Today, he is president of Precision Preparation Inc., and his PPI Motorsports team in Rancho Santa Margarita races bullet cars at 235 mph.

His Southern California racing empire includes two CART Champ cars racing this weekend in the Marlboro 500, a couple of Toyota Atlantic Series entries in which his drivers finished second and third in this year’s series, and two NASCAR Winston Cup cars, raced out of his PPI South shop in Hickory, N.C.

Even though there is a shiny new first-place trophy from the Target Grand Prix at Chicago in his lobby, Wells’ most successful season has been his most frustrating.

On this day, one of Wells’ drivers, Cristiano da Matta, is about to jump ship to Newman-Haas Racing--all that’s left is the announcement. Wells’ other driver, Oriol Servia, will be a free agent in two weeks, and he, too, is studying his options. It has been two months since Toyota told Wells he didn’t fit into the manufacturer’s long-range plans.

There is even a chance that Wells will not field a champ car team in 2001.

What in the name of RodgerWard is going on here?

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Da Matta is 10th in the series standings, Servia 15th. Given the circumstances, Wells gives his team a B grade this season.

“From my perspective, we did everything we could possibly do, based on the situation we were in,” Wells says.

That situation includes being bumped behind four-time series champion car owner Chip Ganassi Racing on the Toyota totem pole; having a driver ask out of a contract; experiencing a changing landscape that could lead to changing engines or dissolution of the program, and starting a Winston Cup team 3,000 miles from home.

“I believe that PPI Motorsports proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt that, given equal equipment, we can run with the best,” Wells says. “I’d like to be able to take what we’ve proven this year, and go to that final level, to that Tier 1 level, where we’re in the top five and we’re considered a threat for a season-long points title. Not necessarily that we win it, but we’re considered a threat throughout the season.”

PPI certainly grew up this year. It is no longer a back marker, no longer slowed by a developmental Toyota engine that had 3% less horsepower and was 10% heavier than this year’s version.

This year meant a lot, because Wells doesn’t have the fat wallet of Carl Haas or Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi.

“Cal’s business is racing,” says Scott Pruett, a 12-year champ car veteran Wells moved into his Ford Taurus in the Winston Cup series. “All the other owners I’ve worked for, their business is something else and racing is a hobby.

“Here, the essence of success is paramount. Other owners want to win, but they don’t have the same desire because they don’t have as much on the line. With Cal growing up as a racer, being a racer, moving into an owner position, he absolutely wants to do it the right way.”

Racing is Wells’ livelihood, and the right engine means everything. Wells and Toyota have have been off-road partners since 1982, and Wells became a factory team when they became champ car partners in 1995. His contract with Toyota extends through 2001, but that relationship appears headed for divorce.

Ford, because of its connection with Wells’ Winston Cup team and its participation in off-road racing, would make a logical new partner.

“I’m very respectful and very thankful for the time I’ve had with Toyota, and if it were my choice, I’d have it continue,” Wells says. “Unfortunately, it’s not. So I can respect that, I can understand it, I don’t agree with it. It’s very painful for me, like any divorce.”

That’s not Wells’ only breakup.

Wells says da Matta will announce this week that he is moving to Newman-Haas Racing, where he will replace Michael Andretti, also looking for greener pastures.

This disappoints Wells. He gave da Matta his chance after the Brazilian had won the 1998 Indy Lights title. Wells liked da Matta so much as his lead driver that he exercised his option for 2001, and da Matta responded with a victory in Chicago.

Then Carl Haas began wooing da Matta. As demand for da Matta grew, his finishes lessened. Fourth in the standings after 12 races, da Matta scored only six points over the next four races and his chances of a championship disappeared.

Wells was asked by da Matta to work out an agreement with Haas that would void the contract.

Wells felt jilted.

“I told him I will ,” Wells recalls, “but I’m not happy about it.”

Since da Matta’s victory, the team’s first in CART, he has been outscored by 35 points by Jimmy Vasser, and 16 by Juan Montoya. He is 10th in the standings, and needs a victory Sunday to have a puncher’s chance to finish in the top five.

Yet, da Matta has also flashed the talent that Wells saw in him two years ago. He finished fourth in two of the last three races, and his eight top-five finishes exceed those of Vasser, who is tied for fifth in the series, and Montoya, the defending champion in ninth.

Wells has an eye for talent. Before da Matta, Wells hired Max Papis within weeks of Jeff Krosnoff’s fatal crash at Toronto in 1996. Papis was Bobby Rahal’s hand-picked successor.

All these changes have created a stir in Wells. He hopes to return next season with a vengeance.

“The fact is that if everyone came in and did what they were supposed to do and remained committed to the mantra we set at the beginning of the year, everything would be lovely and our conversation would be very different,” Wells says. “That being said, that’s not what happened.”

And Wells peeks through the blinds.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WELLS’ TEAM

A look at where Cal Wells’ drivers rank in the standings:

CART

10. Cristiano da Matta 112

15. Oriol Servia 64

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NASCAR

38. Scott Pruett 1,717

54. Andy Houston 222