Long Is Closing In on His F-1 Dream

When Patrick Long was 15 and living in Agoura Hills, he packed his suitcase, left home and family and flew to Italy to race karts in Europe.

“I didn’t know the language, I didn’t know any people, I really felt alone, but it was something I had to do,” Long said during a visit home this week.

What he did have was a contract from the powerful CRG factory team in Italy, which had been impressed by his winning ways in capturing the IKF Formula A title and the WKA Constructors’ Cup for SSC Racing of Palm Springs the previous year.

Long is 20 now, the lead driver for the powerful Van Dieman works team in the British Formula Ford series, a steppingstone to Formula One. Van Dieman alumni include Dario Franchitti, Alex Zanardi and Nigel Mansell.

“Formula One desperately needs an American driver, and I hope to be the one in a couple of years,” Long said. “I hope I can ride that wave the way Jenson Button rode the one for a UK driver last year.”

Long lives in a 12th century farmhouse in Milton Keynes, north of London, in the heart of Formula One country. His room is the same one occupied by Franchitti when he was racing for Van Dieman.

“Driving a race car in Europe is a seven-day-a-week job,” said Long, who does testing and development work for his team as well as racing. “We are close to Silverstone, where most of the F-1 teams test, and the best thing about racing in Europe is that you’re never more than an hour and a half from your next race. It’s not like in the States, where you sometimes have to travel all day to get from one track to another.”

After a year of karting in 1998 when he won 15 races in a row, Long moved up to formula cars and finished third in the Elf Campus series in France. While crisscrossing the Atlantic to also race in the Skip Barber Formula Dodge series, the teenager won nine of 11 races.

In 2000, he moved to England to compete in the British Formula Ford Zetec junior series, where his driving brought him an invitation from Van Dieman for this year’s British Formula Ford series.

“I’m hoping my success this year [wins at Brands Hatch and Outlon Park in England] will get me a shot at Formula 3 next year. That’s the next step before Formula One.

“My long-range ambition is to reach the top level in auto racing. Formula One is the ultimate today, but I’d like to do what Mario [Andretti] did and win at everything.

“I think racing’s in my blood, in my genes. It all started with my grandpa. He never raced competitively, but he had the best hot rods in Glendale. He bought my dad a kart when he was 8 and my dad bought me one when I was 6. Ever since then, racing’s all I’ve thought about.”

When John Long, Patrick’s father, gave up racing for surfing, little Patrick followed after his Uncle Pat, who raced at Ascot Park for years.

“I can remember going to Ascot when I was 3 and thinking even then that that was what I wanted to do, to drive a race car,” Patrick said.

Long heads back to the UK next week for a race in Scotland, at the Knockhill circuit. En route he will stop at Mid-Ohio for the CART champ car race on Sunday to visit with Bobby Rahal and Kenny Brack.

Rahal has a CART team with Brack and Max Papis and also runs the Jaguar Formula One team, which is based in Milton Keynes. Brack, the former Indianapolis 500 winner from Sweden who is leading this year’s CART season, is one of Long’s managers.

“Kenny drove for Van Dieman too, but I was more than flattered when he chose to go for an American when there were three Swedish drivers in my series. He has been a big help, coming to some of my races and helping me with contacts and advice.”

Another advisor is Danny Sullivan, the retired Indy 500 winner and one-time Formula One driver.

“Danny started out the same way I did, in Europe with nothing but a suitcase and a dream. I met him at Irwindale Speedway a couple of years ago when I was there to visit Nick DeFazio.”

DeFazio, son of Irwindale General Manager Bob DeFazio, was a karting teammate of Long’s a few years ago. He is now racing super late model stock cars.

“I am continually amazed at how small the racing world is, the way people like Kenny Brack and Danny Sullivan and the DeFazios and a lot of other former teammates and competitors cross paths at the most unusual places.”

Short Tracks

Competition couldn’t get much closer at Irwindale Speedway than it is in the track’s two top divisions, super late model and late model.

Former Winston West champion Sean Woodside of Saugus holds a tenuous two-point lead over Brent Reynolds of Escondido, 548-546, in the Food 4 Less super late models. Five of 20 races remain. Woodside drives a Chevrolet, Reynolds a Pontiac.

Still in contention are Nathan Wulff of San Marcos, 518; David Gilliland of Chino, 498; and Tommy Fry of Simi Valley, 490, all in Chevrolets. Tim Woods III of Chino, with 420, is the leading Ford.

In the Auto Club late model race, Deryk Ward, the “X-Man” from Palm Springs, and Dave Hessing of Canyon Country are deadlocked with 472 points.

The late models will run Twin 40s this week on the half-mile paved oval that will go a long way toward determining the champion. The super late models, after taking this week off, will return next week for Twin 50s.

Super late models are purpose-built race cars with fiberglass bodies; late models are built from production frames, using production suspension. Both use 360-cubic-inch V8 engines.

Ventura’s Cory Kruseman will be shooting for a record fifth win in a row at Perris Auto Speedway when the Sprint Car Racing Assn. returns to the half-mile dirt oval Saturday night.

Kruseman and Rip Williams share the track record of four in a row. Williams did it in 1997 and again in 1998 and is Perris’ all-time leader with 31 wins. With eight Perris victories this season, Kruseman has 26 in his career.

Mike Kirby of Lomita finished second in the last Perris race and won last week’s SCRA main event at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare.

George Gervais of Mira Loma remained unconscious and in critical condition at a Riverside hospital Thursday after his July 28 accident at Perris. Gervais’ family reports that he is showing some signs of improvement and has said that he has displayed eye and facial responses to voices.

Gary Tamborelli of Orange Show Speedway is the highest-rated driver in the Pacific Coast Region of NASCAR’s $1.7-million Weekly Racing Series. Tamborelli is fifth, with Ron Overman of Cajon Speedway seventh, Dan Holtz of Mesa Marin Raceway eighth and Woodside ninth. The national champion will collect $165,000, with 10 regional winners receiving $41,900 each.

Last Laps

CART, still trying to lock up a TV package in this country, has lined up Italian TV group Mediaset to air its upcoming oval track races in England and Germany on Italian television. The German 500 is Sept. 15 at Lausitz and the Rockingham 500 is Sept. 22 at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Britain.

The latest honorees in the National Hot Rod Assn.’s list of its top 50 drivers are Ed “Ace” McCulloch, No. 19, and Dyno Don Nicholson, No. 18. . . . McDonald’s has dropped its sponsorship of Cal Wells’ No. 96 NASCAR Ford Taurus for 2002. Wells’ PPI Motorsports will field a one-car team, the No. 32 Tide Ford now being driven by Ricky Craven.

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This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP, Global Crossing at the Glen

* When: Today, qualifying (CNNSI, noon); Sunday, race (Channel 4, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Watkins Glen International (permanent road course, 2.45 miles, 11 turns); Watkins Glen, N.Y.

* Race distance: 220.5 miles, 90 laps.

* Last race: Jeff Gordon won the Brickyard 400, becoming the first three-time winner of the race. A two-tire pit stop gave Gordon track position and he took full advantage, passing Sterling Marlin for the lead on a restart 35 laps from the end of the 160-lap event. Gordon, who started 27th, beat Marlin to the finish line by 0.094 seconds.

* Last year: Steve Park, who started 18th, drove to a five-length victory over Mark Martin. Gordon finished 23rd, ending his record run of six consecutive victories on road courses.

* Next race: Pepsi 400, Aug. 19, Brooklyn, Mich.

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

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS, Federated Auto Parts 200

* When: Today, race (ESPN, 5 p.m.)

* Where: Nashville Superspeedway (tri-oval 1.33 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns); Gladeville, Tenn.

* Race distance: 150 laps, 200 miles.

* Last race: Jack Sprague took the lead from Joe Ruttman on the first lap, lost it only after the first round of pit stops and held off Terry Cook to win the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. It was Sprague’s second consecutive victory and third this season.

* Last year: Randy Tolsma took the lead on the 149th of 250 laps and held off Dennis Setzer to win by 1.402 seconds.

* Next race: Sears Craftsman 175, Aug. 18, Cicero, Ill.

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

CART, Miller Lite 200

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 11:45 a.m. (ESPN2, Sunday, 10 a.m., tape); Sunday, race (ESPN, 9 a.m.).

* Where: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (permanent road course, 2.258 miles, 13 turns); Lexington, Ohio.

* Race distance: 187.314 miles, 83 laps.

* Last race: Kenny Brack ended his two-race drought, winning the Target Grand Prix at Chicago Motor Speedway. After a pair of no-points finishes, the convincing win by Brack moved him from a three-point lead over Dario Franchitti coming into the race to a 22-point edge over Helio Castroneves.

* Last year: Penske Racing teammates Castroneves and Gil de Ferran finished 1-2, running in the first two spots for 79 of the race’s 83 laps, losing ground only on pit stops.

* Next race: Motorola 220, Aug. 19, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

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

IRL, Belterra Resort Indy 300

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 10 a.m. (Sunday, ESPN2, 9 p.m., tape); Sunday, race (Channel 7, 10:30 a.m.)

* Where: Kentucky Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns); Sparta, Ky.

* Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

* Last race: Buddy Lazier cut into Sam Hornish Jr.’s lead by racing to his third victory in his last four starts, leading the final 23 laps of the Harrah’s Indy 200. The IRL champion, who has a series-record seven victories, trails Hornish by 40 points with five races remaining.

* Last year: Lazier won, taking the lead for good 31 laps from the end. He moved to the top when Sarah Fisher made her final pit stop. Pole-sitter Scott Goodyear finished second, with Fisher third.

* Next race: Gateway Indy 250, Aug. 26, Madison, Ill.

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

Associated Press