Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Memo Gidley OK after scary wreck in Wisconsin

Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2001 | 10:18 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Despite a spectacular crash in Sunday's CART race in Elkhart Lake, Wis., Target/Chip Ganassi Racing driver Memo Gidley is expected to be back in the car for the series' next race, Sept. 2 on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Gidley, who hit a concrete bridge abutment and rolled several times before coming to a stop at Road America, suffered a bone contusion to the femur in his right leg. The 30-year-old American briefly lost consciousness in the incident.

Dr. Terry Trammell, who evaluated Gidley Monday in Indianapolis, said Gidley should be cleared to race by Sept. 2.

"If his recovery continues as expected, he will be able to return to the car in Vancouver," Trammell said.

Gidley took over in TCGR's second car in June after rookie Nicolas Minassian was fired and has posted two top-five finishes. He said he was relieved to hear that he will not have to miss a race.

"I'm feeling fine, so it's great to hear from the doctor that I should be able to get back in the car at Vancouver," Gidley said. "I've worked hard and long to be able race for a team like Target Racing, so it would have been very disappointing to miss a race.

"I'm healthy and confident that I can follow Bruno's (Junqueira) example and give Team Target two wins in a row."

Gidley and Junqueira, who won Sunday's Motorola 220, are vying for a job with TCGR next season. When Ganassi announced last week that he had hired Team Rahal driver Kenny Brack for next season, Ganassi indicated that he would decide who would drive the team's second car after evaluating Gidley's and Junqueira's performances at season's end.

"I don't know what's going to happen in the future," Junqueira said Tuesday. "I'm trying to concentrate to do my racing and I don't know what Chip is thinking about next year."

Mansell, with Jonathan Frost riding in the back seat, crashed into the back of another two-seat F1 car driven by current F1 driver Fernando Alonso. Mansell's car flew up in the air, shattering the nose cone, spun and damaged the rear suspension.

"One thing's for sure," Mansell said after he and his passenger escaped unhurt, "you saw a real motor race there."

Delphi Automotive Systems, which sponsors both Dismore and Kelley Racing teammate Scott Sharp, has informed team owners Jim and Tom Kelley that it wants to sponsor only one car next season and that it wants Sharp as the driver.

"It's the nature of the beast," Dismore told the Indianapolis Star. "I hope Scott realizes how lucky he is to have a good sponsor like Delphi.

"If we could have won Indianapolis or been in the top two or three (in points) right now, things might be different for me. But this has been just short of a way miserable year."