Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Pruett off to slow start on Winston Cup circuit

Friday, April 28, 2000 | 9:59 a.m.

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

FONTANA, Calif. -- Scott Pruett readily admits that his foray into NASCAR Winston Cup racing this year with team owner Cal Wells has been more than he bargained for.

Pruett, a veteran of 10 seasons in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series, has failed to qualify for three of the first nine races this season and goes into this weekend's NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway with an average finish of 30th in six starts.

"I think there was a big question mark for everybody, including myself, moving into this but from Cal Wells to Tide to the team, we all know that it's going to be a pretty steep learning curve for us," Pruett said. "By the progress we've made on the track, you continually see week in and week out that we're making big steps forward."

Although he made 125 starts in CART, Pruett said there is little he learned in the open-wheel series that he can apply to the stock cars.

"I was expecting a little more similarities or at least (being able to apply) some of the crossover knowledge that I have gained over the years," Pruett said. "Unfortunately, a lot of what I have learned either doesn't necessarily work or in some instances, it's just the opposite of what needs to be done. It has been a little harder than I anticipated -- but I'm up for it."

Pruett is hoping his task will be a little easier this weekend. The 40-year-old native Californian has a good history at the 2-mile California Speedway oval, having captured the pole for the past two CART races in Fontana.

"It's a track that we've been going to for quite a few years and coming off two poles back to back with the Indy cars, hopefully we can carry that through and have a good run," Pruett said.

"It's the first track that I've been to where I've raced before, with the Indy cars, so going out there and doing our first test was pretty interesting. I wanted to get a chance to see the difference between the two cars and also trying to continue and make progress on those types of tracks where we've really showed well: Vegas, Texas -- those places where we've qualified well and run well and Fontana seems to fall into that as well."

Pruett sat on the outside of the front row for the CarsDirect.com 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval, in March and qualified third at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month.

Pruett said his comfort level is better on intermediate-sized tracks.

"One, I think they are tracks where the speed is up and they feel a little more familiar," he said. "My history in racing lends itself a little more to the faster tracks and that feel, that understanding. We've run well pretty much on anything from a mile and a half up and I have not been as good on (on shorter tracks)."

* NASCAR: Las Vegan Brendan Gaughan is in Fontana this weekend, but not to run Sunday's Winston Cup race at California Speedway.

Gaughan elected not to try to qualify for the NAPA Auto Parts 500 after he determined his practice speeds from earlier this month would not be fast enough to get him into the field for Sunday's race.

Gaughan, the NASCAR Winston West Series points leader, qualified seventh for Saturday's Pontiac WideTrack Grand Prix 200 at California Speedway. ...

Geoffrey Bodine has put off his return to the No. 60 Power Team Chevrolet until next weekend's Winston Cup race at Richmond, so Dick Trickle again will drive for Bodine in Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway. ...

Glenn Allen will take over behind the wheel of the No. 82 Channellock/Team SABCO Chevrolet for the NASCAR Busch Series Auto Club 300 Saturday at California Speedway. Allen is the third driver this season of the Felix Sabates-owned car, following Dave Steele and Derrick Gilchrist.

* CART: Target/Chip Ganassi driver Jimmy Vasser is second in the FedEx Championship points standings after two races and has finished fifth or better in seven of his past 10 races.

Vasser is brimming with confidence heading into Sunday's Rio 200 in Brazil -- a race in which he has scored three top-10 finishes in four starts.

"Our team is doing a lot of things right, and the results are beginning to show," Vasser said.

"I'm really getting comfortable with the new Toyota/Lola package, and I was extremely impressed with the Firestone tires at Long Beach.

"The whole team is excited about how we're racing, and I'm looking forward to continuing the hot streak in Rio. Obviously, it's way too early to be looking at the point standings but, as you learn pretty quickly, every point is important."

* IRNLS: During a surprise visit to Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend prior to the Vegas Indy 300, Sam Schmidt expressed no regret about getting back into an Indy car in January after suffering severe foot injuries in an accident last October at Texas Motor Speedway.

Schmidt was rendered a quadriplegic as the result of a testing accident at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla., in January.

"This is a lot easier for me to take because I was living my dream," Schmidt said.

"If I would have dove off a diving board and did this, I think I would have a harder time taking it on. But this was all I ever wanted to do, drive these cars ... so it's a little easier to take."

Schmidt, who has been undergoing rehabilitation in a St. Louis hospital since Jan. 20, said he hoped to return to his Henderson home this summer.

"I want to stay in St. Louis as long as I possibly can because sometimes it's hard to get out of that bed and they're in there dragging me out," he said. "I want to stay there as long as I feel like I'm making some quantifiable progress. I think it's not going to be any sooner than a month from now, but I don't think it will be longer than three." ...

According to Nielsen Media Research, Saturday's Vegas Indy 300 drew a 1.3 rating on ABC Sports -- an improvement over the .03 rating the race drew in 1999 on ESPN2.

* NHRA: Defending NHRA Winston Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson trails Jeg Coughlin Jr. by 133 points in the championship, but the five-time champion said he doesn't believe Coughlin is going to run away with the category this season.

"It's not going to be a two-car race this year," Johnson said. "I guarantee that there will be another three or four cars in that mix by the end of the season. If you look at how strong the category is with the 16 cars that qualify ... there's enough intelligence out there to give us a very interesting season."

Coughlin has won four of the five Pro Stock races this season, including the SummitRacing.com National last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

* BACKMARKERS: Legendary Unlimited Hydroplane driver Chip Hanauer announced his retirement this week after winning 61 races and nine series championships.

Hanauer, who drove the Las Vegas-based Miss Circus Circus to Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Association titles in 1989 and 1990, left the sport just one win shy of the late Bill Muncey's record of 62 victories.

"There is a part of me that is happy to leave that record for Bill and his family," Hanauer said.

"Now that (team sponsor) Pico has decided to leave the sport, I think it is appropriate that I go out with them."

Hanauer suffered a concussion in a racing accident in 1996 and temporarily retired. He returned to competition last year in Miss Pico and scored the final three victories of his 22-year UHRA career. ...

More than 2,000 riders are competing in the 29th Annual World Mini Grand Prix, the world's largest motocross event, through Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's motocross facility.

Racing begins at 7 a.m. today, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available at the gate. ...

NASCAR Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Legends, Chargers, Mini Stock and Bandoleros will compete Saturday night on the 3/8-mile paved oval at LVMS. Gates open at 5 p.m. and races start at 6.

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