Guerrero Is on the Market and Might Take a Stock Car

By MARTIN HENDERSON

Sept. 8, 2000 12 AM PT

For a guy who has raced only once since the 1999 Indianapolis 500, Roberto Guerrero seems to have a lot of options.

Guerrero, 41, raced two weeks ago in Kentucky for Team Coulson, which is trying to find sponsorship for an Indy Racing Northern Light Series team next year. If Hybrid R&D; Racing fields a second team in that series, Guerrero is a leading candidate for that ride too.

But he is also a front-runner to drive for Hispanic Racing Team, which plans to field a Busch Grand National team next season and add a Winston Cup team in 2002, with Guerrero driving the Cup car and his brother, Jaime Guerrero, in the Busch ride.

Roberto Guerrero, who lives in San Juan Capistrano, has a long history in Indy cars, making his Indy 500 debut in 1984. But a stock car is a different animal.

If he follows that path, he has a chance to hurdle some racial barriers within the NASCAR community.

“I’ve never really thought much of that, but it is a reality,” said Guerrero, a Colombian who got his American citizenship in 1990. “[NASCAR fans] are known for being a bunch of rednecks, so it would make a difference. It would be exciting to be one of the first to put a little diversity into it.”

Guerrero said anyone outside the South is viewed with suspicion by stock car fans, citing the early resentment exhibited toward the team owned by Orange County’s Cal Wells III.

“Even if you were from the North, you weren’t welcome very much,” Guerrero said. “It’s bad enough coming from California. Now, here comes a real foreigner--that would be tough.”

HRT is owned by first-generation Cuban Americans Mike Vasquez of Miami and Rudy Rodriguez of Dallas. They initially sought Juan Montoya, the defending CART champion. He referred the aspiring owners to Jaime Guerrero.

But HRT hit a snag when it tried to enter Jaime Guerrero as its driver in the Coca Cola 600 in Charlotte. “NASCAR said he needs to get more experience before racing at some of the big tracks,” Roberto Guerrero said, “and [HRT] asked if I could do it.

“I never had any interest in driving those cars.”

But Guerrero has the job if he wants it.

“Roberto is a perfect ambassador for the sport, from the fans’ standpoint and from the sponsors’ standpoint. Both him and Jaime are,” Rodriguez said. “Both are well-spoken, well-mannered and have the looks. They’re exactly what the sport is looking for. And they both have the desire to win.”

A mechanical failure prevented Guerrero from qualifying at Charlotte, but he has since tested a half-dozen times.

“I feel really comfortable with the cars now, and they’re fun,” Guerrero said. “They’re very different. They respond very slowly compared to what I’m used to.”

Because of the strong Latino presence in Miami, HRT plans to race the season finale in suburban Homestead, Fla., on Nov. 11.

HRT is currently finalizing contracts to run a full 2001 schedule.

“I told them from the beginning, [even] though it’s a great concept, when it comes down to actually getting the money, it’s never easy,” Guerrero said.

Nor is it an easy transition to stock cars for an open-wheel driver.

“That’s been proven by Scott Pruett and Robby Gordon--those guys can drive and they’re really struggling,” Guerrero said. “P.J. Jones has done the full Busch series, and he gave me a ride from Indy to Charlotte, and it’s very tough--he’s struggling too. There’s a lot to learn.”

NASCAR

Craftsman truck driver Andy Houston, chosen by Wells to drive the second Winston Cup car for PPI next season, never considered Wells an outsider. Living in Hickory, N.C., site of Wells’ NASCAR team, Houston followed PPI’s program after meeting Wells’ team manager, Joe Garone.

“I watched what he had done in Indy car racing and the CART series and knew there were a lot of resources there,” Houston said. “I kept my eye on the program the whole time and knew that he was going to be successful. . . . [Pruett] has made huge gains in a short period of time and I feel like he’s going to be a great teammate.”

An example of those gains by Pruett and the PPI team was demonstrated last weekend. Though Pruett failed to qualify in his first appearance at Darlington in March, he qualified seventh for Sunday’s Southern 500 and spent two-thirds of the race in the top 15 before getting collected in a multi-car wreck in front of him. He dropped to 32nd, but climbed to 24th by the end of the race, which was shortened 29 laps because of rain.

Pruett will have another chance to show his growth this weekend at Richmond for the Monte Carlo 400. When he raced there in May, he qualified 35th and finished 27th.

SPEEDWAY

Orange County Speedway is down to its final six events of the season, beginning with Saturday’s racing plus extreme freestyle motorcycle jumping.

Charlie Venegas continues to hold a commanding lead in the standings with 456 points, but Cypress’ Dukie Ermolenko, Brea’s Shawn McConnell and Costa Mesa’s Bobby Schwartz are separated by only six points in the battle for second place. Ermolenko leads that group with 364 points.

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 Sept. 3

Speedway motorcycles

1. Charlie Venegas, San Bernardino: 456

2. Dukie Ermolenko, Cypress: 364

3. Shawn McConnell, Brea: 363

4. Bobby Schwartz, Costa Mesa: 357

5. Chris Manchester, Upland: 321

6. Brad Oxley, San Juan Capistrano: 317

7. Randy DiFrancesco, Bakersfield: 304

8. Andy Northrup, Alta Loma: 301

9. Eddie Castro, Ojai: 275

10. Gary Hicks, Riverside: 271

Schedule

Saturday--Freestyle Motorcycle Jumping (speedway); 16--Skirt Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway).

Irwindale Speedway

Through Sept. 3

Super Late Model

1. Greg Voigt, Goleta: 720

2. Ben Walker, North Hills: 662

3. Tommy Fry, Simi Valley: 606

4. Tim Woods, Chino: 588

5. David Brandon, Palmdale: 556

Late Model

1. James Weston, Goleta: 726

2. Todd Burns, Riverside: 622

3. Tony Green, Oak Hills : 612

4. Steve Nickolai, Simi Valley: 590

5. David Hessing, Canyon Country: 580

Grand American

1. Rip Michels, Mission Hills: 482

2. Dean Kuhn, Oceanside: 416

3. Robert Rice, Hawthorne: 368

4. John Watkinson, Canyon Country: 352

5. Steve Luecht, Chula Vista: 314

Super Stock

1. Jeff Green, Long Beach: 626

2. Mike Price, San Pedro: 578

3. T.K. Karvasek, North Hills: 554

4. Yagel Berkovitz, Burbank: 546

5. Tom Siebuhr, Canyon Country: 492

6. Kevin Wood, Saugus: 474

7. Greg Benner, Whittier: 400

8. Doug McComb, Thousand Oaks: 366

9. John Wilkes, Northridge: 350

10. Henry Miles, Palmdale: 332

Mini Stocks

1. Bob Reed, Riverside: 364

2. Terry Limberopoulos, Bellflower: 350

3. Lee Ladd, Thousand Oaks: 320

4. Fred Adams, Covina: 262

5. Pat Ackley, Huntington Beach: 250

Schedule

Saturday--NASCAR Super Late Models, Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Legends Cars; 16--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds, Mini Stock cars, Figure 8s, American Race Trucks.

Perris Auto Speedway

Through Sept. 3

SCRA Sprint Cars

1. Richard Griffin, Silver City, N.M.: 1673

2. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda: 1471

3. Ricky Gaunt, Torrance: 1320

4. Mike Kirby, Lomita: 1212

5. Steve Ostling, Corona: 1182

PASSCAR Street Stocks

1. Luke Dodd, Riverside: 279

2. Henry Wesolowski Sr., Temecula: 251

3. Ron Warkington, Riverside: 210