Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Safety device tests well at Speedway

Friday, Aug. 17, 2001 | 10:24 a.m.

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

Having completed three days of closed testing this week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Paul Lew is confident his new energy-absorbing "Humpy Bumper" will be affixed to the front ends of NASCAR Winston Cup cars by next month.

Lew, president of the Las Vegas-based Lew Composites, said this week's round of testing confirmed that the device will decrease the G-forces a driver is subjected to in head-on and near head-on crashes -- such as those that killed NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and Tony Roper.

"I'm confident that, based on what we've seen in these tests, that you'll see bumpers racing in the month of September," Lew said. "It's a fantastic product and it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do."

A final, public test on Aug. 28, which originally had been planned for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has been moved to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and will be attended by NASCAR race team officials and the media. Humpy Wheeler, after whom the "Humpy Bumper" is named, is president of Lowe's Motor Speedway and it is believed the test was moved to that track in deference to Wheeler.

"We will have a public test on the 28th of August at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord," Lew said. "At that time, we'll disclose what tests we've done, and when, and (release) all the results.

"What I can tell you is that (previous positive test results) continue to be supported by the testing that we're doing now. We're very pleased with the way testing has gone."

According to published reports, Lew has invested more than $2.5 million into development of the Humpy Bumper, which will cost race teams about $6,000 each. Officials from Lew Composites have said that several Winston Cup teams have expressed interest in ordering the bumpers once NASCAR approves them.

Calgary police, acting on a tip from a race fan, recovered the stock car -- along with a total of $400,000 in stolen goods -- during a raid last week in suburban Calgary.

A race fan that had seen a picture of the stolen car on the Internet noticed similarities between Keough's car and one that was racing near Calgary and alerted police. Darin Bruce James, 28, of Calgary was arrested and charged with five counts of possession of stolen property. Additional charges were expected to be filed during James' court appearance.

Schmidt had an IRL rookie test scheduled today for Lazzaro at Gateway International Raceway. Prior to Lazier's unexpected departure, Schmidt had been considering fielding a second car with Lazzaro as the driver in next Sunday's IRL race at Gateway.

Herbert tested for more than three hours on the 1.5-mile oval with first-year team Heritage Motorsports. Herbert said his ultimate goal is to win the Indianapolis 500.

"Winning the Indy 500 is my last major challenge, and I'm doing all I can to get there," he said. "This was a great package to run with, and I really hope I'm competing here next year. My goal is to get as much experience with a team before going to the Indy 500."

"Talent wins championships and I've hired some talent," Ganassi told the Associated Press. "Kenny has shown he can win championships. He's won the IRL championship, he almost won the IROC championship and now he's leading the CART championship."

Ganassi said he would wait until the end of the season to decide whether Bruno Junqueira or Memo Gidley will stick with the team as the second driver.

"Right now, Bruno and Memo have to concentrate on the rest of the season, and things will fall into place," Ganassi said. "I don't anticipate making a decision on the second driver until the end of the season."

After completing the truck race (which has a 4 p.m. start in Chicago), Busch will fly on local casino owner Michael Gaughan's private jet back to Las Vegas in an attempt to run the 50-lap NASCAR Late Model main event at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Late Model feature is scheduled to start at approximately 9:40 p.m.

Another Las Vegas native, Brendan Gaughan, also will compete in Saturday's truck race in Chicago.

Drawing for starting positions for the sixth annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 will be held today at SCORE headquarters in Los Angeles. Nearly 150 vehicles are expected to compete in the Sept. 15 race, which is SCORE's only event in the Las Vegas area. ...

NASCAR Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Legends Cars, Outlaw Stocks and Bandoleros highlight Saturday night's NASCAR Weekly Racing Series card at The Bullring at LVMS. Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. and racing is slated to begin at 6:30.