Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Hamilton hopes for fast start on new team

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 10 a.m.

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

Davey Hamilton has the distinction of being the only driver to have competed in every Indy Racing League event since the series' inception in 1996.

The Las Vegas resident also holds the dubious distinction of having never won a race in his 43 career starts.

Henderson resident Sam Schmidt intends to see that change now that Hamilton is driving for Schmidt's upstart IRL team. In fact, Schmidt almost expects it.

"Davey has proven in the past that he has been able to run up front," said Schmidt, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a testing accident 14 months ago. "The only thing he hasn't done is win a race and we want to make sure that changes with our team.

"I think we will be giving him the proper equipment and the proper personnel to get that done."

Schmidt will debut his new team in Sunday's IRL season opener at Phoenix International Raceway and he said he is expecting it to be competitive from the first race on.

"We need to make a statement, we need to run up front all year long, and I want to be a contender for the championship right out of the box," Schmidt said.

Schmidt said he hopes to use his experience as an owner/driver to avoid making the same mistakes he made when he was funding his own Indy Car effort.

"The first couple of years in the IRL, frankly, I ran around in the middle of the pack and in 1999 I found out what it was like to run at the front of the pack. And with my team, I definitely don't want to (run in the middle of the pack)," said Schmidt, who posted his only IRL victory in the 1999 IRL race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"Based on my experience, I feel like I can kind of cut through some of the b.s. on the team as far as whether the motor is performing or whether the engineer is performing or whether the driver is performing because I have done all that stuff."

Robinson, 36, will make her Winston Cup debut April 29 in Fontana, Calif., in a car owned by Michael Kranefuss. Robinson also will compete in Cup races in Michigan, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas and Homestead, Fla.

Both Robinson and Kranefuss insisted this is not a publicity stunt, and Kranefuss added that he is committed to a three-year program with Robinson.

"I've been doing this for many years," Robinson said of her racing career that began in 1983. "I can guarantee you there is no woman out there who has been as focused as I have been in Winston Cup or NASCAR circle-track racing.

"It takes a lot to get these kind of opportunities, to get someone like Michael Kranefuss to give you this opportunity or to get the dollars to put you in a position to get the opportunity. This is not something that is easy to do."

Kranefuss said he has not yet secured a primary sponsor for Robinson's car. ...

With his career-best 10th-place finish last weekend at Atlanta, Kurt Busch of Las Vegas moved into third place in the Winston Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. Busch, with 34 points, trails Kevin Harvick by 12 points and second-place Ron Hornaday by five points.

"I know that there are not many drivers who can get themselves comfortable in the car with the HANS for the road and street courses right now," da Matta said. "I have been lucky to find one of those devices that fits me pretty well and I was able to get comfortable with it straightaway."

Dunlap spent more than 30 years as an engineer and supervisor with Ford Motor Company before beginning his Indy Racing career in 1996 with Pagan Racing. Dunlap joined LP Racing in 1998, where he worked with Schmidt when he was funding his own team.

Dunlap will handle the technical aspects of the team from its Lebanon, Ind., headquarters and Schmidt will oversee the operation from his Henderson home. ...

Penske Auto Center will be the primary sponsor of the Penske Racing cars driven by Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves in the IRL season opener Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

De Ferran and Castroneves will drive Oldsmobile-powered Dallaras fielded by CART team owner Roger Penske, who plans to enter his two drivers in this year's Indianapolis 500.

Tim Richards will assume the role as crew chief immediately on the Budweiser King team and his first race will be this weekend's 32nd annual Mac Tools Gatornationals.

"Mike Green put forth a tremendous amount of effort," Bernstein said. "I genuinely enjoyed working with Mike this past year-and-a-half. Mike is actively seeking other employment as a member of a Top Fuel or Funny car team and we wish him every success.

"Tim Richards brings many years of success and experience as a crew chief for Joe Amato and Chuck Etchells and we are looking forward to his new leadership role." ...

Starting with this weekend's Gatornationals, the Etchells Racing Camaro Z28 driven by Jim Epler will fly the colors of the rock band Motley Crue for three events. The series visits The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway April 5-8 for the second annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals.

Clark's suspension and probation is a result of an incident that occurred following the Legends Cars feature event last Saturday night at The Bullring.

Clark was penalized for violating rules concerning "rough driving and other acts of violence" and "behavior deemed detrimental to the betterment of the sport." ...

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host the inaugural B&M Racers Appreciation Series presented by Ron's Fuel Injection Systems. The three-day event started today.

The Pro/Superpro class will pay $10,000 to the winner each day. Runner-up each day will receive $1,500.

Gates opened at 9 a.m. today, 8 a.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Pit crew and spectator admission is $45 for a three-day pass, $15 for a one-day pass and $5 for children 12 and under. ...

The Nevada Dodge Monster Truck Nationals will be held Friday and Saturday night at the half-mile dirt oval at LVMS.

Spectator gates open on Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m. Thunder Truck qualifying is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. A Demolition Derby is scheduled for approximately 8:40 p.m. Drivers also will be available for autographs at the novelty trailer after the show is completed.

Admission is $20 for adults and $12 for children, seniors and military personnel.