Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Despite new faces, Gordon raring to go

Friday, Feb. 4, 2000 | 10:13 a.m.

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

Within the span of five weeks last fall, Jeff Gordon lost his crew chief, Ray Evernham, and five members of his highly successful "Rainbow Warriors" pit crew.

Evernham left Hendrick Motorsports to head a two-car NASCAR team for DaimlerChrysler that will debut in 2001 and the bulk of his crew left to join Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett's team this season.

The changes didn't stop there.

Brian Whitesell stepped in to replace Evernham in October and guided Gordon to back-to-back wins, but was moved to a new position, team manager, after Gordon hired crew chief Robbie Loomis away from Petty Enterprises this winter.

As if adjusting to those changes weren't enough, Gordon -- like the rest of the Chevrolet teams -- has been busy this year trying to adapt to the new Monte Carlo.

With all that in mind, it would be safe to assume that Gordon is not as prepared entering this season as he has been in the past, right?

Wrong.

"I really think we're as prepared as ever," the three-time Winston Cup champion said during a break in testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week. "A lot of it is about attitude and the way the team works together and the way they prepare and I feel like we're very well prepared.

"We're right now in the growing stages of communicating with new people but we couldn't have any better of a mix of people than what we have right now. I'm really excited about getting the season started, even though we've got some new people."

Communication was the hallmark of Gordon's team that, under Evernham, captured Winston Cup championships in 1995, '97 and '98. Gordon said he has noticed the same sense of camaraderie in his new team that existed in years past.

"(Communication) is very key and having the right people in the right places -- and that doesn't always mean the most talented," he said. "We've got talent, but it's finding the right people that mix together and really click and I feel like we've got that combination.

"The guys are as happy as I've ever seen them but they're working harder than I've ever seen them work and that's a pretty good combination."

Moving Whitesell to team manager and bringing in Loomis as crew chief should also help the team function more efficiently, Gordon said.

"I think this is really the future of our sport because there are so many things to look after these days. I think it's impossible for one guy to be able to be a crew chief and handle all of those things," Gordon said.

"I think the combination between Brian and Robbie and their knowledge and their personalities will make a great mix to be able to really make this team function the best way possible. So far, I've been seeing really good results (but) you never know until you get the season started."

* NASCAR: Both Gordon and Dale Earnhardt said the new Chevrolet Monte Carlo body style lacks the front-end downforce of its predecessor.

"We can stand a lot more front end, a little more downforce on the nose," Earnhardt said after his two-day test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week.

Gordon said he didn't know whether his team would be able to achieve proper balance in the car, or if NASCAR would have to tinker with the rules in order to make the Monte Carlos more competitive with the Fords and Pontiacs.

* CART: Richie Hearn of Henderson and Della Penna Motorsports wrapped up their first oval test of the year last week at Phoenix International Raceway. Hearn completed a little more than 200 miles in his Reynard/Toyota.

"This was our first oval test with this package and while we didn't set the world on fire we learned quite a bit about the car, that's really why we test," Hearn said. "We ran out of time, though, since we sat out a while (Thursday) and didn't get to some things (Friday) that I think would have resulted in more speed for us." ...

PacWest Racing's Mauricio Gugelmin has been named chairman of the Championship Drivers Association for a two-year term and Las Vegas' Jimmy Vasser has joined the CDA's board of directors.

The Championship Drivers Association was developed in 1980 with the purpose of giving drivers a unified voice with governing bodies, promoters and the public -- particularly in the area of safety -- and represents competitors who are part of CART and the Indy Racing League.

Gugelmin, who was formerly the senior driver on the CDA's board of directors, replaces Scott Pruett as the chairman of the CDA and Vasser joins the board of directors after being part of the safety and licensing steering committee. Scott Goodyear remains as vice chairman for IRL affairs.

* IRL: After sitting out last weekend's IRL opener, Derrick Walker will field a team this season for driver Sarah Fisher with primary sponsorship from Cummins.

The Walker Racing team will make its debut at the MCI WorldCom 200 on March 19 at Phoenix. Walker Racing also will continue to field its longtime team in CART.

"The program has taken us about eight months to put together," Walker said. "We'll begin our season in Phoenix and will be open testing in Las Vegas (Feb. 21-22).

"We're really excited to have a young, up-and-coming rookie driver in Sarah Fisher. We obviously are going to be the only team running both CART and the IRL."

Fisher, 19, made her IRL debut in the Mall.com 500 last October at Texas Motor Speedway. She started 17th for Team Pelfrey and finished 25th after being sidelined with mechanical problems.

* NHRA: The long journey for NHRA teams pursuing the title of first Winston champion of the 21st century begins at the 40th annual AutoZone Winternationals this weekend at Pomona (Calif.) Raceway.

Mike Dunn (Top Fuel), Tony Pedregon (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Randy Daniels (Pro Stock Truck) are the defending event winners in their respective pro categories for the $1.7 million race, the first of 23 events in the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.

ESPN2 (Cox Cable channel 31) will televise two hours of final eliminations on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. (PST). ESPN2 also will televise two hours of qualifying highlights on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

* BACKMARKERS: Mario Andretti will end his five-year retirement from competitive racing this June when he will drive for Panoz Motor Sports at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. ...

Las Vegans Dale White and Mike Petersen will debut their new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in this weekend's 24 Hours at Daytona endurance race at Daytona International Speedway. The Westward Ho hotel-casino sponsors the car. ...

The NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series once again will visit Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 3/8-mile paved oval on Sept. 23.