Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Zanardi: Mo Nunn is formula for success

Friday, Dec. 8, 2000 | 10:23 a.m.

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

Alex Zanardi's motivation is simple for returning to the CART FedEx Championship Series after a two-year absence.

"I'm at a point of my career where I don't feel I've given what I could," Zanardi said. "I think I can still drive very fast and I can still achieve great satisfaction for my team, for myself and for our sponsors."

After winning a pair of CART championships in 1997 and 1998 for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Zanardi returned to Formula 1 where he lasted only one season with Williams Racing.

The 34-year-old Italian sat out last year and this week agreed to return to the American open-wheel series with team owner Morris Nunn, who was Zanardi's engineer for his two championships with Ganassi. He'll be teamed with Mo Nunn Racing veteran Tony Kanaan in a two-car team with sponsorship from Pioneer Electronics.

But, Zanardi was quick to point out, he's not returning to racing solely to pay the bills.

"I could not find right now motivation in a good salary," he said. "I could not find (it) in the ego of seeing my name in a big column in a very important magazine. I mean, those things are nice, those things are obviously important but are not everything, especially for a guy like me that has had the possibility, the luck, to drive great racing cars and win very important races.

"But still, you know, one day you wake up and you say, 'I want to do something that makes me feel alive, that proves to me that again, I can do it.' I want to mix myself up with those guys again."

In his three years with Ganassi Racing, Zanardi was the Rookie of the Year in 1996, won back-to-back championships in '97 and '98 and recorded 15 victories and 10 pole positions in 51 starts.

While Zanardi obviously missed the success he enjoyed on the CART circuit, he said it was the little things that eventually led him to end his brief hiatus from driving.

"I miss the feeling that you get when you go around the corner," Zanardi said. "I know the oval in Rio is not going to be part of our calendar, unfortunately, but the sensation when you're coming out of a corner like Turn 1 in Rio, go through third, fourth, fifth, sixth gear, feel the power of the engine, the lateral forces pushing you towards the wall, but you're fighting the car to keep it on the road, it's fantastic.

"I start to dream in the night these things, I start to dream in the nights my meetings with Morris, to try to make the car better, what it actually is, the sensation when you do drive a good car and you take it to a good point in the race and you achieve something important.

"So I'm missing all that. It's certainly the main reason why I decide to drive again."

"As strong as the competition is now, to have won four races, won nine poles, led more laps than anybody else out there -- to say that we've had anything less than a tremendous season would be a grave injustice," Wallace said. "It has been a super season for our team and I'm so proud of everybody at Penske Racing.

"I honestly think that the 2000 season stacks right up there against the season we had back in 1993 when we won 10 races and finished up second in the points. There are no weak teams in this sport today ... there are so many teams that can win poles and races on any given day."

In addition to his four wins, Wallace posted 12 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes and led more than 17 percent (1,731 of 10,167) of the total laps -- almost a third more than any other driver. ...

Fox Sports has hired veteran NASCAR television reporters Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes and Matt Yocum for the upcoming inaugural NASCAR on FOX broadcast season. They join veteran race announcer Mike Joy, NASCAR racing legend Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds on Fox's telecasts.

Vasser will drive the No. 40 Toyota/Reynard for Patrick and will be teamed with driver Roberto Moreno, who finished third in the CART championship this season.

"I feel like I have been in labor for two weeks and have just had a beautiful baby," Vasser said of his negotiations with Patrick. "I am very pleased and proud to join the Patrick Racing organization and I want to thank Mr. Patrick for this opportunity.

"Year after year Patrick Racing has proved they are one of the best teams in the business. They provide their drivers with the opportunity to be competitive at every race and their race craft and attention to detail is second to none."

The team is in negotiations with several companies for sponsorship, a spokesman for the team said.

Hornish's best unofficial lap was 20.90 seconds (172.25 mph) in the Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Oldsmobile -- which would have placed him sixth on the starting grid for the IRL race last March at Phoenix.

"It went great," Hornish said of the initial test. "We would have liked to have gone faster, but we're just getting to know each other."

The 2001 IRL season will open March 18 at PIR.

Etchells' first official race back in the Kendall Oil/Matco Tools Camaro Z28 Funny Car will be next February at the 41st annual AutoZone Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Etchells' decision to climb back in the driver's seat came shortly after learning that driver Tommy Johnson had signed a long-term agreement with Don Prudhomme Racing to drive a second funny car for Snake Racing next season. Johnson tentatively had agreed to drive for Etchells in 2001. ...

Pro Stock Truck team owner Rick Jones has tabbed Mike Corvo Jr. to drive the RJ Racecars GMC Sonoma next season. Corvo will be bringing Motorhomes Unlimited to the team as a major sponsor. ...

Tickets for the April 5-8 Summitracing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will go on sale Saturday, Dec. 16.

Local pro NHRA racers Gary Clapshaw (Top Fuel) and George Marnell (Pro Stock) will sign autographs in the lobby of the LVMS ticket office on Dec. 16 from 9-11 a.m.

Grant checks will be presented to The Sam Schmidt Foundation, WestCare, Boys & Girls Club, Child Haven, Candlelighters, the Nevada Association for the Handicapped, New Directions, Amerindian, Shade Tree, Natural History Art Museum and the Culture Shock youth dance troupe. ...

The FamilyClick.com/TV Guide "Racing for Families 2000" Tour will be in Las Vegas Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at United Nissan, 3250 E. Sahara Ave. The No. 16 NASCAR Winston Cup show car will be on display and more than $10,000 in racing merchandise will be given away, including a full-size hood from the No. 16 car, autographed by driver Kevin Lepage and team owner Jack Roush.