Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Stewart and Kahne work out differences

Friday, July 30, 2004 | 10:17 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.

A30-minute phone conversation on Tuesday apparently has cleared the air between NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne, whose teams were involved in a pit-road melee two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway.

"There's no problems between Kasey and I," Stewart said Tuesday during a national teleconference. "It was a very productive phone call."

Kahne and his car owner, Ray Evernham, had harsh words for Stewart after he hit Kahne's car from behind during a restart. Kahne, leading the race at the time, spun out and hit the wall head-on, ending his day. Both Kahne and Evernham criticized Stewart for what they thought was an intentional act.

Kahne said this week that, after talking with Stewart, he doesn't believe Stewart intentionally wrecked him at Chicagoland.

"I mean, he is an aggressive driver and so am I at times and I didn't expect to have any problems when we would run into each other," Kahne said. "Hopefully, it was more just things that happened -- you know, racing incidents -- and nothing intentional. It's something that none of us want to happen, and Tony obviously didn't want it to happen here. He didn't want to crash me; it's the last thing he wanted to do.

"I wish it wouldn't have happened, but it did, so I think everything should be fine (between us) after this."

Although he was not punished by NASCAR over the incident, Stewart acknowledged the he has two strikes against him as far as the sanctioning body is concerned because of several off-track incidents over the years. But he said NASCAR's decision not to penalize him for the incident at Chicagoland proved that he did nothing intentional in the incident with Kahne.

Because of NASCAR's overwhelming popularity, Stewart said he has to be more vigilant in how he conducts himself off of the racetrack.

"I honestly don't believe it's my on-track stuff that's given me those two strikes -- I think it's the way I've handled things off the track that has given me those strikes, Stewart said. "It's not just about driving racecars anymore and that's the way, up to this point, it had always been.

"Now, we're representing multi-billion-dollar companies, we have a TV package and NASCAR's very image conscious now, which they haven't always been so driving the racecar, which is what I got hired to do in the first place ... is a fractional part of my overall job as a Nextel Cup driver."

But that doesn't mean, Stewart said, that he will alter his driving style.

"After 25 years of (racing) and the races that we've won and the championships we've won, I think my style speaks for itself," Stewart said.

"As far as me doubting my ability or questioning my style, I don't do that at all. I don't ever intend on changing that style. I think it's like personalities -- everybody has their own personality and everybody has their own style."

TRUCKS BACK AT LVMS: Las Vegas Motor Speedway officials announced Thursday that the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series would return to the 1.5-mile oval in 2005. The ninth running of the trucks at LVMS will be Sept. 24, 2005.

This year's truck race, set for Sept. 25, is being held as part of a doubleheader with the Champ Car World Series.

NASCAR on Thursday released its 2005 Truck Series schedule, which can be found on this page.

HAMILTON JR. TO REPLACE CRAVEN: PPI Motorsports owner Cal Wells announced this week that he has hired Bobby Hamilton Jr. to drive the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2005. Harold Holly also has been signed to serve as Hamilton's crew chief.

Hamilton, 26, has five career Busch Series victories and currently is eighth in that series' standings driving the No. 25 U.S. Marine Corps Ford for Team Rensi Motorsports. Holly serves as crew chief on the car.

"All I can say is I'm more than ready to go Cup racing," said Hamilton Jr., who has made 19 Cup starts since 2000. "I'm excited about this chance to drive full time in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series for PPI Motorsports in the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet.

"What makes this even better is the chance to keep working with Harold. He's been a great leader for our Busch team and has inspired all of us to perform at our best and achieve what we set out to do."

Wells and Craven announced last week that they would part ways at the end of this season.

WILLIAMS HIRES WEBBER: Australian driver Mark Webber has been hired by BMW-Williams to fill one of the two vacancies at the Formula One team.

Webber, 27, is leaving Jaguar at the end of the season and will make his debut for Williams next year at his home race, the Australian Grand Prix. Webber finished 10th in the World Championship last season, his first with Jaguar, and currently is 12th in the championship after 12 races. He posted his best finish of the season in last weekend's German Grand Prix.

Webber fills one of the driver openings at Williams, which is losing Juan Pablo Montoya to McLaren and Ralf Schumacher to Toyota at the end of this season.

LYNCH OPTIMISTIC: Las Vegas resident Scott Lynch is hoping to use this Saturday night's NASCAR West Series race at Irwindale Speedway as a springboard for a run to a second consecutive series championship.

Last season, Lynch earned his first victory of the season at the Southern California track en route to the title. Lynch turned in a dominating performance as he led 178 of 200 laps at the half-mile paved oval.

Lynch is fifth in the West Series standings after five of 13 races and trails series leader Mike Duncan by 109 points going into Saturday's race. Lynch, who won three races last year, is searching for his first victory of the season in the Orleans Racing-prepared No. 08 Yerf-Dog Dodge.

"We were a little further ahead (at this point) last season," Lynch said, "but getting to the top is very possible and I think we can do it without too much problem. We have a new crew chief, Robert Strmiska ... and I know he is going to be really good.

"He worked on both the West team and the truck team with Brendan Gaughan so he is well versed on what it takes to win. Monroe was the first time we had all worked together and everything seemed to jell so I am very pleased."

Strmiska replaced Charlie Wilson, who was promoted to crew chief of the Orleans Racing Dodge and driver Steve Park in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

STEWART STAYS WITH 'GREEN': James Stewart, the talented motocross/Supercross rider who has won multiple national championships, has signed a two-year contract extension to continue riding Kawasaki motorcycles.

Stewart, 18, signed his first contract with Kawasaki in 1993 -- at the age of 7 -- and will make the jump from the 125cc class to 250 in the 2005 AMA Chevrolet Motocross Championship and the stadium-based AMA THQ Supercross Series.

"Kawasaki has been like home for me since my early days as a Team Green rider," Stewart said. "They have a bike that I'm really comfortable with and that will be a really big advantage as I make the step up to the 250 class.

"I feel like I have some unfinished business here with Kawasaki. Everyone knows that the 250s are the big leagues of our sport and I'm looking forward to the challenge of winning at the next level."

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