Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Vasser hopes to go faster with new team

Friday, Jan. 24, 2003 | 10:13 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.

Jimmy Vasser may be heading into the 2003 Champ Car World Series season with a first-year team. But the 37-year-old Las Vegas resident said he believes he can compete for race wins and the championship this year with American Spirit Team Johansson.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, a 22-year-old rookie, will join Vasser on the two-car effort being formed by former Formula One and CART driver Stefan Johansson.

"I think we can be competitive right out of the gate," Vasser said Thursday. "It doesn't have the feel of a new team. With all the experience of the guys in the shop, I think that the melding together of everybody and the chemistry is all going to happen real quick and this team is going to have the feel and the look of a team that has been around a long time."

Vasser, who is entering his 12th Champ Car season, has 10 career victories and was the 1996 CART champion while driving for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. His most recent win came last November in the 500-mile race at California Speedway, the fastest race in open-wheel history.

Because CART has adopted a spec Ford-Cosworth engine for the 2003 season and made other rules changes to cut costs and foster closer competition, Vasser said a start-up team would be at less of a disadvantage this year.

"I think this is going to be a very interesting season in Champ Car racing, to say the least," Vasser said. "With the new rules and the new spec Ford-Cosworth XFE engine, it's going to be very competitive.

"Winning races and perhaps the championship is always a goal, no matter what race team you're on, and I think with the personnel that we have with the team and Stefan's experience that we can realistically achieve those things."

Johansson agreed with Vasser that the new rules might make it easier for a new team to be competitive with the more established teams.

"We all know it turned into almost an engine formula the least couple of years (in CART) ... so I think (the new engine) is going to play a big part to level the playing field a little bit -- especially for new teams like ourselves," Johansson said.

Vasser, who also plans to run a limited NASCAR Busch Series schedule this season in addition to his Champ Car duties, made it clear which would be his top priority.

"Right now, the only race I'm going to run for sure is the Daytona (Busch) race the day before the (Daytona) 500 and obviously whatever I do there is secondary to the CART program," he said. "There is an interest there for me to get some experience there and potentially create a transition to NASCAR after a few years."

Fernandez will return to the car this weekend for an open test at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Tracy, who drove a Honda/Reynard combination last season for Team Kool Green, logged between 50 and 60 laps in the test on the 1.72-mile Sebring International Raceway road course.

"I believe that getting used to the Ford engine is the biggest hurdle for me at this time," Tracy said. "It drives a lot differently than what I've been accustomed to, so I've got to learn the engine's characteristics -- and that's something we will be working on in our pre-season testing sessions."

Tracy will be teamed with fellow Las Vegas resident Patrick Carpentier on Team Player's two-car effort.

Spencer had planned to run a limited number of Busch Series races this season with James Finch's Phoenix Racing team, but that deal went away when Finch entered into an alliance with Spencer's former Winston Cup team owner, Chip Ganassi. Spencer will be in Las Vegas Wednesday and Thursday testing his new Winston Cup ride, the No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"It was a great pleasure and an honor to be asked to host this banquet," Gaughan said. "Literally hundreds of professional racers get their start in karting, including me. Not only are these kids possible future racers but they are our hope for tomorrow."

Local champions honored included: Joshua Delosier (Kid Karts); Chris Clark (Junior 1); Anthony Lopez (Junior 2); Matt Monti (Rotax Max Jr.); Jim Modoff (Superbox); Greg Piet (125 Gearbox); David Jones (Rotax Max International); and Rick Dale (Rotax Max Masters).

Brandon Underwood was named the Most Improved Driver; Chris Clark was named Rookie of the Year; Rick Dale was honored as Senior of the Year; and Dusty Davis was named Sportsman of the Year.