Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Petree hopes changes don’t ‘crap out’

Friday, March 10, 2000 | 9:44 a.m.

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

Andy Petree had been out of Las Vegas for two days, but the NASCAR Winston Cup Series owner/crew chief felt like he still was gambling when NASCAR announced rules changes affecting the Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Petree, who fields cars for drivers Joe Nemechek and Kenny Wallace, said making changes to the cars' front air dams before Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a little like "rolling the dice."

"I don't really know what to expect from it right now," Petree said of the changes, which allow Chevy teams to extend the front air dam two inches forward below the bumper. "We're cutting our (cars') noses up and trying to get what they allowed us to do.

"We're going through a lot of our wind-tunnel information trying to figure out how we're going to adjust our car around this new rule -- hopefully it'll help us."

Petree said he did not know how the changes would affect the cars until they took part in today's first practice session in Atlanta.

Petree called the rules change a "quick fix," but one that was necessary to make the Monte Carlo more competitive with the Fords and Pontiacs.

"The reason we're not competitive is that we haven't, up until now, had what was needed to make the downforce we need," Petree said. "The rules and the templates that we've got to work with right now just won't allow us to do it.

"We've had decent rear downforce and we've had substandard front downforce compared to the other makes. When you add front downforce to the car, it helps the front tires grip better and not push as much. This (change) is probably a good roll of the dice to see if we can do better, and I'm sure that's what NASCAR is thinking, too. If this helps, it would obviously be the easiest thing to do because we can change it in a day and not change any of the templates."

Still, Petree admitted to being a little nervous about altering his cars for a race without having the benefit of wind-tunnel testing.

"I was kind of reluctant to dive in there and cut up the cars we had ready to go to Atlanta," Petree said. "We've had a good Chevy for two of the three races this year -- we had a little problem at Daytona, but we felt like we had as good a Chevy at Vegas as there was."

Nemechek finished ninth and Wallace 39th in Sunday's CarsDirect.com 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"Going (into Atlanta) with an unknown, we don't really know where we're going to stand," Petree added.

* NASCAR: According to a published report in the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler is proposing that NASCAR hold its season opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the week before the Daytona 500.

The move, Wheeler reasons, would allow teams to get a race under their belts prior to Daytona and would build West Coast interest in NASCAR's Super Bowl.

Wheeler is second in command to Bruton Smith at SMI, which owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway and five other tracks that host NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. ...

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch is leading the Rookie of the Year standings in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series -- and is third in points -- after second- and ninth-place finishes in the first two races of 2000.

"Everything is still moving so fast," Busch said. "I was hired to drive for Jack Roush in December, I got a few tests in the truck and then we were racing in Daytona. Right after that, we were in Homestead.

"I've been fortunate enough to get a couple of good finishes in both of those races and now we have some time to sit back, take it all in, and get ready for Phoenix."

The Truck Series visits Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday, March 18.

* CART: Bobby Rahal wasted no time in putting an end to speculation that Team Rahal driver Kenny Brack would compete in this year's Indianapolis 500 in a partnership with IRL team owner A.J. Foyt.

Last Friday, the IRL released a statement that four-time Indy 500 winner Foyt had filed three entries for the 500 -- one of which would be a partnership between Foyt and Brack.

"Neither of our drivers, Kenny Brack or Max Papis, will race at Indianapolis without Team Rahal," Rahal said in a release of his own. "The entire Team Rahal organization, including our drivers Kenny Brack and Max Papis, are focusing our energies entirely on winning the CART FedEx Championship in 2000.

"As a former Indy 500 champion I understand how unique it is for the defending champion to not race at Indy. I think it is a great gesture on the part of A.J. that he has offered Kenny a symbolic means to be involved in the race."

Brack said, "When the opportunity of co-ownership with A.J. was presented, I accepted the opportunity as a way to keep my name as Indy 500 champion involved with the race, while allowing me to keep my attention focused on the task at hand in CART."

No driver has been named for the Foyt-Brack entry.

* IRL: The Indy Racing League has changed its name for the second time in fewer than six weeks. The all-oval open-wheel series now will be called the Indy Racing Northern Light Series.

Northern Light Technology, Inc., an Internet search and research engine, has a five-year agreement for the series' naming rights. ...

Shigeaki Hattori has signed a one-year deal to drive for Treadway Racing, with sponsorship from Epson America, Inc., for the remainder of the Indy Racing League season.

Hattori planned to begin testing this week at the Texas Motor Speedway under the direction of Engineer Mike Colliver, Chief Mechanic Jamie Nanny and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Arie Luyendyk.

Hattori made seven starts for Bettenhausen Motorsports as a rookie in CART last season. His best finish was 15th place at Gateway International Raceway in May.

* NHRA: Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Ed "Ace" McCulloch, Funny Car rivals in the 1970s and 1980s, will be inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame next week in Gainesville, Fla.

Prudhomme won four Funny Car championships (1975-78) and 49 races (35 in Funny Car and 14 in Top Fuel) before retiring in 1994. McCulloch accumulated 22 wins (18 in Funny Car) before retiring to become a team manager and crew chief after the 1993 season.

Prudhomme also will be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 13 in Talladega, Ala.

* BACKMARKERS: Kim Gregory of Las Vegas will test his U-10 and U-5 Unlimited Hydroplanes on Arizona's Lake Pleasant on March 29 in preparation for the May 19-21 season opener on Lake Havasu.

Gregory's U-10 Hydroplane finished third in the Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Association points last season and driver Mark Weber was second in driver's points. The U-5 "Appian Jeronimo," Gregory's second UHRA entry, will be piloted this season by George Stratton.

The UHRA is expected to add Lake Pleasant to the 2001 schedule. ...

Henderson resident Sam Schmidt, paralyzed in an IRL test-session crash in January, is among the nominees for the U.S. F2000 Hall of Fame Class of 2000. The inductees will be announced later this month.

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