Second Race at Fontana Not Likely, Helton Says

The chances of California Speedway getting a second Winston Cup race are about the same as the possibility of American-built Toyotas or Nissans appearing in a Winston Cup race.

“Possibly some day, but not right now,” Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, said Monday.

“I don’t think we can handle any more races on our schedule,” he said. “There are good arguments for another race at Fontana that make a lot of sense, but at the same time we are trying to maintain loyalty to areas that got us to where we are now.”

That would be Martinsville, Va., Bristol, Tenn., and Richmond, the only tracks still on the schedule that are shorter than one mile. All host two races a year.

The existing schedule has 36 points races plus two other weekends of racing from February to November.

“As for an import getting into Winston Cup, we know some are made in the United States, which would comply with our American-built regulation, but the hang up is that our cars are normally aspirated, while theirs are fuel-injected.

“Of course, the way we build our Winston Cup cars today, they are more NASCAR stock cars than manufacturers’ stock cars. So, maybe one of these days, we’ll see a Toyota or a Mercedes or a Nissan in our races.”

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Four drivers, headed by Kyle Petty, were second day qualifiers for Thursday’s Twin 125 races. Petty’s speed of 183.061 mph in a Dodge Intrepid put him in 27th place. Other late qualifiers included veteran Mike Skinner, 41st at 181.785; Kirk Shelmerdine, 51st at 178.246; and Norm Benning, 53rd and last at 168.429.

“We’re 27th and that’s borderline,” Petty said. “We really don’t know how anybody stacks up right now. How can you know? They’ve changed the rules since last year. You just don’t know where anybody’s at.”

One thing is certain, rookie Jimmie Johnson and 2001 rookie of the year Kevin Harvick will start on the front row of Sunday’s Daytona 500. They earned their spots as the fastest qualifiers Saturday.

Positions 3 through 30 will be made up of the highest finishers in the Twin 125s. Positions 31-36 will be determined by qualifying speeds, and 37-42 are provisionals determined by car owner’s rank last season. The 43rd and final spot is reserved for any former Winston Cup champion who might otherwise have failed to qualify.

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Jeff Gordon received his fourth driver of the year award from sponsor Barry Schmoyer, making him the most honored driver since the award was initiated in 1967. Mario Andretti and Darrell Waltrip had been three-time recipients.

Gordon will receive an Indian Chief motorcycle as his award.

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Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and three other open-wheel drivers, Sam Hornish Jr. and Scott Sharp of the Indy Racing League and Danny Lasoski of the World of Outlaws, got in some high-banked testing for Friday’s International Race of Champions.

“It’s been a total learning curve for me, I’ve never been on pavement before,” said Lasoski, whose sprint car is owned by Tony Stewart, another IROC entrant. “Ever since I got the invite, Tony has been really talking it up big. At the end of the year, he and I went one on one in testing and I whipped him up bad. He says now it’s time to get even.”

Al Unser Jr., a driver without a ride for 2002--except for IROC--also was on hand.

“I’ve got some things working, I hope, but nothing definite,” said the two-time Indy champion. Unser lost his IRL ride when Budweiser dropped its sponsorship of Rick Galles’ team.

It was fortunate for IROC to get Castroneves as one of its drivers. The Brazilian is the only “international” driver in the 12-car field.