Friday, April 24, 1998 | 8:40 a.m.
BRIAN HILDERBRAND is a Las Vegas SUN sportswriter. His motor sports column appears Fridays. He can be reached on the Internet at [email protected].
Wayne Taylor stands second in the Professional Sports Car Racing's drivers point standings coming into this weekend's Nevada Grand Prix at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the two-time World Sports Car champion is not satisfied.
"Even though we've got two places and I'm second in the championship, I'm still very, very disappointed so far because I think we should have won two races," Taylor said as he prepared for Sunday's 3-hour, 45-minute race on the LVMS 2.25-mile infield road course.
Taylor, who won the World Sports Car championship in 1994 and 1996, and co-driver Eric van de Poele have been besieged by bad luck in each of the first three races this season.
Taylor said his Toshiba Copiers & Fax Ferrari 333 SP was the class of its class at the 24 Hours at Daytona until van de Poele crashed the bright red racer. Taylor put the Ferrari on the pole at the 12 Hours of Sebring, but a problem with the car's telemetry led to the team running out of gas.
Taylor and van de Poele managed to bring the car from 26th place to a second-in-class finish, earning 27 points and second place (behind Didier Theys, who won't be driving in Las Vegas this weekend).
Taylor and van de Poele are coming off another second-place finish at Monza, Italy, a non-Sports Car event.
Not a bad start for a team that was hastily put together over the winter and a driver learning the nuances of a new car. Taylor abandoned the Oldsmobile that carried him to a second-place finish in last year's race at LVMS in favor of the Ferrari.
"I think we put together a good team, we've got a good group of crew guys headed by John McLoughlin, who's our technical director," Taylor said. "With Ferrari, we knew last year how good the car was and how reliable it was, so it really wasn't a big deal; we just got what we knew works. The biggest problem was getting it all together in time for the season and learning the car."
What Taylor has learned so far is that there is no reason he can't pilot the Ferrari to his third championship. Actually, Taylor will settle for nothing less.
"There's a main focus for me, personally, this season and that is to try and win my third championship -- that is priority number one," the 37-year-old South African said. "I think maybe this weekend, we could come out of here leading (the point standings) and that's really my priority."
The Toshiba Copiers & Fax Nevada Grand Prix features five races for cars in 11 classes. The featured event, the 3-hour, 45-minute race for World Sports Cars and GT Series cars, will take the green flag at 1 p.m. Sunday.
In addition to Taylor and van de Poele, some of the featured drivers this weekend will be current Indy Racing League and former CART driver Raul Boesel, who will be co-driving the Visteon/Panoz GTR-1 in the GT1 class; Las Vegans Dale White and Mike Petersen, who will share driving duties in the GT3 class; and Las Vegas resident Shane Donley in the World Sports Car division.
* NASCAR: Winston Cup points leader Rusty Wallace has been fined $1,500 by NASCAR for "actions detrimental to the sport" during the Goody's Headache Powder 500 weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Wallace was fined for excessive speed in an area occupied by crew members during last Saturday's practice session. ... Derrike Cope, who sat out last weekend's Cup race to allow his two broken ribs to heal, will return to the seat of the Gumout Pontiac for Sunday's DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Jeff Green finished 17th in Monday's race at Martinsville filling in for Cope. ... Busch Series driver Dennis Setzer will make his Winston Cup debut at Talladega in the No. 89 McDonald's McRib Sandwich Ford. The car, Bill Elliott's second entry in the DieHard 500, is a one-off deal for the burger giant and Bill Elliott Racing. ... Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt will make a guest voice appearance on the animated FOX television series "King of the Hill" on May 3. ... NASCAR's other seven-time Winston Cup champion, Richard Petty, and his son, Kyle , will be among 400 motorcyclists passing through Las Vegas on Monday, May 4 as part of a charity ride to raise funds for children's hospitals and the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary.
* CART: Robby Gordon is looking forward to returning to open-wheel racing in Sunday's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway. Gordon will step into the Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard/Toyota, which is being vacated by Hiro Matsushita. Matsushita will drive in next month's Rio 400 in Brazil before retiring permanently. "I've been observing and watching, but it's always a different situation when you're actually behind the wheel," Gordon, who spent most of last season in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series, said. ... Paul Tracy, who will move into his new home in Summerlin on Monday, likes his chances in Sunday's race at Nazareth. "I've done more than 20,000 laps here so I guess you could say I know this track better than anyone on the planet," Tracy, who has two wins at the one-mile oval, said. "Winning this race is important for me for a lot of reasons. First, I can't think of a better wedding present for my new wife, Liisa. This is also where everything began to click for me last season, so there's the honor of successfully defending a race win. And, let's face it, I need to score some points to get into the championship race." Paul and Liisa were married in Las Vegas last Saturday night.
* IRL: Henderson resident Sam Schmidt was the third-fastest driver last week in testing for next month's Indianapolis 500, posting a top lap of 221.893 mph on the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only defending Indy 500 champion Arie Luyendyk (222.657) and Scott Sharp (222.310) were faster. "I feel that I can be competitive with some of the big names that I'm with right now," Schmidt said of his Best Western Gold Crown Racing Dallara/Aurora. "Right now we're not running any of the Dallara Indy updates, so we're anxious to see how much more that will give us. Not that we want to be greedy, but it's always nice to be quickest." Schmidt, in only his second year the the Brickyard, started 23rd last year and finished 34th when an engine problem forced him out of the race on the first lap. Schmidt was helped during the open test by Indy 500 veteran Gary Bettenhausen, who is serving as a driver consultant for Schmidt and LP Racing teammate Scott Harrington. "Gary was a big help, mentally preparing me for each corner, showing me the line and providing me with thousands of bits of information that are second-nature to him but made a huge difference for me," Schmidt said. "Right now, I can drive this car all day long comfortably at 217. It's a solid car for the race. As far as our chances to take the pole, well, there is certainly more left in the car." Qualifying for the 82nd Indianapolis 500, to be run May 24, is May 16-17.
* BACKMARKERS: Carl Cannavo has moved to the Pro ET points lead in drag racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Cannavo has mounted 180 points, 30 more than Ron Landram. Jeff Bansbach and Michael Jackson are knotted for fourth with 140 points each. The fourth NHRA points race of the year will be Saturday at LVMS, with competition in Pro ET, Street Eliminator, Sportsman and Motorcycle categories. Gates will open at 4 p.m., with eliminations slated for 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and children under five and seniors will be admitted at half price.
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