Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Hamilton hopes to find stability

Friday, March 17, 2000 | 10:23 a.m.

The Indy Racing League resumes its fifth season this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway and, as has been the case for each of the past 35 IRL races, Davey Hamilton will be among the competitors.

Although Hamilton has not missed a race since the series' inception in 1996, the 37-year-old Las Vegas resident hasn't exactly been the model of consistency.

While Hamilton's on-track performance has been steady, he comes into Sunday's MCI WorldCom Indy 200 driving for his fifth team in less than five seasons.

"I think it's great that I've competed in all (the races)," said Hamilton, who will drive for TeamXtreme for the remainder of this season. "I'm proud of that, but there's better ways to go about it, like being on the same team.

"It has been a character builder. I've been with quite a few teams, and hopefully I have a home now. That's my goal, because to be successful you need to stick with a team and sponsors."

Hamilton has yet to win a race in 35 IRL starts, but the former USAC champion is confident TeamXtreme has the ingredients to finally get him to victory lane.

"I want to be in a lot more races, but I want to have a championship and Indianapolis 500 win to go with them, and I think with this team it can be done," said Hamilton, who finished second in the IRL championship in 1997 and 1998. "The team is going about things in the right way to win championships, not to just be part of the series."

* NASCAR: Winston Cup team owner A.J. Foyt has hired veteran driver Dick Trickle to replace rookie Mike Bliss for the next two races at Darlington and Bristol.

Bliss has failed to qualify for the past three Winston Cup races, including the March 5 CarsDirect.com 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Mark Martin, second to Bobby Labonte in the Winston Cup Series points standings, said there was a time when drivers didn't start thinking about points until around Labor Day. Not any more. Martin said those calculations begin at the Daytona 500.

"That (thinking about points) drives you crazy," Martin said. "It has become so important, in so many ways, that it has taken a lot of the fun out of the races."

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company announced this week that the winner's share of the 2000 running of The Winston, NASCAR's "all-star" race at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., will increase from $200,000 to $500,000.

Besides the purse increase, several other changes will be made to the May 20 The Winston format, including the addition of a 16-lap "No Bull Sprint" qualifying race.

* CART: Henderson resident Richie Hearn likely will be without a ride with Della Penna Motorsports following next weekend's CART season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Team owner John Della Penna told the Indianapolis Star that if he can't secure a sponsor for his Reynard/Toyota in the next few days, that Hearn would be replaced by Argentina's Norberto Fontana, who has been testing with DPM the past few weeks.

"I don't have a sponsor for Richie, and if Norberto comes up with money, I'll have to make a decision in the next 10 days," Della Penna said.

Hearn, who has driven for Della Penna since 1996, is understanding of Della Penna's predicament since Budweiser dropped its sponsorship of the team at the end of last season.

"I don't blame anybody," Hearn said. "It's not something John wanted to do, but it takes money to run these cars.

"Sometimes things work out for the best. Maybe I'll try sports cars or something."

Team KOOL Green's Dario Franchitti, who suffered a fractured pelvis and brain contusions in a crash at Homestead on Feb. 9, was cleared by CART's director of medical affairs, Dr. Steve Olvey, to begin testing in preparation for next weekend's season opener.

* IRL: Al Unser Jr. is looking forward to renewing an old acquaintance this weekend when he competes in the MCI WorldCom Indy 200 Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

"This track holds a lot of memories for me, both on the track and off," said Unser, who has not raced at PIR since 1995. "I watched my family race here since I was a young boy, and I raced Indy cars here for over 10 years.

"I know this track very well, and I am excited to get back there to race this weekend. If I had a home track, PIR would be it."

Eddie Cheever and Shigeaki Hattori tested at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Wednesday on their way to Phoenix for Sunday's IRL race. Cheever tested his new Riley & Scott chassis while Hattori, Treadway Racing's new driver, got his first look at the LVMS 1.5-mile superspeedway.

* NHRA: Larry Dixon, third in the NHRA Winston Drag Racing Top Fuel points, is hoping to duplicate his past success at Gainesville Raceway in this weekend's 31st annual Matco Tools Gatornationals.

"For me, Gainesville has always been a comfort zone," Dixon said. "Everything I have ever done racing-wise has started at Gainesville Raceway. In '95, in my first year competing as a pro, I won the race.

"I don't know what it is about Gainesville, but there is a comfort zone there for me and it is nice. It is kind of like Rusty Wallace and his success at Bristol; when you have success at a certain track, you look forward to racing there."

Dixon has posted two consecutive semifinal finishes this season in his Don Prudhomme-owned Miller Lite dragster, and he credits the addition of new crew chief Dick LaHaie with re-energizing the team.

"There is no question that I am looking forward to this race with Dick on our team," Dixon said.

* BACKMARKERS: Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan will attempt to qualify for both the NASCAR Winston West and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

Tim, Ed and Troy Herbst, John Gaughan, Pat Dean, Billy Goerke, Brian Collins, Clay Flippin, Mark Hutchins, Sammy Ehrenberg, Rudy Cortez and Bekki Freeman are among 16 local desert racers competing in Saturday's 14th annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.