Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Vasser part of new effort to race at Indy

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 12:21 p.m.

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

When Jimmy Vasser was hired to drive the Shell car next year in CART for car owners Bobby Rahal and David Letterman, the 35-year-old Las Vegas resident left no doubt as to his goal for the 2002 season.

"They're bringing me in to win a championship and win races and anything short of that is a failure," Vasser said.

With today's announcement that Team Rahal would return to the Indianapolis 500 next May with Vasser behind the wheel and Miller Lite as the primary sponsor, Vasser said his approach to the race will be the same as his approach to the season.

"To come out of there with anything less than a victory is going to be a failure, for sure," Vasser said. "If somebody told me I'm going to go race Indy and finish third, I'd just as soon not go. I've been in plenty of races where I've been the bridesmaid or I've been third or fourth ... and I usually end up going to bed that night very depressed.

"I think part of the reason this team hired me to do the job in CART and in the Indianapolis 500 is to win the race and I would be disappointed if they hired me thinking they weren't going to have the best chance they can to win that race."

Vasser, who will be 36 on Tuesday, has made six Indianapolis 500 starts and tied his career-best finish when he took fourth in this year's race while driving for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing in a one-off deal. Although he has nine career victories in CART and won the series championship in 1996, Vasser said an Indy 500 win is the only thing missing from his racing resume.

"Certainly, I would like to have that on my list of accomplishments," Vasser said. "An Indianapolis 500 win and you're in company with great champions and drivers throughout time. I'm going to strive, as long as I can, to win that race.

"The primary goal for this coming season is to win the CART championship and secondary, I think, is to win the Indianapolis 500. When all is said is done, I think it could be the crowning achievement of my career and I'm going to do everything I can to win that race."

Vasser said Rahal hasn't decided whether he will enter the car in an Indy Racing League event prior to the May 26 Indianapolis 500. In 2000, Vasser and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Montoya went to Indy without the benefit of running the cars in an IRL race and Montoya won the 500 while Vasser finished seventh.

This year, CART team owner Roger Penske used the March IRL race in Phoenix to give drivers Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran a chance to get used to the cars under race conditions and they finished first and second, respectively, at Indy.

"I think (running an IRL race) could be a possibility depending on how testing is going or whatever type of familiarization we decided that we want," Vasser said. "I think Penske had some success in that approach last year; when we were at Ganassi, they didn't think that was necessary and they had similar success. Only time is going to tell on that front."

Next year's Indy 500 will be a special one for both Team Rahal owners. The race will be the first at Indy for Rahal since the CART-IRL split in 1996 and the first for Letterman, host of CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," since he became a co-owner with Rahal that same year.

"To be part of a team racing at Indianapolis is the kind of thing I dreamed about as a kid," said Letterman, who grew up in the Broad Ripple section of Indianapolis. "I couldn't hope to be in better company than Team Rahal. This is what springtime in Indiana is all about."

Rahal, who won the Indy 500 in 1986 as a driver, said he also is looking forward to returning to the Brickyard.

"The Indy 500 is an American tradition and we are very proud to return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway again with Miller Brewing," said Rahal.

"Having a tremendous driver like Jimmy behind the wheel for Team Rahal and Miller Lite means we will be among the top contenders for the coveted Borg Warner Trophy."

Among the expected announcements are that Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates have hired Jimmy Spencer to drive the No. 01 Dodge, with primary sponsorship from Target; Haas-Carter Motorsports has hired Joe Nemechek to replace Spencer in the No. 26 Kmart Ford; Jeremy Mayfield will replace Casey Atwood in the No. 19 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports; and team owner Ray Evernham will buy part of Jim Smith's Ultra Motorsports team and move Atwood into Smith's No. 7 car -- which will switch from Ford to Dodge next season.

"Fridays are the most pathetic time -- I can't stand them anymore," Busch said. "I used to look forward to qualifying and now that this new engine rule is coming about next season it's going to be a different kind of challenge that I'm looking forward to.

"This year, though, it's been a struggle. No matter what I do, we're either in the top 10 or we're 30th or worse ... there's no in between. We're either on or we're off and I can't stand that. I wish we could take a car that was off a little bit, have the power that we needed, and qualify 20th every week. That would be wonderful, but it's been a big struggle and I can't stand it anymore."

"I've 99 percent given up on CART," Alesi told the Reuters news agency. "Honda and Penske are pulling out of this championship which is close to implosion. What's more, there is no money to be made and I won't go there for fun. You don't have fun driving at 400 kph on ovals."

Ray was starting what was to be a two-day test when the rear end of his car came around as he entered Turn 1. The car then hit the outside wall, became airborne after its front wheels began sliding on the inside grass and did a complete roll in the air before landing on all four wheels.

Kelley Racing general manager Jim Freudenberg noted that Ray and former Kelley Racing driver Mark Dismore, whom Ray replaced, have dissimilar driving styles and one of the reasons for the test was to begin assessing the setup changes needed to make the car comfortable for Ray.