Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Wallace will take part in LVMS test

Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

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

Rusty Wallace posted the top speed among the three manufacturers during testing this month at Daytona International Speedway, but the veteran NASCAR Winston Cup driver isn't about to predict his first Daytona 500 win is imminent.

"I think we've all seen this before, haven't we?" Wallace said. "All those big numbers put up there before the season starts just work to get everybody talking and right now it feels good because they're talking a lot about us.

"But when we get down there for the real thing, things start to change in a hurry. We're ready for all of that and not going down to Daytona with blinders on ... and that's about all you can ask for right now."

Wallace's lap of 187.719 mph in his Miller Lite Ford Taurus topped the speed charts after Ford, GM and Dodge competed their testing at the 2.5-mile oval.

Wallace -- along with 27 other Winston Cup drivers -- will be in Las Vegas next week for an open test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The test, which runs Monday through Friday, will be open to the public, free of charge.

"A lot of people will try to read into (our Daytona test) that we've got a rocket ship ready to get back down there, win the pole and everything and that's just not the case," Wallace said of the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.

"What we do have is a really fast little hot rod that will draft as good as any car we've ever had under us, but we better not read anything else into those numbers. I'm not downplaying our accomplishments and I never will, but we turned that fast lap down there running in a tight draft."

Wallace, who will be looking for his first Daytona 500 win next month, is changing his testing strategy this winter. Instead of testing at Talladega Superspeedway, Wallace is opting to come to Las Vegas next Tuesday and Wednesday -- postponing his Talladega test until later in the season.

"In most of the past years, we would go to Talladega and blow a test prior to going back down to (Daytona) for the real thing," he said. "We're not going to do that this time around.

"Our game plan is to go down there and qualify as well as we can, but not get ourselves all bent out of shape focusing on the qualifying package. We'll do as well as we can and then really throw everything we can at them in the 125s (qualifying races) and in the race. That's the most important thing and we all know that."

Busch, who will be competing for Rookie of the Year honors this season, was optimistic after his successful test at Daytona earlier this month.

"The Daytona test really put us back into racing mode," Busch said. "We had some down time, in terms of racing, and the test reacquainted us with racing procedures from changing springs and shocks between runs, to overall communication between driver and team.

"That communication will be important this year. Being able to describe how the car is handling and offering suggestions on how to help the handling will be important in putting the best car on the track over the course of 500 miles."

Busch said the team will have a chance to work on different setups next week at LVMS.

"While the cars will be different (than the ones we tested at Daytona), we can still work on finding what changes generally help the overall handling of the Taurus, whether it's air pressure, track bar or a spring and shock combo," he said. "As I get a better understanding of the car I think that will help in getting the right adjustments made in a shorter amount of time." ...

The Orleans hotel-casino, which sponsored the last NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1999, announced this week it will again sponsor the truck race at LVMS on Oct. 14. The 145-lap event will be called The Orleans 350.

Although Ganassi has not officially said he will return to Indy this season -- he won the 500 last year with driver Juan Montoya -- he did say last week that if he decides to do the race, it will be with Minassian and Junqueria.

And that's just fine with Junqueira, the 23-year-old Brazilian who won the FIA Formula 3000 championship last year.

"If it has four wheels and a steering wheel, I'll drive it," Junqueira said.

Davey Hamilton's new deal with Treadway-Hubbard Racing will guarantee him a ride only through the Indianapolis 500 in May, the Las Vegas resident said this week.

"Right now, we have the funding and the sponsorship to take us through the Indy 500," Hamilton said. "The plan is to go all year and the team and myself are focusing for the entire year ... but it does take a few of these sponsors we're working with to go ahead and sign up to make it through the entire year."

The 50th Anniversary Nationals will be an NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series event, featuring additional nostalgia racing categories representative of the sport's storied history.

The summer event will feature two qualifying runs on Thursday and Friday nights (July 5-6) with final eliminations on Saturday night, July 7. The vehicles will run until 8 p.m. on Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The unique event will represent the first time the NHRA will run under the lights in Pomona.

The 50th Anniversary Nationals will feature a full complement of professional racing, with national points at stake in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. In addition, all sportsman categories will be competing.

Keough had fielded the Star Nursery-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Kurt Busch and the late Chris Trickle in the past and was scheduled to run a second season with Greg Pursley behind the wheel this year. ...

Duralast battery has signed a two-year title sponsorship agreement extension for the Duralast SCORE Desert Series and will continue to serve as the official battery of SCORE.