Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: ‘Little E’ can’t keep low profile

Friday, Feb. 18, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

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

Despite winning back-to-back NASCAR Busch Series championships in 1998 and 1999, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was hoping to sneak up on the competition going into Sunday's 42nd running of the Daytona 500.

As one of the most heralded of the Winston Cup rookie class of 2000, Earnhardt Jr. was looking forward to going from series champion to "just another team in the Winston Cup garage."

That is, until the son of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt finished fourth in his 50-lap qualifying race Thursday and put his No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet on the fourth row for Sunday's 200-lap race.

"I think being in the back of the garage is going to be a good experience for me because another year in the Busch Series, winning races and winning another championship might have spoiled me for the rest of my life," Earnhardt said earlier this month during a test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "Now we get back to reality.

"I'm kind of curious as to whether we can have that much fun in the Winston Cup Series or not. I think the more time I spend around it, I think there's room for that, room for a little goofing off and enjoying it instead of taking it so seriously."

Despite all the hype of becoming a third-generation driver in NASCAR's premier series, Earnhardt Jr. is approaching his rookie season in the Winston Cup Series with modest expectations.

"I really don't have a lot of expectations for myself," Earnhardt said. "I know my potential, I realize what I'm capable of and I'm saying I realize the chances of me winning a race (this) year are very rare. I realize there are going to be a lot of times where we struggle and I'm fine with that.

"We're going to have a lot of races where we struggle and where we don't run well and we're going to have races where we probably run better than expected. If we just get in position to win some races from time to time it would be nice."

Earnhardt Jr., 25, heads a rookie class that includes Matt Kenseth, Stacy Compton, Mike Bliss, Dave Blaney, Scott Pruett and Jeff Fuller. Kenseth, Fuller and Blaney are moving up from Busch Series, Compton and Bliss are coming over from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Pruett is a 10-year veteran of the open-wheel CART series.

Although Earnhardt Jr. posted 13 wins during the past two seasons in the Busch Series, he said he and his crew have a lot to learn about making the leap to the Winston Cup Series.

"There's a lot of variables that I think I and the team may be lacking," he said. "A lot of the problem is just setup knowledge, knowledge of the car.

"We're spending two, three or four times the amount of time trying to figure out a way to get the car to do something we want it to do than normal and that gets tiring a little bit. Then dad will come over and just rattle off a few things that would take a week for us to figure that out. That's just where we're lacking ... we need to gain knowledge."

Earnhardt ran five Winston Cup races in 1999 -- the maximum amount of events in which he could compete and retain his rookie status this season -- and gained his first top-10 finish in his fourth start, at Richmond.

More importantly, he gained some much-needed confidence.

"I was pretty intimidated by the (Winston Cup) cars and by my ability to do well in them ... I had a lot of doubts, I guess," Earnhardt said. "I knew there were a lot of expectations to live up to. We ran a few races and we really didn't post any exciting finishes. We ran 10th at Richmond, which I was pretty happy with.

"Running those five races gave me a little bit of self-esteem, a little bit of confidence going into this season that I can compete with some of these guys."

NASCAR: Three months after spinal fusion surgery, Mark Martin will start ninth on the grid for Sunday's Daytona 500 -- his 16th appearance in the "Great American Race."

"I feel wonderful," Martin said. "The (lower back) pain is completely gone. Now, I'm back with my regular trainer and we're strength-training again, five-days-a-week on the weights.

"I could have driven during the test (at Daytona in January) but I was still getting tired and my stamina was down at that time. It's built back-up now."

Martin, who has finished in the top six in Winston Cup points for 11 consecutive years, still is in search of his first Daytona 500 victory.

"I get hammered over and over about not winning the championship and not winning the Daytona 500," Martin said. "As the media, you have to ask that question, but you have to remember it's not a bad thing that you've contended for a championship all those times."

* CART: Dario Franchitti, injured last week in a testing accident during spring training at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was released last Saturday from Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital and currently is recuperating in Tennessee.

Franchitti, who sustained non-displaced fractures of the pelvis and hip as well as small brain contusions, began physical therapy this week and will undergo follow-up neurological tests and an MRI test in three to four weeks.

If the tests are normal, Team Kool Green officials said that Franchitti either will test in a go-kart or conduct a test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in something other than a Champ Car.

Following the test run, a decision will be made as to whether Franchitti will be able to compete March 26 in the season-opening Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Team officials said that Franchitti is determined to be back for the season opener. ...

Despite the death Monday of CART team owners Tony Bettenhausen and Russ Roberts in a plane crash, Jack Rodgers, longtime Herdez/Viva Mexico team partner, said he will continue to field a car for driver Michel Jourdain Jr. this season.

"Bettenhausen Motorsports, as a team, will carry on in the wake of this tremendous loss," Rodgers said. "Tony's love for the sport has driven us all to make Bettenhausen Motorsports what it is today and we plan to continue with Tony's dream to be a championship contender.

"His passion lives on in all of us and we hope to honor his and Russ' memory by continuing his work with the team."

* IRL: More than 20 drivers and teams will participate in the annual "Test in the West" test sessions next Monday and Tuesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Friday and Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway.

Drivers slated to test at LVMS next week include Al Unser Jr., Sarah Fisher, Greg Ray, Robbie Buhl, Eddie Cheever Jr., Buddy Lazier, Scott Goodyear, Billy Boat, Scott Sharp, Mark Dismore, Jeff Ward and Eliseo Salazar.

The two-day test session will not be open to the public. The next race on the IRL schedule is the MCI WorldCom Indy 200 on March 19 at PIR, and LVMS will host the Las Vegas 500K on April 22. ...

Eddie Cheever Jr., one of three IRL drivers selected to participate in the 2000 IROC series, said he hopes to use the lessons he learned last season racing at Daytona International Speedway in today's IROC opener.

"Last year, I went from the back to the front to the back to the wall," Cheever said of his 7-lap debut at the historic speedway. "Daytona is very fast and narrow. I learned very quickly that you must stay in the draft and work the buddy system; you must be patient (and) not chase every hole.

"If you get out of the draft, it is like you just had a cylinder plucked out of your engine. Before you know it, you are at the back of the pack with nothing but race track in your mirrors. That's not part of my agenda this year."

* NHRA: Joe Amato called his Top Fuel victory last year in the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals "the turnaround of the century."

After not qualifying for final eliminations in the 1999 season opener at Pomona, Amato still wasn't in the field after first-day qualifying at Firebird. Then, in his last run, he became the No. 1 qualifier (over 325 mph) and defeated Kenny Bernstein in the finals. That turned out to be the first of five wins during the season.

The five-time Top Fuel champion returns to the Arizona quarter-mile Feb. 25-27 for the Checkers Schuck's Kragen Nationals. Amato started his 2000 campaign at Pomona as No. 1 qualifier and made it to the semifinals.

"We're coming off a good year, with five wins, but we're looking to try to get our car a little more consistent," Amato said. "We need to try to limit the first-round losses. Looking back on last season, that was a key in the Winston championship.

"Maybe a little less power, with the nitro cut back (new 90 percent nitro fuel rule), may help us a little bit. Our car has been one to almost have a little too much power sometimes, so we're hoping that will play into our hands a bit."

* BACKMARKERS: Saturday's open house at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will give race fans a sneak peak at the upcoming racing season with free track tours, go-kart rides, ticket specials, discounted rides from the Richard Petty Driving Experience and show cars from many different forms of racing.

The open house runs from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. For fans not wanting to miss the NASCAR Busch Series event from Daytona, large-screen televisions will be set up for viewing.

Las Vegas' Brendan Gaughan, who will attempt to qualify for the March 5 NASCAR Winston Cup race at LVMS, will be on hand to sign autographs from 1-3 p.m.

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