Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Lawsuit settlement near, Texas in line for 2nd Cup race

Tuesday, March 23, 2004 | 9:27 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.

Less than six weeks after NASCAR chairman Brian France said he did not anticipate a settlement in a lawsuit filed against NASCAR by two Speedway Motorsports Inc. stockholders seeking a second Nextel Cup race for Texas Motor Speedway, it appears as if the two sides are close to settling.

And that, the Dallas Morning News reported over the weekend, could result in a second Cup date at the SMI-owned facility as soon as next season.

The News reported that an out-of-court settlement between SMI stockholders Francis Ferko and Rusty Vaughn and NASCAR likely would include a second race at the 1.5-mile speedway north of Dallas. Ferko and Vaughn filed the suit in 2002 and maintained that NASCAR reneged on a deal to give the speedway a second Cup date.

"There are some things on the table," Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of communications, told the News. "We all would like to get this behind us. The process is in place. We have other things to do."

France said last month that he liked NASCAR's chances of prevailing in the lawsuit if the matter went to trial.

"We like the facts in this case," France said. "The court does mandate that you have settlement discussions and I suppose you never say never, but my preference is that we should go try this at an appropriate time."

The remainder of the weekend, however, didn't go as well for Busch. Although he led Saturday's race twice for 40 laps, his No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolet developed a suspension problem late in the race and he had to settle for a 17th-place finish.

Busch, 18, remained 12th in series points and continues to lead the Raybestos Rookie standings. The Durango High grad has been the highest-finishing rookie in each of the four races this season.

The Nextel Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for Sunday's Food City 500. Busch has won three of the past four races at Bristol and posted four consecutive top-10 finishes.

Rick Crawford (fractured left foot), Tina Gordon (broken right fibula) and Hank Parker Jr. (fractured vertebra in lower back) were injured in the same accident at Atlanta on March 13.

The NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series (formerly Winston West) resume sits 2004 schedule Saturday night with a 150-lap race at the half-mile Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif. NASCAR Nextel Cup veteran Ken Schrader is the West Series points leader after winning the season opener at Phoenix International Raceway. Defending series champion Scott Lynch of Las Vegas is 26th in points after a 27th-place finish at Phoenix.