County Drivers Seek Upward Mobility

The silly season, the hot-stove league for CART racing enthusiasts, is serious business for Daniel Wheldon, Andrew Bordin and Townsend Bell.

The three Orange County drivers have had success in CART’s development series, and now they would like to take the next step--to the FedEx Championship Series.

Bell, from Costa Mesa, is second in the Dayton Indy Lights Series driving for Dorricott Racing. Wheldon and Bordin are second and fourth in the Toyota Atlantic Series, but team owner Cal Wells III has already announced that his Rancho Santa Margarita-based Atlantic team will cease when the season ends two races from now. For them, there’s a greater sense of urgency in finding a ride in 2001.

Wheldon, who is 14 points behind series leader Buddy Rice with two races remaining, goes into Saturday’s event in St. Louis with a chance to continue to open eyes.

Now a first-year driver on the Atlantic series, Wheldon moved up from British karting circuits and won the 1999 U.S. Formula Ford 2000 series title. Over the last two years he has eight victories, nine pole positions and 19 podium finishes in 23 races. And this as a rookie in both series.

“In racing, the thing that’s important is you put yourself in a professional environment with the right people around you,” Wheldon said. “If you can’t get one of those teams, maybe you have to look at the next formula down that can provide the right environment.”

In addition to PPI Motorsports of Rancho Santa Margarita, Wheldon has talked to three of the top teams in the series, believed to be Chip Ganassi Racing, Pat Patrick Racing and Forsythe Championship Racing.

“I think there’s a good chance I’ll get a [Champ car] seat,” Wheldon said. “For sure, I’m guaranteed an Indy Lights ride next year.”

In the case of Indy Lights, Wheldon must decide between Dorricott Racing, which is based in Bakersfield, and PacWest Racing. PacWest driver Scott Dixon is first, and Dorricott drivers are second and third.

Bordin is in his third season with PPI in the Atlantic series. He finished second in 1998, third in ‘99, and can move into third place this weekend; he trails Argentina’s Martin Basso by 12 points.

Bordin, a Canadian, covets the position at Team Player’s created by the departure of Patrick Carpentier.

“If I want to run the Indy Racing League, I think I can go run that tomorrow,” Bordin said. “I’ve already been in contact with a couple of teams. I can run there for sure if I’d like to, but I think Champ cars is my place right now. If I don’t get anything, I might look at the IRL. I think I’d do a good job there, and I think it’s a growing series. I think I could help them.

“At the very worst, I’ll be doing a couple of races in Champ cars.”

Bell has had a solid season. Though he has little chance of catching Dixon of New Zealand in the next three races, including Sunday’s race at Gateway International Raceway, Bell holds a one-point lead over Felipe Giaffone and Dorricott Racing teammate Casey Mears in the battle for second place.

Dorricott, a three-car team, is holding tryouts next month for positions to fill its seats for next year. But Bell is likely to remain with the team another season if he doesn’t get a Champ car ride.

“It would be foolish to go to a noncompetitive situation just for kicks,” Bell said. “I’m trying to get there as soon as possible, but in a competitive situation.

“Being an American running up front in Indy Lights helps. There’s been so much talk about where the next American drivers are coming from. Most of the team owners have shown that it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re quick.

“People have started to use me as an example of a guy who can help equalize the numbers in CART. That’s certainly positive, but I know that winning races and a championship is going to speak the loudest.”

KARTING

The Dromo One indoor karting facility in Orange hosted its fourth Grand Prix race Tuesday. Marc Cota-Robles of Santa Ana won the monthly 16-lap race, holding off pole-sitter Travis Kolt of Huntington Beach after swapping the lead several times. Kolt was penalized for blocking; Fullerton’s Jose Alvarez took second and Genniene Leister of Buena Park third.

There were 30 arrive-and-drive entrants, who paid $50, vying for the 10-man final. Future Grand Prix events are Oct. 3, Oct. 24, Nov. 14 and Dec. 5.

NASCAR

Scott Pruett, Winston Cup driver for PPI Motorsports, is still finding work as a children’s author. Pruett and his wife, Judy, wrote “12 Little Race Cars” last year when Pruett was competing in the open-wheel CART series. The book is being re-released in January as “12 More Little Race Cars” with graphics depicting stock cars.

The Pruetts are writing “12 Little Race Cars (Rookie Racer)” for release in mid-2001. It will draw from Pruett’s rookie season in the Winston Cup series. The self-published books are available at https://www.amazon.com.

Pruett is coming off a strong performance at Richmond, where he started last but finished 16th in the 43-car field. He started 35th and finished 27th, eight laps behind the leader, in his first race at Richmond, which he described as the low point of his season.

“This is just light years ahead of where I thought I’d be coming back here,” Pruett said.

This is Pruett’s sixth top-20 finish.

“In perspective to where Cal and Tide started their team in October, and starting completely from scratch, with a driver who’s never raced Winston Cup and hasn’t been to 85% of the tracks, when you take all those things into account, I think what we’re doing is pretty awesome and on the mark,” Pruett said.

* If you have an item or idea for the Orange County Motorsports 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. 10

Speedway motorcycles

1. Charlie Venegas, San Bernardino 474

2. Dukie Ermolenko, Cypress 407

3. Shawn McConnell, Brea 380

4. Bobby Schwartz, Costa Mesa 373

5. Chris Manchester, Upland 321

6. Brad Oxley, San Juan Capistrano 317

7. Randy DiFrancesco, Bakersfield 317

8. Andy Northrup, Alta Loma 311

9. Gary Hicks, Riverside 296

10. Eddie Castro, Ojai 285

Schedule

Saturday--Skirt Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 23--North vs. South (speedway, sidecars), 30--Sidecar State Championship (speedway, sidecars).

Oct. 7--Farewell (speedway, sidecars); 14--Coors Light U.S. National Championship (speedway).

Irwindale Speedway

Through Sept. 10

Super Late Model

1. Greg Voigt, Goleta 764

2. Ben Walker, North Hills 710

3. Tommy Fry, Simi Valley 646

4. Tim Woods, Chino 638

5. David Brandon, Palmdale 598

6. Shawn Brink, Lancaster 504

7. Brandon Loverock, Santa Fe Springs 480

8. Rod Johnson, Saugus 472

9. James Bruncati, Glendora 460

10. Brandon Miller, Rancho Santa Fe 396

Late Model

1. James Weston, Goleta 776

2. Tony Green, Oak Hills 656

3. Steve Nickolai, Simi Valley 636

4. Todd Burns, Riverside 634

5. Deryk Ward, Palm Springs 614

6. David Hessing, Canyon Country 598

7. Richard Hooper, Palmdale 560

8. Guy Goldstein, Cathedral City 504

9. Dan DiGiammarino, Highland 404

10. Nick Conti, Palm Desert 402

Grand American

1. Rip Michels, Mission Hills 532

2. Dean Kuhn, Oceanside 464

3. Robert Rice, Hawthorne 410

4. John Watkinson, Canyon Country 390

5. Steve Luecht, Chula Vista 358

6. Roger Carufel Jr., Saugus 346

7. Tom Topping, Los Angeles 344

8. Travis Thirkettle, Newhall 310

9. David Andrews, Frazier Park 296

10. Aaron Staudinger, Valencia 286

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

6. Greg Tucker, Ojai 248

7. Randy Colling, Santa Ana 244

8. Danny Rowe, Lake Elizabeth 212

9. Howard Brown, Los Angeles 206

10. Rod Bornhop, Orange 192

Schedule

Saturday--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds, Mini Stock cars, Figure 8s, American Race Trucks; 23--USAC Midgets, Sprint Cars, CAM 360, T.Q. Midgets; 30--NASCAR Super Late Models 100, Grand American Modifieds, Mini Stocks, Legends Cars.

Oct. 7--NASCAR Southwest Series, Super Stocks, Legends Cars; 14--USAC SILVER CROWN CARS, Sprint Cars, Grand American Modifieds; 21--NASCAR Late Models 75, ARCA Trucks, Super Stocks 50, T.Q. Midgets, Mini Stocks 25, Supermodified; 28--NASCAR Super Late Models 100, USF3 VW FORMULA 3, Speed Trucks, Legends Cars.

Perris Auto Speedway

Through Sept. 10

SCRA Sprint Cars

1. Richard Griffin, Silver City, N.M. 1748

2. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda 1548

3. Ricky Gaunt, Torrance 1378

4. Steve Ostling, Corona 1235

5. Mike Kirby, Lomita 1212

6. Mike English, Norwalk 1204

7. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix 1200

8. Troy Rutherford, Ojai 1158

9. Cory Kruseman, Ventura 1139

10. Tony Jones, Corona 1091

PASSCAR Street Stocks

1. Luke Dodd, Riverside 279

2. Henry Wesolowski Sr., Temecula 251

3. Ron Warkington, Riverside 210

4. Rick Arringdale, Victorville 205

5. Steve Stewart, Long Beach 189

6. Tim Shadduck, Hemet 182

7. Jeff Dunham, Murrieta 179

8. Ken Searcy, Nuevo 176

9. Eddie Lagor, Nuevo 175

10. Rusty Stewart, Lakewood 171

Champ Trucks

1. Todd Cunningham, Corona 399

2. Dino Napier, Corona 390

3. David Schuyler, Lompoc 358

4. Jack Dodd, Riverside 355

5. Cap Pidgeon, Signal Hill 330

6. Art Peterson, Cathedral City 305

6. Gary Cecil, Corona 305

8. James Gonzalez, Canyon Lake 302

9. Mark Anderson, Sky Valley 277

10. Mike Hixson, Murrieta 256

Schedule

Saturday--Stocks, Trucks, Dwarfs; 23--SCRA Sprints; 30--SCRA Sprints, Lightning Sprints.

Oct. 7--Stocks, Lightning Sprints; 14--Stocks (Fair); 27--SCRA Sprints, USAC Midgets; 28--SCRA Sprints, USAC Midgets.

Nov. 4--Triple Crown Championship, Stocks, Trucks, Lightning Sprints; 10--Oval Nationals, SCRA Sprints; 11--Oval Nationals, SCRA Sprints; 18--SCRA Kindoll Classic, Sprints, 50 laps.