Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Fittipaldi to NASCAR not as weird as it seems

Friday, Aug. 9, 2002 | 8:58 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.

At first glance, Petty Enterprises' decision to hire CART veteran Christian Fittipaldi and groom him for a full-time NASCAR Winston Cup campaign in 2004 seemed like an odd move.

Although Fittipaldi continually has been a contender during his eight years in CART, he has only two wins in 125 starts and never has finished higher than fifth in points.

But Petty Enterprises CEO Kyle Petty said he merely is following a trend in NASCAR, with former open-wheel drivers such as John Andretti, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman making successful transitions to stock cars.

"We felt like (Fittipaldi) was another young talent that was coming along and another young talent that hadn't been in the NASCAR mix yet," Petty said. "So many times, you reach into the Busch ranks and the truck ranks and we decided to go way outside those ranks, more in terms of what they've done with Tony Stewart, when he came over from open-wheel racing ... and the same route, kind of, that John (Andretti) came.

"We feel like we've had some success with that program in the past and we look to continue that success down the road."

In preparing the 31-year-old Fittipaldi for Winston Cup, Petty will use a formula that fellow team owner Roger Penske used with Newman last year. Newman ran selected ARCA, NASCAR Busch Series and Winston Cup events to get accustomed to Winston Cup tracks.

"It kind of goes back to the process my father used when I first started racing back in '79 and '80," Petty said. "If I wanted to be a Winston Cup driver, I needed to be running at a Winston Cup track. I think that's what the Penske organization did with Ryan Newman.

"Whether it be Busch or ARCA, Ryan Newman was racing on a Winston Cup track. They prepared their driver to be a Winston Cup driver by running those tracks. It's better for (Christian) to run the Daytonas and Rockinghams and Atlantas, places like that."

Fittipaldi, who drives for Newman/Haas Racing in CART, said his decision to jump to NASCAR had nothing to do with the hard times CART is going through.

"I think it was more of a timing issue ... it wasn't because CART is in a down time ... it was just the way things happened," Fittipaldi said. "Sometimes there are a couple of things that happen to you in life that if you don't take that opportunity right now, maybe it will never happen for you again.

"I'm very happy that I got the chance right now and I'm definitely taking it."

It is believed to be the first time in American motor sports that a sponsor has publicly fined a driver. Stewart also was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for the rest of the year by NASCAR for the same incident. The sponsor fine will be donated to charity.

"This was my heart attack, my wake-up call," Stewart said Thursday after a meeting with representatives of The Home Depot and Gibbs. "There is no excuse for what I've done. I'm very sorry and I don't really expect anyone to forgive me."

Stewart, who is seeking professional help to manage his anger, said he plans to apologize "face-to-face" to Indianapolis Star freelance photographer Gary Mook.

"Tony Stewart's actions following the Brickyard 400 do not at all represent the values and beliefs of the over 290,000 associates who comprise the backbone and spirit of The Home Depot," said Hugh Miskel, director of sales promotion for The Home Depot. "We value our relationship with the media, fans and competitors of NASCAR and the behavior displayed following the Brickyard 400 will not be tolerated from any member of our race team now or in the future."

"I'm glad for Pontiac getting a little more on the nose," Pontiac driver Johnny Benson said. "We have found you can get through qualifying OK, but the Pontiacs have trouble racing compared to the other makes. It will be nice for Pontiac although Chevrolet got double what Pontiac got."

The simulators will help the department train new fire and EMS drivers. More than 100 FDNY-trained drivers were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

Vasser, who holds the CART record for consecutive race finishes with 25 from 1995 to 1997, has been involved in four first-lap accidents this season -- none his fault.

"It has almost become humorous," Vasser said. "It all started back in Mexico in the season opener when I got taken out on the first lap. We came back at Long Beach and got the pole and nearly won the race, so I didn't think about any kind of bad luck.

"But we had a fire at Japan, a gearbox (problem) at Indy and Portland and then the first-lap incidents at Chicago, Cleveland and Vancouver. It's like living in a nightmare. We seem to get caught up in the mix on the first lap."