Pruett’s Long Beach Return Not What He Had Expected

The Toyota Grand of Long Beach celebrity race in 1984 was a turning point early in Scott Pruett’s racing career. Now he hopes the 2001 celebrity race will create a similar opportunity late in his career.

“I had won a couple of kart races at Long Beach the previous two years, so I got invited to drive in the celebrity race in ‘84,” Pruett recalled during a visit to the street course he will drive Saturday in this year’s 10-lap pro-celebrity race. “It was kind of a big break for me. I was only 22 and trying to make my way into Indy cars and out of go-karts. When I finished second overall to David Hobbs [then an Indy car driver] it attracted enough attention for me to get rides with IMSA [International Motor Sports Assn.] and the Trans-Am.”

Although the 41-year-old driver is pleased to have the opportunity to run again in the celebrity race, it is not where he expected to be.

Pruett was named with great fanfare by Cal Wells last year to replace Ricky Rudd in the Tide car on the Winston Cup circuit. He signed a three-year contract, leaving Wells’ CART team to take a shot at stock car racing’s premier series with a new team. Neither the car owner nor the driver had ever competed in NASCAR, and Pruett finished 37th in the season standings.

“Unfortunately, sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, Cal got scared and decided to put another driver [Ricky Craven] in the car,” Pruett said. “I was hugely disappointed. I believed in the program, believed we were making progress. We had led some races and I started on the front row at Las Vegas, but Cal decided he wanted a more experienced NASCAR driver and it left me in a difficult position. It was too late in the year to get another full-time ride so I’m sort of left playing the field.”

After driving in Saturday’s fun race, Pruett will be in the ABC television booth Sunday. He also can be seen on ESPN’s “RPM Tonight” show.

As for racing, he will drive the factory Chevrolet Corvette in the 24 Hours of LeMans with Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell. It will be his first visit to the French endurance classic.

“I would love to go back to Indy for the 500, or go back into Winston Cup, but it’s very difficult to get an opportunity with a good team,” he said. “I think my best chances are in sports cars.”

He has driven in four Indy 500s and shared rookie-of-the-year honors with Bernard Jourdain in 1989.

In sports cars, Pruett won the IMSA GTO title in 1986 and 1988, the Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am championship in 1987--the same year he won at Long Beach--and again in 1994. He also was in the winning car in the 24 Hours of Daytona three times.

“Long Beach has always been special to me,” he said. “For my 16th birthday, I got to come down to see the Formula One race. I wandered around the track in awe, wondering when I’d ever get a chance to drive in a place like that.

“Then, in 1988 I rented [an Indy] car from Dick Simon and ran as high as ninth before we had engine failure. That put me in a position to run three more races with the Machinists Union car when Kevin Cogan was injured and from there I landed a full-time ride with Truesports in 1989. I never won [a CART race] at Long Beach, but I made the podium twice.”

He was second to Al Unser Jr. in 1995 and third, behind Alex Zanardi and Mauricio Gugelmin, in 1997.

Besides the usual assortment of entertainment celebrities, Pruett will be joined by three other pros--Robert Huffman, three-time NASCAR Goody’s Dash champion; Sara Senske of the Lynx Racing team in the Barber Pro Series; and actor Josh Brolin, who was moved up in class after beating all the pros last year.

The pros will start 30 seconds after the celebs take the green flag. All will drive identically prepared Toyota Celicas.

SPEEDWAY IS BACK

The speedway motorcycle season will start Saturday night with its traditional Coors Light Spring Classic season opener at the Orange County Fairgrounds, but without its biggest attraction.

Charlie Venegas, who won last year’s national championship at Costa Mesa, may sit out the entire season because of a broken upper leg suffered during an ice race this year in St. Louis. The San Bernardino rider was a champion ice racer before taking up speedway racing.

Gary Hicks, defending Spring Classic champion, will return to face such veterans as former U.S. champions Bobby Schwartz and Mike Faria, who has moved to Reno and is making a rare Costa Mesa appearance.

Heading a strong group of the new challengers will be Ryan Fisher, 17, of Norco, runner-up in last year’s Spring Classic handicap main event.

The regular season at the tiny eighth-mile Costa Mesa Speedway, in its 33rd consecutive year, will start April 21. Weekly racing through the Oct. 13 U.S. Nationals will include both scratch and handicap main events, plus sidecars.

MAZDA RACEWAY?

Bruton Smith started the commercialization of motor racing facilities when he renamed Charlotte Motor Speedway as Lowe’s. Now venerable old Laguna Seca Raceway, a Monterey Peninsula treasure for 44 years, is going to be called the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.

Soon enough, that will become just plain Mazda Raceway and Laguna Seca will have gone by the wayside, same as the Bing Crosby Pro-Am golf tournament at nearby Pebble Beach, which is now the AT&T; National Pro-Am.

“By renaming [Laguna Seca Raceway], we are demonstrating our full commitment to ‘Zoom Zoom,’ ” said Charlie Hughes, president of Mazda’s North American operations. Mazda introduced its ‘Zoom Zoom’ brand campaign last June.

Said John Stornetta, Laguna Seca general manager: “We believe that Mazda’s support will allow us to take the track to the next level and allow us to embark on a capital improvement plan that will make it one of the finest racing facilities in the world.”

TROUBLE IN BRAZIL

Juan-Pablo Montoya came away from the Brazilian Grand Prix a bit disillusioned.

The Indianapolis 500 winner, after a breathtaking pass of defending Formula One champion Michael Schumacher for the lead on the second lap, appeared ready to bring the Williams team its first victory in five years when he was rear-ended by Jos Verstappen’s Arrows-Asiatech on Lap 39.

Montoya had just lapped the Dutch driver when he was rammed and knocked out of the race. Verstappen was fined $15,000 for causing the collision.

“What was going to be one of the best days of my life turned into an unluckily bad one,” Montoya said.

Said Verstappen: “I’m sorry, very sorry because I heard he was leading the race, but I couldn’t avoid him. I hit him, and that was it.”

Williams’ last victory was by Jacques Villeneuve at Luxembourg in 1997. David Coulthard wound up winning in his McLaren-Mercedes, ending Schumacher’s six-race winning streak.

LAST LAPS

Midget cars of the U.S. Auto Club’s Western States series will be back at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday night for the first time since Thanksgiving. Also running will be the NASCAR late models, American race trucks and modified 4s, formerly known as mini-stocks. In a salute to the Long Beach Grand Prix, Irwindale officials announced that $25 tickets will be discounted to $15, with children 12 and under admitted free.

With his victory last week, John Scott of Hesperia moved into second place behind Cory Kruseman of Ventura in the Sprint Car Racing Assn. standings. They, along with defending champion Richard Griffin, will return to action Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway. . . . Makeup of the rained-out World of Outlaws sprint car race at Perris has been changed from Aug. 27 to Sept. 10. . . . Toyota has announced it will become the third engine supplier for Indy Racing League cars in 2003, joining General Motors and Infiniti.

Indoor racing, on a grand scale, is being planned for western Pennsylvania. Bob Brant plans to build a mile speedway inside a 2.6-million-square-foot building next to Pittsburgh International Airport, about 15 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. Brant said the proposed $300-million indoor speedway will seat 120,000. The project passed its first test when Brant received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, necessary because of its proximity to the airport.

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This Week’s Races

NASCAR, Winston Cup Virginia 500

* When: Today, qualifying (Fox Sports Net, noon); Sunday, race (Fox, 9:30 a.m.).

* Where: Martinsville Speedway (oval, 0.526 of a mile, 12-degree banking in turns), Martinsville, Va.

* Race distance: 500 laps, 263 miles.

* Last race: Dale Jarrett raced from sixth place to the lead in 13 laps, passing gambling Johnny Benson and pulling away to win the Harrah’s 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

* Last year: Mark Martin emerged almost unscathed from a track-record-tying 17 caution flags to win, taking the lead with only 64 laps to go.

* On the Net: https://www.nascar.com.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS, Advance Auto Parts 250

* When: Today, qualifying, 10:30 a.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN, 11 a.m.).

* Where: Martinsville Speedway.

* Race distance: 250 laps, 131.5 miles.

* Last race: Ted Musgrave backed up his pole position with a trip to victory circle at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, becoming the first two-time winner this season in NASCAR’s truck series.

* Last year: Bobby Hamilton decided to maintain track position instead of pitting for fresh tires, and out-raced three rivals to win the rain-delayed event.

* On the Net: https://www.nascar.com.

INDY RACING LEAGUE, Infiniti Grand Prix

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.); Sunday, race (ABC, 11 a.m.).

* Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway (oval 1.5 miles, eight-degree banking in turns), Homestead, Fla.

* Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

* Last race: Sam Hornish Jr. won the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 in Avondale, Ariz., becoming the youngest winner in American open-wheel history.

* Last year: Inaugural event.

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* On the Net: https://www.indyracingleague.com.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSN., SummitRacing.com Nationals

* When: Today, qualifying, 2:30 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 11 a.m. (ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.); Sunday, eliminations, 11 a.m. (ESPN, 1:30 p.m.; ESPN2 5 p.m.).

* Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

* Last event: Del Worsham out-raced 10-time NHRA funny car champion John Force to get the fourth victory of his career in the O’Reilly Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. Mike Dunn, Warren Johnson, Angelle Savoie and Randy Daniels also won in the finals.

* Last year: Kenny Bernstein beat Joe Amato to win the top-fuel final. Jim Epler, Jeg Coughlin, Angelle Savoie and Bob Panella won their divisions.

* On the Net: https://www.nhra.com.