Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Brack’s defection to CART isn’t causing hard feelings

Friday, Nov. 12, 1999 | 9:05 a.m.

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

Even though he may not be in a position to try to defend his Indianapolis 500 victory next May, Kenny Brack said the decision to jump from the Indy Racing League to CART was an easy one.

Brack formally was introduced Wednesday as the driver of Team Rahal's Shell Reynard/Ford, co-owned by former Indy 500 winner and three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal and late-night talk-show host David Letterman.

"When Bobby called me late summer this year and asked if I was interested in driving for him, it fit very well into my plans because I have had a lot of success in the IRL and fulfilled my goals there and was looking to see if there would be another challenge out there," the 33-year-old Swede said.

"To go from a race-winning team in the IRL to a race-winning team in CART, that's a fantastic opportunity for any driver, so I didn't really have to think about it that long."

Brack becomes the second former IRL champion to leave the series. Tony Stewart, the 1997 champion, left for the NASCAR Winston Cup series following the 1998 season.

And how did A.J. Foyt, the fiery owner whom Brack left to join the rival CART series, react to Brack's decision?

"He took it very cool," Brack said. "I have a very good rapport with A.J. -- he has been very, very good to me over there years that I have raced with him. He's obviously a legend in his own person, but he's also a lifelong friend.

"I sat down and discussed it with him and (told him) I wanted to go on and do other goals for next year. Having been a driver himself, he understands where I'm coming from and he had no problem with it. We're still the very best of friends."

Rahal, who retired at the end of last season as a three-time CART series champion who counts the 1986 Indianapolis 500 among his 24 career victories, said the decision to hire Brack to replace Bryan Herta (whose contract was not renewed by Rahal) was a no-brainer.

"The thing I've always respected Kenny for is that he's a hard worker, he's got a great work ethic," Rahal said. "I spoke to a number of people who have worked with him in Europe and everybody mentions the same thing, 'Yeah, he was fast, but a lot of guys are fast, but Kenny had the dedication and the ethic that it takes to not only win race, but to become a champion.'

"There's a big difference between winning a race every now and then and actually being a champion. My sense is that he seemed to be a complete picture for me."

Unless Rahal can put an Indy 500 effort together in the next 60 days -- a monumental task, he said -- there is a chance Brack might not be at Indy next May as the defending race champion.

Brack said he understood that scenario might be a possibility when he signed on with Rahal.

"Indianapolis is the world's biggest race ... and, obviously, I'm aware from a driver's standpoint that I will never win a bigger race in my career," Brack said. "Now my goal for next year is to win in the CART series and win with Team Rahal.

"Obviously, I would like to go back to Indy to defend the championship, but I also do understand if there's things that cannot make that happen ... my primary goal for next year is to win races in the CART series, but I would like to go back if there's a chance."

* NASCAR: Dale Jarrett can clinch the 1999 Winston Cup championship Sunday by finishing eighth or better in the inaugural Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. ...

NASCAR officials announced this week that Craig Smokstad, crew chief of the Chevrolet driven by Scott Hansen, has been fined $3,000 for rules violations following last Friday's NASCAR Southwest Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.

A post-race inspection found "parts and/or equipment ... (that) do not conform to NASCAR rules" on Hansen's car. Hansen's win in the 125-lap race was allowed to stand. ...

Tony Stewart, who has won two races in his rookie season on the Winston Cup circuit, will compete in the 59th annual Home Depot Turkey Night Grand Prix Midget Car race Nov. 25 at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway.

Stewart became the only driver in USAC history to sweep all three national championships when he won the Silver Crown (now called Silver Bullet), Sprint Car and Midget Car titles in 1995.

* CART: Helio Castro-Neves, who lost his job with Hogan Racing when owner Carl Hogan announced he would not compete in CART in 2000, will drive for Team Penske next season.

Castro-Neves effectively replaces the late Greg Moore, who was slated to drive for Team Penske in 2000 but was killed during the season-ending race in Fontana, Calif., while competing in his final race for Players/Forsythe Racing. ...

Veteran race engineer Don Halliday has joined Team Rahal's engineering staff. Halliday served as technical director for Team Kool Green driver Dario Franchitti for the past two seasons. ...

The number of U.S. television households that tuned into CART's 20-race season increased by 5.8 percent in 1999, according to information compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

Nielsen reported that 22,605,000 households in the U.S. viewed CART's open-wheel racing series in 1999, reversing a trend of decline that began in 1996. CART's cumulative household audience was 21,369,000 for its 19-race 1998 season.

* IRL: Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway will receive financial help from the IRL next season to stage its IRL races.

Concord, N.C.-based Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns both the Las Vegas and Atlanta tracks, said it lost $3 million this year by holding IRL races.

SMI president Humpy Wheeler said his staff will operate the tracks, but the IRL will furnish the money to put on the races and will absorb any and all losses. ...

Eddie Cheever, who switched from Oldsmobile Aurora to Nissan Infiniti engines this season, will use a Riley & Scott chassis in 2000, he said. Cheever had been running a Dallara chassis this season.

* BACKMARKERS: Las Vegas Motor Speedway will close its 1999 racing season Saturday night when more than 125 IMCA Modifieds are expected to compete for a $3,000 winner's purse in a 50-lap open competition race on the 1/2-mile dirt oval.

Cars from across the West will kick off the two-day event tonight at 6 with five hours of open practice. Gates open Saturday at 11 a.m. and heat races start at noon. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, college students and military, and children under 12 are admitted free. ...

The Las Vegas Karting Center (15000 Las Vegas Blvd. South) is hosting the 1999 Palace Station hotel-casino SuperNationals through Sunday. Saturday's program begins at 10 a.m. and will feature heat races in all classes. Sunday's schedule starts at 10 a.m. and will include feature races in all classes, a Dash for Cash race and a celebrity race.

Among the celebrity drivers scheduled to attend are CART drivers Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, Alex Barron and Memo Gidley, and actors Alfonso Ribeiro and Sean Patrick Flannery.

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