Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Cup drivers complain about Texas Speedway

Tuesday, April 2, 2002 | 10:47 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Since its opening in 1997, Texas Motor Speedway has been at the center of controversy on more than one occasion.

When the NASCAR Winston Cup Series first visited the 1.5-mile oval in 1997, drivers complained about the track's configuration. On the first lap of the inaugural race, a 13-car pileup confirmed the drivers' reservations.

A year later, water seepage on the track caused problems for both the Busch Series and Winston Cup races, leading the speedway to reconstruct the track and install a new drainage system.

Last year, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) canceled its race just hours before the scheduled start when drivers complained of dizziness because of the high speeds and unbearable G-forces. The move by CART resulted in a lawsuit in which TMS prevailed.

This weekend's Winston Cup race in Texas should continue the tradition of controversy at the Bruton Smith-owned track. After repaving the racing surface last summer, TMS has come under fire from some Cup drivers because of the high speeds and single-groove racing.

Jeff Burton expressed his "hatred" for the track after testing there and Rusty Wallace said "you're going so damn fast (that) if something goes wrong, we'll hit this wall a ton."

"If you like fast, if you like a lot of hold-on-and-hope-for-the-best type racing and if you like a lot of cars running on the ragged edge, you're probably going to love what you see at Texas this weekend," Kyle Petty said.

"The place was fast to begin with. Throw in the new pavement and it's really going to be fast this weekend."

Elliott Sadler agreed with Petty -- but said he enjoyed the new surface when he tested there.

"I'll tell you what; that is by far the fastest racetrack we will race at this year," Sadler said. "The Texas Motor Speedway staff did a great job on the repaving of it.

"I did race runs the whole time and my race runs were faster than we qualified at Atlanta, so that will tell you how fast we are going to be. I don't know how fast it is going to be, but it is going to be unbelievably fast."

Sadler said his car was carrying speeds of 198 mph at the ends of the straightaways and 175 mph in the middle of the corners.

As far as Dale Earnhardt Jr. is concerned, that's fine with him.

"It's a really, really fast track -- which I love -- and it'll be even faster with the new surface," Earnhardt said. "But the new pavement will make passing more difficult, so you need to be near the front all day."

Gaughan tested a new Dodge Intrepid at the 2-mile oval last week and Wilson said the team was pleased with Gaughan's lap times.

"By the time we left (California Speedway), we were within two-and-a-half tenths of Sterling Marlin's lap times so we felt pretty good with the test," Wilson said.

Wilson said he was working with NAPA Auto Parts -- Gaughan's sponsor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series -- and the Orleans to put together sponsorship for the race.

"I have no ill will toward Robby," Earnhardt said. "My comments were right after I jumped out of the car and it was mainly just to get a laugh from the audience.

"Robby and I are similar in a lot of ways and we have been friends for a while. I'm sure he doesn't take what I said to heart, although it was a low blow, wasn't it? I'll remember to be more sensitive toward him next time we trade paint."

In the post-race interview, which was broadcast live by Fox, Earnhardt called Gordon "a moving chicane" and said "that No. 31 wouldn't get out of the way. He's a lap down racing the leaders with 10 laps to go. That's why it takes him three or four times to get into Winston Cup, because he doesn't pay attention and doesn't know what he's doing."

Gordon later said he was "hurt" by Earnhardt's comments.