Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: De Ferran, last year’s CART champ, on top again

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001 | 9:47 a.m.

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

Gil de Ferran used a late-season charge last year to win his first CART championship and bring a record eighth series title to team owner Roger Penske.

With three races remaining in the season, de Ferran appears to be up to his old tricks. Since late July, the 33-year-old Brazilian has two wins, a pair of runner-up finishes and a third-place showing and has moved to the top of the series points standings.

Going into this weekend's Honda Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca Raceway, de Ferran holds a 10-point lead over Kenny Brack in the championship. Despite his current hot streak, de Ferran said he doesn't feel as if he is doing anything differently in the past seven races than he has all season.

"We had two good races in a row here and obviously the last two have been extremely good," de Ferran said. "But I feel like we have been going pretty fast since the beginning of the year and we were just having a lot of misfortune, I would say, earlier on this year -- something that's not really happening lately.

"We have been more able to transform the speed into good qualifying positions and then into good race results. I don't feel like I have been performing much differently, if you see what I mean."

Although he went through a similar tight championship battle last season, de Ferran said the pressure of this year's title chase is no less intense.

"I think it's just as tense this year as it was last year for me primarily because I don't ... feel like I am defending the title," he said. "I feel like I am trying to win another one and as long as I put myself forward to that task, my will to trying to win this championship has been the same as it was when I was trying to win that first one.

"So, the desire is the same, the will is the same and the tension is the same."

Two racing-themed Internet sites have posted "tentative" 2002 CART schedules with a Feb. 24 Las Vegas date. Although CART and LVMS officials have not yet agreed on a date for a possible race next season, LVMS general manager Chris Powell said he would not schedule another race so close to the track's NASCAR Winston Cup date (March 3).

Powell would not say what dates he and CART are discussing, but it is believed CART and LVMS are talking about an early June date and possibly running a night race -- something CART never has attempted in its 23-year history.

Vasser, the 1996 CART champion, has been driving for Patrick Racing this season but team owner Pat Patrick has told Vasser that he would not pick up his option for next season due to a lack of sponsorship. Vasser is 14th in points with three races remaining.

Saturday's season-ending Chevy 500 at TMS featured the closest 1-2-3 finish in the series' history. A mere .0468 seconds separated the top three finishers with 2001 Indy Racing Champion Sam Hornish Jr. barely edging second-place finisher Scott Sharp and third-place Robbie Buhl.

The Indy Racing League is scheduled to return to Texas Motor Speedway for two race weekends in 2002.