Columnist: Brian Hilderbrand: Son of racing legend Gurney wins Team Green Academy

Friday, Jan. 9, 1998 | 12:51 p.m.

Alex Gurney would like to follow in his father's footsteps and drive on the Formula One circuit, but the 23-year-old son of legendary driver Dan Gurney realizes he won't make it on his name alone.

Gurney hopes to get a big assist from Team Kool Green as the winner of the 1997 Team Green Academy American Driver Development Program at the Derek Daly SpeedCentre Racing School at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Gurney was chosen from five academy finalists and will receive sponsorship from Kool in the Barber Dodge Pro Series this year.

"The name can only go so far and it doesn't necessarily take care of the financial side of it just by snapping your fingers," Gurney said of his reason for accepting the invitation to the academy. "A friend of mine, Derek Hill (the son of former Formula One driver Phil Hill), I've seen some of the financial problems he has had and the name hasn't done much for him as far as that goes."

Although he postponed the start of his racing career while he attended the University of Colorado, Gurney made up for lost time last year. In his first full season, Gurney won 10 of 14 races on the Skip Barber Midwestern Formula Dodge Series, earning Rookie of the Year honors and catching the eye of the Team Green Academy.

Although Gurney said he may be perceived by many in the racing community as being behind other drivers his age because he chose to put off racing to attend -- and graduate from -- college, the native Californian said he had little choice.

"I not only got pressured by my parents, but I also thought I should finish up school before I went after it," Gurney said. "My parents were 100 percent behind (me getting my degree). I ended up doing that and holding off on the racing part of it but it all seems to have worked out so far.

"I think I'm maybe at a little bit of a disadvantage starting late, but hopefully I'll be able to make it up. Actually, in my mind, I have not been (set back by attending college), but in the current racing climate, they seem to take young guys for one reason or another -- guys younger than me, it seems.

"I think it's probably an advantage to go to school in some ways; you get to experience a lot of different stuff outside of racing."

If bloodlines account for anything in racing, Gurney has a long and distinguished career ahead of him. His father has been called the greatest American-born racer in motor sports history, winning races in Formula One, Indy cars, NASCAR and sports cars.

The elder Gurney, who owns his own racing team, All-American Racers, that fields two cars in the CART series, retired from racing in 1970 with 37 victories, including seven F-1 races, seven Indy car races, six NASCAR stock car races and endurance races at Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona. He also has two second-place finishes in the Indianapolis 500.

"The ultimate goal, for me, is F-1," Alex Gurney said. "It seems too far away to talk about right now but that's what I've always dreamed about. I'm not sure of the best way to get there yet, but we'll see."

With the help of Team Kool Green, Gurney hopes his dream will be a little more easily obtained.

"I get to work with a lot of big-name guys -- Bob Earl, Derek Daly, Ken Green and Barry Green," Gurney said. "I get a feeling that they really want to help me and that's a good feeling going into the next couple of years, that they're behind me and they want to do anything to help me succeed."

* NASCAR: Robert Pressley posted a fast lap of 188.367 mph during the third and final day of NASCAR's Ford Taurus testing Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. Pressley's time topped the previous fast lap of 187.825, also set Thursday by Rick Mast. The Taurus, which is replacing the Thunderbird on the Winston Cup circuit this year, fell just shy of the top speed (188.419) turned in last week by Terry Labonte in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. ... From the "Only in Las Vegas" file: Winston Cup star Rusty Wallace will debut a brightly-painted Elvis Presley -themed Ford Taurus at the Las Vegas 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 1. The car will feature a larger-than-life image of Elvis on the hood, with a gold guitar adorning the side panels and musical notes sweeping above the words, "Hunka Hunka Burnin'." John Force will drive a similarly painted Funny Car at two NHRA stops in 1998. ... Entries for the season-opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event Jan. 18 at Walt Disney World Speedway have reached 62 -- two shy of the mark set at last year's race. ... Darrel Krentz of Sparks will campaign a full season in NASCAR's Winston West Series this year. The Winston West Series, which makes it first of two stops this year at LVMS on Feb. 25, opens the 1998 season Sunday at Tucson Raceway Park. ... Five networks -- CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, TNN and TBS -- will televise all 31 NASCAR Busch Series races this year. All but two of the races will be broadcast live.

* CART: Payton/Coyne Racing has named Dennis Vitolo to drive the team's No. 34 Reynard/Ford this season. SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare will sponsor the car, owned by NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton and Dale Coyne. ... Michael Andretti and the former Leslie Wood were married on Dec. 24 in Nazareth, Pa.

* IRL: Veteran driver Raul Boesel, let go by CART's Brahma/Patrick Racing at the end of last season, has signed to drive for McCormack Motorsports for the 1998 Indy Racing League season. Boesel, who finished 10th in the CART standings, will make his IRL debut Jan. 24 at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando. ... Kelley Racing has announced that Scott Sharp will drive its No. 8 Delphi Automotive Systems Dallara/Aurora this season. Sharp will team with Mark Dismore, who will drive Kelley's No. 28 Kelley Automotive Group racer. ... Team Menard's No. 2 car, driven by Robbie Buhl, will be sponsored by Johns Manville Corporation this season. The No. 2 car had previously carried the Quaker State colors. Quaker State will remain on both Buhl's and defending IRL champion Tony Stewart's cars as an associate sponsor.

* BACKMARKERS: Las Vegas Motor Speedway chairman Richie Clyne and president Bob Bahre have entered into an agreement with Premier Management Group of Indianapolis to manage the speedway. PMG is headed by former Indianapolis Motor Speedway executive vice president Bill Donaldson. ... Tickets for the U.S. Off-Road Championships Series event, to be held Saturday, Feb. 7 at Sam Boyd Stadium, go on sale Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center ticket office and all Ticketmaster locations. The U.S. Off-Road Championship Series features off-road trucks, buggies, ATVs and motorcycles. Reserved tickets are priced at $16 and $10.