Franchitti’s Back but Not Totally

Two years ago, Dario Franchitti, a Scotsman of Italian descent, tied for the CART series championship with Juan Montoya, but lost in a tiebreaker, Montoya having won seven races to Franchitti’s three. At the time, Franchitti hoped that another winning season would result in an opportunity to drive in Formula One, his dream since winning kart championships in his native Scotland when he was a teenager.

Now, after a disappointing winless season in 2000, and a brief, disillusioning shot at F1 with Jaguar, Franchitti is hoping to regain his success of 1999 and, in the process, win his first oval race as a Team Green CART driver. He has won seven races, most recently in July at Cleveland, but all his victories have been on street or road courses.

The Marlboro 500 at California Speedway on Nov. 4 will be his last chance this season. The two events leading up to the Fontana finale are Sunday’s road race at Laguna Seca Raceway and a street race Oct. 28 in Australia, a race Franchitti won in 1999.

“I almost won at Michigan this year and since California Speedway is similar--not the same but similar--I’m looking forward to getting to Fontana,” he said during a stopover in Los Angeles en route from Houston, where he finished second last Sunday, to Laguna Seca. “Any win is sweet, but it would be even sweeter to win at Fontana with a million dollars going to the winner.

“Fontana isn’t as easy to pass as Michigan, but it’s an incredible place to race. You have to think more about setting up the driver ahead of you, deciding when and where you plan to pass. At Michigan, it seems like it’s easier to pick a spot. Of course, just to finish 500 miles is an accomplishment. Look at last year, what was there, about 10 cars left at the finish?”

Actually, only six were running at the end.

At Michigan, in CART’s final race on the two-mile oval west of Detroit, Franchitti finished less than a tenth of a second behind Patrick Carpentier, with Michel Jourdain Jr. a couple of inches back in third. It was the closest finish of the CART season.

Franchitti tested with Jaguar last year at the Silverstone track in England but was not impressed.

“Formula One is still in the back of my mind,” he said. “I’d like to give it a shot, but it’s not my priority anymore. I didn’t much care for the car I drove. I’m happy right now with a two-year extension on my Team Green contract.”

Also appealing to Franchitti is CART’s move toward more international races. Next year’s schedule is not out but it is expected to have 11 races in the U.S. and eight on foreign tracks. CART, which had previously raced in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and Japan, expanded to Europe this season, with races in Germany and England.

“We’re still a U.S.-based series, but the response from foreign tracks and foreign fans has been tremendous,” Franchitti said. “Germany was very difficult because it was only a few days after the Sept. 11 attack and most of the teams were more concerned about their family and friends back in the States, but once the race started it was all positive until Alex [Zanardi’s] accident. In England, we had problems with the weather, but the fans and the Formula One writers there were all enthusiastic. I think we were well received both places.”

Zanardi, one of Franchitti’s closest racing friends, lost his legs after his car was sliced in half by another car late in the race.

One race Franchitti is not especially looking forward to is Sunday’s 83 laps around Laguna Seca’s 2.2-mile hillside course.

“I don’t think we have a race where qualifying is as important as it is there,” he said. “Passing is almost impossible because there is no straightaway, no place to overtake someone under braking. It’s a rhythm circuit. You can’t challenge it and there’s very little grip because the track is not used much.

“Do I like it? No. It’s also physically demanding because it seems like you’re cornering all the time and the G forces can wear you out. One corner flows into another, all the way around. There’s no other track like it, fortunately.”

Speedway Motorcycles

Five former U.S. Speedway champions will be in the 20-rider field when the national championship is decided Saturday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, but missing will be defending champion Charlie Venegas, who broke his leg while racing two weeks ago at Costa Mesa.

Champions seeking another crown include Bart Bast, Mike Faria, Chris Manchester, Bobby Schwartz and Brad Oxley, who doubles as the track’s promoter and maintenance man.

However, the riderto beat may be Josh Larsen, 28, the Costa Mesa track champion from Monrovia. Gary Hicks, 32, the Jack Milne Cup winner from Corona, may be among the contenders too, although he also broke a leg last month and has not raced since. Larsen, who rode for several seasons in the British League, was second to Venegas in last year’s nationals.

Unlike previous U.S. finals, this year’s format features 20 heats, followed by two five-man semifinals and a four-lap championship final.

Sprint Cars or Golf?

Troy Rutherford is a winning sprint car driver, but he may be in the wrong sport.

After going wire to wire in winning a Sprint Car Racing Assn. main event last Friday night at Perris Auto Speedway, his golf game was even more impressive Saturday at the Seven Hills course in Hemet.

When Rutherford, 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds, started hitting balls on the driving range, everything stopped when he took out his driver.

In a skins tournament, the 28-year-old former junior golfer from Ojai hit several drives of more than 340 yards.

On the 350-yard No. 7, his tee shot was about five yards short of the green, and on the 499-yard par-five No. 9, he reached the green with a driver and an eight-iron.

And that was with borrowed clubs.

Stock Cars

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is hosting a weekend of NASCAR racing on its 1.5-mile oval. It includes Featherlite Southwest Tour and Winston West main events Saturday, followed by the Orleans 350, a Craftsman Truck race, on Sunday.

Four-time champion Jack Sprague holds a narrow lead over veteran Joe Ruttman, 3,240 points to 3,176, as the trucks begin their western swing that includes a race in Phoenix on Oct. 26 and the season finale at California Speedway on Nov. 3.

In one of NASCAR’S closest series, only 158 points separate first from fifth. Scott Riggs is third, Travis Kvapil, last week’s winner at Texas, is fourth and Ted Musgrave fifth.

Hometown favorite Brendan Gaughan, a four-time winner, is the Winston West leader but has only a 25-point margin over Mark Reed. The series will end Nov. 10 at Irwindale Speedway.

Last Laps

Winston Cup driver Dale Jarrett will make an appearance Wednesday at the 49th annual California RV Show at the Pomona Fairplex. Jarrett will sign autographs and greet fans at the Fleetwood display from 1-3 p.m.... Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, a pioneer pro stock driver and engine builder, was revealed as No. 8 on the National Hot Rod Assn.’s list of its top 50 all-time drivers.

Kawasaki’s Chris MacClugage, double national jet ski champion from Canyon Lake, will shoot for world championships in his specialties, pro runabout 1200 and pro ski, during the International Jet Sports Boating Assn.’s world finals this weekend in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Defending champions in his events are Nicolas Rius of France in pro runabout 1200 and Jeff Jacobs of San Diego in pro ski. Both ride Yamahas.

Mark Post, 43, drew the No. 1 starting position for the Nov. 9 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. Post, of San Juan Capistrano, drives a Ford F-150--originally built by Robby Gordon--in the feature Trophy-Truck class. Four-time motorcycle winner Johnny Campbell, of San Clemente, will be the first two-wheeler off the starting line in Ensenada on his Honda.

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THIS WEEK

WINSTON CUP

Old Dominion 500

When: Today, qualifying (CNN/SI, noon); Sunday, race (Channel 4, 10 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: Sterling Marlin won the UAW-GM Quality 500 in a Dodge by more than six seconds, about a quarter of the track.

2000 winner: Tony Stewart.

Next race: EA Sports 500, Oct. 21, Talladega, Ala.

On the net: www.nascar.com.

BUSCH

Sam’s Town 250

When: Today, qualifying, 9:30 a.m.; Saturday, race (TNT, 11:30 a.m.)

Where: Memphis Motorsports Park (oval, .75 of a mile, 11-degree banking in turns), Millington, Tenn.

Race distance: 187.5 miles, 250 laps.

Last race: Greg Biffle won the Little Trees 300 in Concord, N.C.

2000 winner: Kevin Harvick.

Next race: Outback Steakhouse 200, Oct. 27, Avondale, Ariz.

On the net: www.nascar.com.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

The Orleans 350

When: Saturday, qualifying, 4 p.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN2, 3 p.m.)

Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles, 12-degree banking in turns), Las Vegas.

Race distance: 219 miles, 146 laps.

Last race: Rookie Travis Kvapil won the Silverado 350 in Fort Worth, Texas.

2000 winner: Inaugural event.

Next race: Chevy Silverado 150, Oct. 26, Avondale, Ariz.

On the net: www.nascar.com.

CART

Honda Grand Prix

When: Saturday, qualifying, 1:45 p.m. (ESPN2, Sunday, midnight, tape); Sunday, race (ESPN, 1 p.m.)

Where: Laguna Seca Raceway (road course, 2.238 miles, 11 turns), Monterey.

Race distance: 185.754 miles, 83 laps.

Last race: Gil de Ferran led all 100 laps and took the lead in the series championship with a victory in the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston.

2000 winner: Helio Castroneves.

Next race: Honda Indy 300, Oct. 28, Surfers Paradise, Australia.

On the net: www.cart.com.

FORMULA ONE

Japanese Grand Prix

When: Today, qualifying, (Speedvision, 9 p.m.); Sunday, race, (Speedvision, 10 p.m. Saturday).

Where: Suzuka Circuit (road course, 3.636 miles, 21 turns), Suzuka, Japan.

Race distance: 192.708 miles, 53 laps.

Last race: Mika Hakkinen, who drives for McLaren, took advantage of two pit stops by Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher to win the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis by 11 seconds.

2000 winner: Schumacher.

On the net: www.formula1.com.