Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Another Earnhardt takes cup shot

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 9:57 a.m.

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

The Pettys long have been recognized as the first family of stock-car racing, but the Earnhardts are prepared to challenge for that title -- at least in terms of volume.

Kerry Earnhardt, the 30-year-old son of seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, will attempt to join his father and his younger brother, Dale Jr., in the field for Sunday's Pepsi 400 at Michigan Speedway.

Kerry Earnhardt, who has been competing in the ARCA Series this season, will take over for Dave Marcis in the No. 71 Realtree Camouflage Chevrolet -- a car that will be set up by Dale Earnhardt Inc. -- in an attempt to make his first Winston Cup start.

"(My father) feels confident in me and my crew," the oldest of Dale Earnhardt's four children said. "The connection between him and Dave Marcis and Team Realtree, they all talked a couple of times about it and talked about giving me the opportunity to run the Winston Cup race at Michigan."

It was after Earnhardt's win in an ARCA race at Pocono Raceway earlier this year that the elder Earnhardt made the decision to give Kerry a chance to qualify for Sunday's race at Michigan.

"Dad came up to us and told us we were going to do this," Earnhardt said. "We went and tested (at Michigan) and had a real successful test. We were real confident after that test about going to Michigan and running this race."

Kerry Earnhardt, who ran a few Busch Series races last season before his sponsorship deal fell apart, said he has been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time -- despite the obvious pressure of living up to his father's and brother's success.

"My lifelong dream was Winston Cup racing and it's like an added bonus to have dad and Dale Jr. in the same race that I'll be racing in," Earnhardt said. "(With) the last name, everybody thinks you're going to be able to go out there and drive just like Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I think we've seen a little bit of difference in driving styles between dad and Dale Jr. I know there's a lot of different in my driving style to what dad's and Dale Jr.'s is. There's a lot of expectations out there, and there's some that don't think we've got what it takes, but that's just from what they've seen in the past. Now that we're running like we are, I think everybody is looking at us a little different than what they used to."

Ted Musgrave will pilot the No. 01 BellSouth/Team SABCO Chevrolet on a week-to-week basis, beginning with Sunday's Pepsi 400 at Michigan Speedway. Musgrave took the reins of the BellSouth NASCAR Winston Cup entry (formerly the No. 42 of the late Kenny Irwin Jr.) at Pocono and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ...

Chad Little will drive the PPI Motorsports Busch car in Saturday's Busch Series race at Michigan Speedway. Little's entry in the race is in addition to his regular driving duties for Roush Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The No. 97 McDonald's Ford represents the third entry for PPI Motorsports this weekend at Michigan Speedway. ...

NASCAR fined Michael McSwain, crew chief for Ricky Rudd's No. 28 Winston Cup car, $10,000 after it was discovered that the car's trailing arms were modified to be lighter than the specifications. The violation was discovered in preliminary inspections for last Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International.

Despite missing three races with a fracture in his left wrist, Carpentier stands 10th in the championship with 71 points -- a career-high total already for his four FedEx Championship Series seasons.

The 29-year-old native of Canada said he expects his consistency to continue this weekend in the Motorola 220 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc.

"Finishing ninth in qualifying (last weekend) at Mid-Ohio gets Team Player's into the fast group for qualifying at Road America this weekend, and that's an important factor," he said. "You don't want to be too far back on the starting grid at Elkhart Lake because with a four-mile track, it's often tough to catch up to the contenders if you have to work your way up the field.

"One of the things that pleases me about my season so far is that I've been able to get 35 of my points on road courses and 36 on ovals, so I've been pretty consistent in that regard. Now that I've managed to get back into the top 10, I want to maintain that consistency to continue climbing in the standings."

Fisher said that she plans to start taking classes next week at Butler University in Indianapolis -- just five days before she is scheduled to compete in the Belterra Resort Indy 300 Aug. 27 at the new Kentucky Speedway.

"Finding a typical (college freshman) lifestyle will never be that way for me," Fisher said. "I'm not trying to find that lifestyle, I just want to get a college degree."

Fisher, who took college-level courses in high school, will enter Butler with 30 college credits.

"I do want to get my college degree," she said. "In racing you've always got to have a Plan B in case something happens. But Plan A is most important."

NHRA: Gary Scelzi not only is pursuing a third NHRA Winston championship, he also is chasing one of Top Fuel's longest standing single-season records.

Scelzi, already one of the five all-time winningest Top Fuel drivers in NHRA history with 20 career victories, can set the single-season victory record should he add an additional trophy to his collection this season.

Eight other drivers (Joe Amato, Kenny Bernstein, Don Garlits, Darrell Gwynn, Eddie Hill, Scott Kalitta, Cory McClenathan and Gary Ormsby) are tied with Scelzi for the current record of six victories, first set in 1985 by Garlits.

"I've been in this position before," said Scelzi, also a six-time winner in 1998. "We would like to get the record but our primary goal is to win a Winston championship; I'd like to have a third ring."

Native Las Vegan and current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Kurt Busch will sign autographs and serve as a guest announcer Saturday night at The Bullring.

The Bullring will host Exide Night at the Races along with the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. The evening includes Bandoleros, Mini Stocks, Chargers, Legends Cars and NASCAR Late Models. The Grand American Modifieds will compete in two main events.

Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing scheduled to begin at 7. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and military and $2 for children 6-12. ...

The annual 40-lap year-end IMCA Modified open competition race at the LVMS half-mile dirt oval has been rescheduled from Nov. 10-11 to Dec. 1-2, due to scheduling conflicts at the Speedway.

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