Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Switch to Dodge does not faze Petty

Friday, Dec. 15, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

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

Despite having driven Pontiacs for much of the past two decades, NASCAR Winston Cup Series veteran Kyle Petty has no reservations about Petty Enterprises' switch to Dodge next season.

Petty will be one of 10 drivers on the Winston Cup circuit who will be driving the new Dodge Intrepid R/T as the automaker makes its return to NASCAR after a 15-year absence.

"For me, there's no nervousness," Petty said during a visit to Las Vegas this week. "Maybe I'm just at that point in my career where any change is a good change, if you know what I mean.

I think for some of the other (younger) drivers, there is a little trepidation ... I think there's just a little nervousness that it is a change and this is a year they want to do good -- well, you want to do good every year -- but there are so many changes going on that they are a little nervous. They're not seeing a lot of cars being built right now, but they're excited about the change at the same time."

At the age of 40, Petty is hoping the switch to Dodge may jump-start his career. After notching all eight of his Winston Cup victories from 1986 to 1995, the third-generation stock car driver said he is ready to rejoin the ranks of the contenders in the series.

And he said he believes Dodge can help him do that -- as soon as next season.

"I think, car-wise, we're going to be extremely competitive and I think the motor will get stronger as the year goes on," Petty said. "I think we've got to ease into a brand-new engine program; you have to remember as the Dodge program starts, it's a brand-new car and a brand-new engine. It's not like when Ford switched from the Thunderbirds to the Taurus (in 1998) but kept the same engine.

"We know the power is going to be a little bit off at the beginning of the year but I expect that to change as the year goes along."

Despite rumors of engine reliability problems in some of Dodge's earlier tests this year, Petty said that has not been an issue for him or his two Petty Enterprises teammates, John Andretti and Buckshot Jones.

"We don't think (engine reliability) ever was a problem," Petty said. "When you go back to the early tests we had and some of the other tests we had, the main problem we had with reliability was there were only two or three sets of heads and two or three blocks and they were one-off pieces, not production pieces.

"Now that (Dodge has) gotten into their production cycle, we've run 1,700 miles on two or three different motors and we haven't had any problems with our stuff."

Petty, the grandson of NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty and the son of the legendary Richard Petty, said Petty Enterprises will be back in Las Vegas in early January to take part in a Dodge test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"We may run as many as eight or 10 engines when we're out here in January if we've got them built up in time," he said. "We want to put some laps on some parts and pieces and run some small blocks to get ready to go to Rockingham and Atlanta and Las Vegas."

NASCAR: Petty was in Las Vegas Wednesday to attend the local Richard Petty Driving Experience's Christmas Party and to help the Las Vegas chapter of Speedway Children's Charities present $100,000 to several local charities.

"Speedway Children's Charities and the group that's out here is just tremendous and they've helped us out with our annual (Kyle Petty) Charity Ride," Petty said. "We're getting ready to start a camp for critically ill kids in North Carolina and they're donating some money for that.

"(LVMS owner and Speedway Motorsports Inc., chairman) Bruton Smith and everybody from out here has done a lot for us so I'd thought I'd stop by while I was in town." ...

Veteran NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Terry Cook and ESPN pit reporter Amy East were married in a private ceremony last week at the Paris Hotel.

The newlyweds left on a honeymoon to Maui the day after the wedding ceremony. Upon their return, the couple will reside in Indianapolis, where East is set to continue her career at ESPN. Cook, meanwhile, is still looking for a ride for the 2001 season.

CART: Team Rahal drivers Kenny Brack and Max Papis were in Sebring, Fla., last week for the team's first test of its new Ford-powered Lola chassis. For the past five years, Team Rahal has campaigned Reynard chassis in the FedEx Championship Series.

For Papis, the test was his first time in a car since fracturing his leg in an accident during practice prior to the season-ending Marlboro 500 at California Speedway.

Although Papis returned to the track later that day and qualified the Miller Lite car -- and actually led the 500-mile race on Sunday -- it later was discovered that he had two small fractures (one in the knee and one in the ankle) in his left leg.

"I worked with my doctors in Italy on rehabilitation of my leg," Papis said. "The fractures were small and I spent several weeks working on getting things back to normal. My leg is a little sore but everything is going well."

IRL: General Motors' announcement this week that the automaker would phase out its Oldsmobile division over the next few years will have no impact on the Indy Racing League, according to series founder Tony George.

"General Motors Corporation has communicated to us its commitment to the long-term growth of open wheel racing through GM's involvement in the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," George said in a brief statement this week.

Oldsmobile's Aurora engine powered all but two teams in the IRL this season and has won 39 of the past 40 races in the series. It is believed that GM will continue to supply the engines to the IRL under the Chevrolet brand name. ...

United States Auto Club standouts Tracy Hines, Derek Davidson and Kasey Kahne all completed their IRL rookie tests last week at Texas Motor Speedway.

The tests were part of a driver development program sponsored by Pennzoil and Panther Racing in which top USAC drivers are rewarded with IRL rookie tests.

NHRA: The NHRA released its 2001 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing divisional schedule this week and announced that 15 Federal-Mogul races would be televised by ESPN2 on a tape-delayed basis.

Both Federal-Mogul races being held in conjunction with NHRA national events at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be among the 15 nationally televised races. The Strip will host the Federal-Mogul series April 5-8 and Oct. 25-28 with its NHRA national events and will host a stand-alone Federal-Mogul divisional event Nov. 2-4. ...

Tickets for the April 5-8 NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will go on sale Saturday at 8 a.m. at the LVMS ticket office. Local pro NHRA racers Gary Clapshaw (Top Fuel) and George Marnell (Pro Stock) will sign autographs in the lobby of the LVMS administration building Saturday from 9-11 a.m.

BACKMARKERS: Longtime motor sports journalist Chris Economaki recently received the Speedvision network's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 24-hour cable station honored Economaki, publisher emeritus of National Speed Sport News, with a crystal cup to commemorate his more than 60 years in covering motor sports.

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