Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Several story lines may pan out in Phoenix

Friday, March 26, 1999 | 10:14 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. His golf notebook appears Wednesday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

PHOENIX -- There almost is a story line for every lap scheduled to be run (200) in Sunday's Indy Racing League MCI WorldCom 200 at Phoenix International Raceway:

Sam Schmidt of Henderson is looking to redeem himself after crashing 14 laps into the season-opening race in Orlando, Fla., in his first start with Treadway Racing.

Las Vegan Davey Hamilton will drive for his second team in as many races after leaving Galles Racing for the newly formed Barnhart Motorsports team.

Defending race champion Scott Sharp is looking to repeat and put behind last year's controversial victory, in which he and teammate Mark Dismore were penalized after IRL officials ruled that Dismore illegally blocked runner-up Tony Stewart on the final restart.

Eddie Cheever, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion and winner of the season opener, is hoping to parlay his success at Orlando into a second consecutive victory.

Schmidt, who gave up the "owner" part of his owner/driver title last year to drive for the high-profile Treadway Racing team, is approaching Sunday's race with mixed feelings.

"The weekend in general feels a bit like a 'Catch 22,' " Schmidt said. "I feel like I am out for retribution following our performance in (Orlando), but the bottom line is that I need to be conservative and run a smart race."

Although winless in 17 IRL starts, Schmidt won two Formula 2000 races at PIR.

"I really enjoy the facility so it should be a great weekend for our team and the sponsors," Schmidt said. "I really like Phoenix a lot. Of all the places we go during the season, Phoenix is the place where I have logged the most laps."

Hamilton, on the other hand, will be making his fourth trip to PIR in the IRL series, but his first since joining Barnhart Motorsports earlier this month.

The extent of Hamilton's experience in his new car was an hour-long shakedown of the car Tuesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"This is our winter testing, this one-hour shakedown," Hamilton said after taking a few conservative laps at LVMS. "We've got a lot of work to do and this is going to be a very tough weekend.

"These are new guys, new cars, and I'm working with them for the first time. We're just coming to Phoenix and trying to do the best we can."

Sharp's best was good enough for a win last year at PIR, although the victory was overshadowed somewhat when Stewart complained that he was held up by Dismore -- who was 25 laps off the lead pace but right behind teammate Sharp -- on the final restart with three laps remaining.

Kelley Racing teammates Sharp and Dismore both were penalized 15 points for the incident.

"Hey, it's great to see (the IRL) enforcing the rules and not just turning their cheek to things, which is good; they need to do that," Sharp said of the incident.

"But I think it got a little carried away: Tony Stewart couldn't even catch Mark, let alone catch me, so he obviously wasn't being held up too much. But that's how they saw it and you've got to just put it behind you and move on."

Sharp is loaded with confidence after winning the pole and leading the most laps at Orlando before he was caught in the pits when a caution came out and had to settle for a fourth-place finish.

"We walked away from (Orlando) a little bummed in some respects but you quickly have to take the emotion out of that and realize that we sat on our first pole and we led over half the race," Sharp said.

"Overall, we had the fastest race lap and it was a great weekend ... we just weren't able to get the 'W'. But I think it meant a lot to the team and if we can keep putting ourselves in those situations, it will all work out."

Cheever is coming off a win in the season opener.

"The crew is very ready to come here, the testing went very well and we won the first race so I expect us to perform very well," he said.

"But it's very tough out here. I have never gone into one race in the IRL thinking I didn't stand a chance at winning, but I've never gone into a race confident that I was going to win. I don't think anybody can say that they go into a race thinking they have a big advantage."

NASCAR: Las Vegas Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith still is an proponent of splitting the NASCAR Winston Cup Series into two divisions, but he has softened his stance on the issue.

"(NASCAR president Bill) France and I have discussed it," Smith told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "If it's done, it's a NASCAR thing to do. It's not going to be easy. There will be some opposition from drivers, some from fans, but it's something that could take us to another level.

"It certainly would afford our sport more dates, and we would create tremendous growth. I think that someday it will be done, but it will only be done when NASCAR is ready to do it."

Smith, who also owns five other tracks in addition to LVMS that host Winston Cup races, has been trying to get a second Cup date at both Las Vegas and Texas Motor Speedway. ...

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will stage its second race of the 1999 campaign Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway. Mike Wallace posted his first win in a truck at the season opener in Homestead, Fla., last weekend. Wallace was the series' 13th different winner in the past 14 races.

CART: Former USAC midget champion Jason Leffler had been hired as a test driver by Roger Penske prior to Al Unser Jr.'s accident Sunday that will sideline Unser for a minimum of two races.

Leffler likely will drive the Marlboro Penske/Mercedes in Motegi, Japan, on April 10, but Penske reportedly is looking for another driver with street-course experience to run the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 18.

IRL: Among the new looks for Sunday's MCI WorldCom 200 at Phoenix International Raceway: Steve Knapp replaces Jeff Ward in the ISM Racing G-Force/Aurora; Ward will be driving for Pagan Racing; Formula One and CART veteran Roberto Moreno will drive for the newly formed Truscelli Team Racing at Phoenix, Charlotte and the Indianapolis 500; and Jaques Lazier, brother of 1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier, will make his IRL debut at Phoenix with DR Motorsports (which is owned by his father, Bob). ...

Veteran announcer Paul Page will not work ABC's telecast of the Indianapolis 500 this May for the first time in 25 years. Page will be replaced as lead announcer by Bob Jenkins. Al Michaels also joins the ABC Indy 500 crew for the first time.

BACKMARKERS: Las Vegas resident Jeff Shafer, the winner of the 1996 American Driver Development Program at the Derek Daly Academy, will race in the Formula Palmer Audi Series in England this year. ...

Late Model Sportsman points leader Scott Gafforini will attempt to widen his lead over Chris Lowden Saturday in the third NASCAR Winston Racing Series race of the year Saturday night at the 3/8ths-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway paved oval.

Gafforini, who finished runnerup to Mike Ray in the 1998 Late Model Sportsman points standings, has a 94-90 lead over Lowden heading into the event. Jerry Spilsbury (88), Chuck Trickle (86) and Rich Attisani (74) round out the top five.

Also competing will be Grand American Modifieds, Limiteds and Legends. Gates will open at 3 p.m., with prelims set for 7. ...

While brothers Ed and Tim Herbst were the big winners in the Trophy Truck division at last Saturday's 13th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race in Mexico, they weren't the only Southern Nevada racers who overcame the rugged Baja terrain.

Brian Collins and Dale White of Las Vegas won their third straight SCORE Class 8 race while Henderson's Bekki Freeman was second in Class 1-2 1600.

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