Rahal, 17, Appears Champ Car Bound

Second-generation driver Graham Rahal may still have eyes on Formula One, but he almost certainly will spend the next two seasons in the Champ Car World Series.

The 17-year-old senior-to-be at New Albany High in Ohio has an opportunity to test next month with Newman-Haas Racing, whose lead driver, Sebastian Bourdais, is in position to win his third consecutive championship. If the test goes as expected, Rahal, who has been driving this season in the Mazda Atlantic development series, could find himself with one of the premier teams in American open-wheel racing.

PKV Racing, another Champ Car team, also is interested in young Rahal, the son of former Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, now a team owner in the Indy Racing League, Champ Car’s rival series.

“If we didn’t do anything with him, I’m pretty sure they would,” Chicago businessman Carl Haas said of Graham Rahal. “I think the chances of him being in Champ Car next year are pretty high ... “

Driving for Haas and actor Paul Newman is one of the sport’s plum jobs. In its 24th season, Newman Haas has won 95 races and six championships, three in the last four years.

“Our view is, if you get an offer to drive for Newman-Haas, it would be pretty silly not to accept it,” Bobby Rahal said.

Said Graham: “A lot of people say to get to F1, you have to go to Europe, you can’t get there from Champ Car, but I’ve talked to several people in the F1 community and they don’t feel that’s the case.”

Racing in the F1 feeder series, GP2, is still an option for Graham, but after missing a test in France because of bad weather, it probably would be with a second-tier team.

Bobby, who headed Jaguar’s F1 program in 2000, said two years in Champ Car “wouldn’t be a negative in any respect, and may be a huge positive. He’ll still only be 19, 20 years old. You have to recognize the history and impact that driving for Newman-Haas would have on his career.”

Graham Rahal has won four of 10 Mazda Atlantic races this season, with four pole positions, and is 16 points behind series leader Simon Pagenaud with two races remaining.

The champion will win $2 million to apply toward a Champ Car ride in 2007.

“It’s not a matter of if, as much as who,” Bobby said of his son’s future team. “Nothing is ever 100%, but there’s an awfully good chance he’ll be in Las Vegas [for the season opener] next year in a Champ Car. He just won’t be allowed to go anywhere” because of his age.

NASCAR

Robert Yates is expected to announce today that Riverside driver David Gilliland will replace Elliott Sadler as driver of Yates’ No. 38 Ford in the Nextel Cup Series for the rest of this season and next.

Gilliland, 30, shocked the NASCAR community June 18 at Kentucky Speedway when he won in an unsponsored car. It is the only victory by a non-Cup regular in 26 Busch Series races.

David’s father, Butch Gilliland, a longtime driver in NASCAR’s old Winston West series, says David’s mechanical experience will help Yates rebuild his underperforming team under the direction of newly hired crew chief Todd Parrott.

“When I won the Winston West championship in 1997, David was my crew chief,” Butch Gilliland said. “He understands cars, he understands winning, he understands competition and he understands that 100% is not good enough.”

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Citing testimony in a North Carolina lawsuit, NASCAR Scene reported that Busch series driver Shane Hmiel admitted to testing positive for marijuana as a first offense, and marijuana and cocaine in a second offense, before being banned for life by NASCAR for failing its substance-abuse rules in February.

Hmiel is suing Busch team owner Todd Braun for $135,513, which Hmiel says is owed him for his driving services before the ban, and an additional $135,513 for bad faith dealings by Braun.

Formula One

There will be at least one more United States Grand Prix. Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George and F1 leader Bernie Ecclestone have signed a one-year extension to keep the race at IMS. Race date is June 17, 2007.

This year’s race was the last under the old contract and a partial driver boycott in 2005 had made for strained relationships, with Ecclestone saying F1 didn’t need a race in the U.S.

Last Laps

Costa Mesa’s Bobby Schwartz, who just turned 50, won his third speedway race of the season last week, and will be among the favorites in the Warren Russell Cup race Saturday at Costa Mesa Speedway.

“I think he’s the first 50-year old rider to ever win a speedway motorcycle main event,” promoter Brad Oxley said.

Only 41 points separate first-place Van Knill of Tucson from fourth-place Dan Moore of Burbank in super late models, which will have two races Saturday at Irwindale Speedway. Also on tap are super trucks, legends, Bandoleros and a demolition derby.

Tony Jones of Norco, who had not won in nearly three years before winning the 100-lap Salute to Indy, goes for his fourth USAC/CRA sprint car victory in seven races Saturday on the half-mile oval at Perris Auto Speedway.

Bobby Rahal is among those racing this weekend at the 33rd Monterey Historic Automobile Races in Laguna Seca. Rahal will be driving a BMW M1, a GT car from the early 1980s that raced at Le Mans.