IRL’s finale at TMS is worth price of admission

John Sturbin

Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999 | 4:05 a.m.

John Sturbin

FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

The identity of its 1999 driving champion will not be the only thing we learn about the Pep Boys Indy Racing League at Texas Motor Speedway next month.

The season finale in Fort Worth on Oct. 17 also will tell us if anybody really cares about founder Tony George's go-it-alone IRL.

An honest, any-one-of-six-drivers-can-win-this-thing championship will unfold here in a couple of weekends. For a real racing fan, that is worth the price of a ticket to the recently renamed Mall.com 500.

The leader of the points pack is Texan Greg Ray, who, if not the official poster boy of the IRL, at least qualifies for that tag at TMS. The chance to see a driver from Plano win the title of a major racing series also is worth the price of admission.

Meanwhile, the driver closest to Ray, reigning series champion Kenny Brack, is attempting to nail down a second consecutive title for legendary car owner A.J. Foyt of Houston. And if you believe the rumor mill, the title would be Brack's going-away gift before he heads to Bobby Rahal's Championship Auto Racing Teams franchise for the 2000 season.

So, there are plenty of legitimate story lines to peddle here. Certainly more than even Eddie Gossage, TMS' executive vice president and general manager, envisioned when he pleaded with George and IRL executive director Leo Mehl to move the season finale from Las Vegas Motor Speedway to North Texas last year.

Gossage promised that TMS would promote the IRL finale in a manner similar to the way the management of its sister track, Atlanta Motor Speedway, annually hypes the NASCAR Winston Cup season-ender in November. That may have been especially necessary had Ray locked up the title at LVMS on Sunday. But Ray's 21st-place finish after a bumping incident with Mark Dismore reduced the Texan's lead from 44 points to 13 over Brack, who replaced Scott Goodyear in the runner-up spot.

"I remember a Sunday morning where Alan Kulwicki started out in third place, and at the end of the day he was first," said Gossage, referring to Kulwicki's magical path past Davey Allison and Bill Elliott to the 1992 Cup title. "That was a great story. That's what you want, great stories. I have my own selfish reasons for wanting Greg to win the championship. But for us, just the fact that the big confrontation comes down here, that's what we've been wanting since we tried to convince the IRL it should be here."

Sunday's results reshuffled the standings and set up a finale in which each point available from qualifying through checkered flag looms as precious to Ray, Brack, Sam Schmidt, Scott Sharp, Goodyear and Buddy Lazier.

This event should be self-promoting, as it most certainly would if a similar points chase existed in the Cup series heading into Atlanta on Nov. 21. Beginning with the 120,000 who attended the inaugural IRL night race at TMS in June 1997, Texas Motor Speedway consistently has produced the series' best attended events outside of the famed Indianapolis 500.

Attendance for the Longhorn 500 on June 12 was announced at 85,000. But even with all that this event would seem to have going for it, Gossage is taking a conservative approach to the turnstile count.

"I think the 1/4 RIRL 1/4 S attendance has sorted itself out," Gossage said. "I think we're going to have 65,000 on the low side to 85,000 on the high side for this race. Is that a number to be ashamed of? Absolutely not. I'm not worried about our attendance or ashamed of it."

Apparently, neither is George, who on Sunday announced that the IRL had put to rest the notion of any sort of reconciliation or merger with the rival CART FedEx Series through the 2004 season. George said the four-year-old IRL plans to soldier on under its rules and regulations, and with the drivers it has been cultivating.

One of six of them will win the IRL championship in Fort Worth on Oct. 17, in a race that also will tell us if anybody really cares.

SPOTLIGHT ON... Teen girl could create IRL history next month It's late September and 18-year-old Sarah Fisher really should be back in school.

Specifically, at Ohio State University, where Fisher has been accepted and plans to study mechanical engineering one of these semesters. But the chance to compete at Texas Motor Speedway has prompted the recent high school graduate to delay her formal education in favor of a cram course in Indy Racing League 101.

Fisher is scheduled to attempt to qualify for her first Pep Boys IRL race, the Mall.com 500, at TMS next month. If Fisher earns a spot in the 26-car field, she will be the youngest driver to make a start in the four-year-old series - and possibly any Indy-car event.

Fisher turns 19 on Oct. 4. The youngest driver to start an Indy-car event was Michel Jourdain Jr., who was 99 days short of his 20th birthday (Sept. 20) when he started the 1996 Indianapolis 500 in May 1996.

"I've been doing this since I was 5," Fisher said before a scheduled practice session Tuesday evening with teammate Robby Unser at TMS. "That's a good 13 years of practice. And being a girl - even though I don't like to highlight that - I've gotten a lot of attention. That's given me practice to keep my cool. And just stay focused."

Fisher was all of that during her IRL rookie test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 1. Driving for team owner Dale Pelfrey, Fisher aced the session in 2 1/2 hours.

"I only stalled the car once, and it wasn't when I took off for the first time," said Fisher, a resident of the farm community of Commercial Point, Ohio. "It just seemed to all click."

Fisher's background sounds similar to those of reigning NASCAR Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon and former IRL champion and current Cup rookie sensation Tony Stewart. She started in Quarter Midgets at age 5, moved to Karts at 8, and made the huge jump to 410 Sprint Cars. She competed in selected Pennzoil World of Outlaws and All-Star Circuit of Champions events before graduating into U.S. Auto Club Midgets this season.

After 21 races, including a Midget feature victory at the lightning-fast Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, Pelfrey approached her about an IRL ride. And student life as a Buckeye was put on hold until January.

Fisher would not be the first woman to compete in the IRL, a distinction that belongs to savvy Lyn St. James.

"My attitude is not to be a 'girl driver,' it's to be another competitor," said Fisher, whose father, Dave, campaigned Sprint Cars throughout the Midwest. "That is the attitude I've taken my entire racing life. I think all the competitors and all the teams respect me for that.

"I just tend to blend in. At least I try to. I feel that I should only be there on my talent - as well as the other guys."

Fisher said her test at TMS was designed to familiarize her with the No. 48 Mead Carbonless Paper Dallara/Aurora she plans to drive on Oct. 17.

"I'm very excited about running here," Fisher said. "I pulled into the track 1/4 RMonday 1/4 S to see if my transporter was here and went, 'Yes! This is awesome!' "

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Countdown to 500 Heading into Sunday's NAPA Autocare 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Ford Motor Co. has accumulated 497 victories in what today is known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. A list of milestone victories for "Blue Oval" drivers: Victory Driver Date/place No. 1 Jimmy Florian June 15, 1950/Dayton, Ohio No. 100 Nelson Stacy May 27, 1962/Charlotte, N.C. No. 200 Junior Johnson Sept. 26, 1965/Martinsville, Va. No. 250 David Pearson March 9, 1969/Rockingham, N.C. No. 300 Bobby Allison Sept. 21, 1980/North Wilkesboro, N.C. No. 400 Davey Allison Nov. 1, 1992/Phoenix, Ariz. Source: Campbell & Company

QUICK HITS

Evernham released

NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham, who has guided Jeff Gordon to three Winston Cup championships since 1995, was released from his contract with Hendrick Motorsports yesterday.

Evernham was contracted to Hendrick through the 2006 season, but in recent weeks had decided he wanted to leave the team.

"Ray let us know he had reached a point where he didn't want to be a crew chief anymore," team owner Rick Hendrick told The Associated Press. "In response to that, we were planning to move him up in the organization, but he decided he wanted to pursue having a team of his own."

Gordon and Evernham won 47 races together during five-plus seasons in the No. 24 DuPont Automotive Finishes Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

The team's new leader is Brian Whitesell, an engineer at Hendrick Motorsports. Whitesell, 35, joined the team in 1992 and became its engineer in 1994. He worked beside Evernham on race days.

NHRA rings up 'No sale'

Rumors of Bruton Smith's desire to purchase the National Hot Rod Association first surfaced during the Winston Invitational all-star event at Smith's revamped Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway in early July.

John Force, the eight-time and reigning NHRA Funny Car champion, said Smith's recent formal overtures - and the NHRA's refusal to sell - are not an indication that Smith is out of control.

"I don't think Bruton does anything crazy. He's a powerful guy," Force said yesterday. "I know he wants to build a racetrack at Texas Motor Speedway. I made a statement in July that I'd follow Bruton Smith anywhere and got beat up by the NHRA on it."

Billy Meyer, who owns exclusivity rights to NHRA national events in this market, is looking to finalize a project that will relocate his Texas Motorplex from Ennis to Grand Prairie for the 2001 drag racing season.

"Billy Meyer has put a lot of time into Grand Prairie and I want to see that thing go for him," Force said. "I'm a drag racer. I just want to see the sport grow in general."

Kinser's lead dwindles

When Mark Kinser embarked on the Pennzoil World of Outlaws' recent West Coast swing, he had a 117-point lead and his second Knoxville Nationals title in his pocket. Approximately two months later, Kinser's lead has dwindled to 21 points and challenger Danny Lasoski is not giving him much rest.

Kinser recorded two ninth-place finishes in the Channellock Fall Classic last weekend at Greenwood, Neb., while Lasoski finished second both nights. That has been the case for the past 1 1/2 months, with Lasoski posting an average finish of 4.3. He has not finished outside the top 10 in 17 races. Meanwhile, Kinser has put up an average finish of 7.3.

The series returns to Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite on Oct. 15-16 for the 26th annual Winternationals. For ticket information, call Devil's Bowl at (972) 222-2421.

Gobrecht services set

Sammy Swindell won both nights of the Channellock Fall Classic at Greenwood, Neb., last weekend, but the racing was marred by the death of tour regular Kevin Gobrecht.

Gobrecht, of New Oxford, Pa., died from injuries suffered in a wreck during the 20-lap preliminary feature.

Gobrecht took over the Hylton-Blaney No. 93 Amoco Sprint Car in late April and won The Historical Big One at Eldora Speedway in Ohio last month. He also finished third in the recent Knoxville Nationals in Iowa. Gobrecht is the first tour regular to die from race injuries.

During Saturday night's 30-lap "A" Main event, the drivers honored Gobrecht by leaving him a spot in the traditional four-abreast parade lap.

Services were scheduled for today in Gobrecht's native Pennsylvania. The series will race tomorrow and Saturday in the Williams Grove National Open at Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Last laps

En route to his NASCAR Winston Cup victory Sunday at Dover, Del., Mark Martin led the most laps in a race (161 of 400) for the first time this season.

Rick Mast remains the only Winston Cup regular to have not recorded a DNF - Did Not Finish - during 1999.

NHRA Funny Car points-leader John Force has lost in the first round during the past two national events. That has not happened in 10 years, and 206 consecutive races.

Cicci-Welliver Racing has renewed its contract with driver Todd Bodine in the No. 66 Phillips Chevrolet for the 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series season.

Formula One star Jacques Villeneuve has dyed his hair from blond to purple in recent seasons. Villeneuve showed up for the European Grand Prix at at the Nurburgring in Germany last weekend with his hair colored a reddish autumnal hue.

Last words

"Whoever came up with the term 'road rage' must have seen a race at Martinsville. You can usually tell how good a race it was by how many guys want to fight when the thing is over."

- Sterling Marlin, on Winston Cup racing at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

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