Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 10:22 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
Of all the issues that deserve NASCAR's attention, its championship points system should be far down the list.
In what amounts to a knee-jerk reaction to Matt Kenseth's dominance this season in the Winston Cup Series, NASCAR officials reportedly are considering altering the points system to one in which only the top 10 drivers after 26 races would be eligible to compete for the championship.
Under this ill-advised scenario, the top 10 drivers after 26 races would have their points totals reset to zero and the driver who scores the most points in the final 10 races would be crowned the series champion.
Bad idea.
NASCAR officials need only look at its two feeder series, the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series, to realize there is little wrong with the current points system. Heading into the season finales at Homestead-Miami Speedway, only 89 points separated the top six drivers in the Busch Series and the top four Truck Series drivers were within 39 points of each other.
The championship battles in both series came down to the final lap.
Kenseth, meanwhile, built a commanding lead in the points on the strength of a remarkably consistent season and clinched the Winston Cup championship with one race remaining.
If NASCAR feels it must tinker with its points system, it should consider awarding more points to its race winners. Under the existing system, a driver finishing second and leading the most laps in a race actually can earn the same amount of points as the race winner. That should change.
Instead of putting time and effort into devising a points system that would create a "playoff" atmosphere, NASCAR would be better off devoting its energy into the continued development of the "soft-wall" technology that is in place (or in the process of being installed) at only six of the 21 oval tracks the Nextel Cup Series will visit in 2004.
PHOENIX TO BECOME "SAFER": Phoenix International Raceway announced this week that it has begun installing the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) wall system in the turns at the 1-mile oval.
The new walls, which were installed last year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will run continuously for 1,550 feet from Turn 1 through Turn 2, and for another 1,650 feet from Turn 3 through Turn 4. Construction should be completed by the end of January.
PIR will join Indianapolis, Talladega Superspeedway, Richmond International Raceway, New Hampshire International Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway as the only tracks with the SAFER system.
BIFFLE "GUARDED": The Army National Guard will serve as the primary sponsor on Greg Biffle's No. 16 Roush Racing Ford for the 2004 Nextel Cup season.
The Army National Guard sponsored the No. 54 BelCar Racing entry and driver Todd Bodine this season. BelCar Racing, the only minority-owned team in NASCAR's premier series, announced it would close down after losing its sponsorship.
Sam Belnavis, who is black, was the majority owner with Travis Carter in BelCar Racing.
AMAZING COMEBACK: Indy Racing League Infiniti Pro Series team owner Sam Schmidt, a Henderson resident, invited a fully recovered quadriplegic to take part in a two-day test session this week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Pat Rummerfield, who was paralyzed in an automobile accident in 1974 but has since recovered, tested Schmidt's IPS car in hopes of landing a ride next season with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Schmidt, a former IRL race winner, was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a testing accident in January 2000.
"It's the first time that a quadriplegic has ever been in (an IPS racecar)," Rummerfield said. "Sam Schmidt and I are attempting to raise money for spinal cord research utilizing racing as a vehicle. This is a great way to heighten awareness for spinal cord research and to raise some funds.
"It took me a little while to get comfortable in the car and to figure it out. Once we accomplished that, the speeds came up."
Travis Gregg, Jimmy Dziewior, Ron Thurman and P.J. Abbott also took part in the test.
ZANARDI TO RACE: Alex Zanardi, the former Formula One and CART driver who lost his legs in a CART race in Germany in 2001, told an Italian media outlet that he plans to race in the European Touring Car Championship next season.
"It is 99-percent sure that in 2004 I will drive in the Touring Car Championship with BMW Italia using a vehicle of the Ravaglia team," Zanardi told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"It hasn't been easy because there wasn't a plan for this and it was practically born after my return at Monza. It has been done in a short space of time and a third car has been found for me."
Zanardi, the 1997 and 1998 CART champion, competed in the final ETCC race last season at Monza in Italy, finishing seventh in a specially adapted vehicle.
Zanardi also told Gazzetta dello Sport that he turned down an offer to race in the Indianapolis 500.
"I really think that my career at that level is over," Zanardi said of a return to open-wheel racing.
CAPPS TO DRIVE MIDGET: NHRA Funny Car driver Ron Capps will drive a USAC Midget in the 18th annual O'Reilly's Chili Bowl next month in Tulsa, Okla.
O'Reilly's World of Outlaws Series driver Danny Lasoski has entered three Jerry Russell-built Eagle Midgets in the Chili Bowl for himself, Capps and NASCAR star Ken Schrader.
"I am excited," said Capps, who drove in a celebrity race at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals earlier this year. "I really enjoyed the celebrity race, but to be invited to drive a USAC Midget and to be teammates with Lasoski and Schrader in one of the most prestigious Midget races in the world is very exciting.
"I'm very grateful to (Funny Car team owner) Don Prudhomme because he's given me his blessing to do things like race in the Chili Bowl and test-drive the IROC cars. While I enjoy the variety of driving Midgets and stock cars, I grew up wanting to drive a Funny Car and that's what I plan to do for a long time."
Tony Stewart, the NASCAR Winston Cup champion, P.J. Jones, J.J. Yeley and Kasey Kahne are among the notable drivers expected to race in the Chili Bowl.
SAD NEWS: Steve Stevens of Henderson, a former competitor at the old dragstrip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, died Wednesday after an accident in his garage, according to a LVMS spokesman. Stevens, who was 40, reportedly was building a car and was planning a return to racing.
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