Fernandez adjusting to owner-driver role

Stephen Hawkins

Thursday, April 26, 2001 | 11:59 a.m.

FORT WORTH, Texas - The reality of being CART's only owner-driver caught up with Adrian Fernandez on a hairpin turn in Long Beach, Calif.

That wasn't just another car Fernandez was pushing in front of him.

"I was touching him, then something flashed in me," Fernandez said. "On the back of the grill it said, 'FernandezRacing.net.' I'm like, 'That's one of my cars. It would be pretty stupid if I put him on the wall here.' "

Shinji Nakano went on to finish 12th earlier this month at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - four spots ahead of his car's owner - and earned the first CART point for Fernandez Racing.

While Fernandez was a frustrated driver that day, he also got to be a proud owner in only the second race in his new role.

Fernandez Racing was formed after last season by Fernandez and Tom Anderson, who was part of four consecutive CART championships from 1996-99 as the managing director of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing.

For Fernandez, runner-up to Gil de Ferran for the CART season title last year, the timing seemed right to become an owner.

"The progression to owning my own team with Tom Anderson was an excellent opportunity for me to expand my future in racing. I'm not going to be driving all of my life," said the 36-year-old Mexican. "For me to continue with my team and in the sport, I think it's going to be fantastic because I don't want to quit."

Fernandez had often considered the possibility of owning his own team. He had also wondered if it would be too difficult.

"It's been tough, but the start of my career was tough also, and look where I am. I can't expect it to be easy," Fernandez said. "Penske, Newman-Haas and all of those teams, they didn't start from the top."

Growing pains are a problem, said John Ward, the team's chief engineer.

"We're kind of out of sync with the world right now," he said. "We're zigging when the world's zagging, but we'll get back on course."

Fernandez began racing motocross when he was 8, then eight years later competed in his first auto race, the 24 Hours of Mexico. He remained in his homeland to compete in the Formula Vee and Formula K series before heading to Europe in 1987.

At the same time he was toning his skills as a driver in the developmental Formula Ford open-wheel series, Fernandez was supporting himself with jobs such as mechanic, instructor and doorman.

"I had nothing. I was having to learn myself and be able to prove to myself that I was a good driver," he said.

Fernandez returned to Mexico in 1990 to compete in the International Formula 3 Championship. He was the season runner-up as a rookie in that series and won the title the following year before moving to the United States and joining the Indy Lights Series.

He won four races and led 229 of 598 laps in Indy Lights as a rookie in 1992, then made his CART debut the following season.

"This started from just a simple dream to get where I am now. Some people say I am lucky. No, I'm not lucky. I worked really hard to get where I am," Fernandez said. "Plus, I was good when I needed to be good and I was winning races when I needed to."

Fernandez has finished in the top 10 in 68 of his 127 CART starts, and has seven career wins. With Patrick Racing the past three years, he won two races each season while finishing fourth, sixth and second in points.

The driver has come a long way from his childhood days of watching "Speed Racer" cartoons and acting out his fantasies with toy cars.

"When I was a little kid, I used to play with my Matchbox cars for hours. Fernandez said. "I had two little tracks and garages and I used to put myself into that.

"Speed Racer, I dreamed about him, the buttons on the steering wheel and the way he raced. It was my dream and I wanted to be him. And now I'm him."