Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Brack eases back with Porsche Carrera Cup ride

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004 | 9:46 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.

Kenny Brack, who was seriously injured in a crash in an Indy Racing League race last October, will return to competition Sunday in a Scandinavian Porsche Carrera Cup event in his native Sweden.

Brack, 38, ended up with broken bones in his back, ribs, legs and ankles after his car got airborne and hit the catch fence in the Oct. 12 IRL season finale at Texas Motor Speedway. Although he tested an IRL car in June for Rahal Letterman Racing, Brack said he isn't ready to return to the IndyCar Series.

"I don't feel I'm well enough to make an IndyCar (Series) comeback at this point, but I've worked my way back to decent shape and I feel confident that I will be OK for this type of racing," Brack said of the slower Porsche Carrera Cup cars.

"It's going to be my first race in 11 months and I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel, though it is not in my normal (racing) environment."

Brack, the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1998 IRL champion, gave no indication when he would return to the IndyCar Series, which has two races remaining in the 2004 season.

"I wish the recovery would go even faster so I could make a decision about my IndyCar racing future," Brack said. "But considering the injuries I sustained, I am very pleased to have gotten this far at this point of time.

"It will be fun to race in Sweden again. In fact, it will be fun to be back in racecar again."

For the first time in several years, the Indy 500 will return to four days of qualifying that will allow for bumping each of the four days. Also, each car will be allowed three qualifying attempts per day.

Under the new qualifying format, positions 1 through 11 in the 33-car field will be set on Pole Day (May 14). Once the top 11 spots on the grid are filled, other qualifiers can bump the slowest cars. On the second day of qualifying (May 15), positions 12 through 22 on the grid will be filled and on the third day of qualifying (May 21), positions 23 through 33 will be filled.

"We think this new qualifying format is exciting for everyone involved with the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing,' " George said. "It will provide even more drama and competition on each day."

Other changes include moving Carb Day from Thursday to Friday of race weekend and moving the starting time of the race up one hour to noon (Indianapolis time).

"I hope (the points lead) is going to reverse after Vegas," Junqueira said. "Going to Toronto (in July), I had a lead -- I don't remember how many points. In three races, he opened to 50-something points."

Junqueira has posted a victory and a second-place finish in the past two races while Bourdais has struggled to finishes of 15th and eighth.

"The championship is very close," Junqueira said. "If you have two, three bad weekends and the other guy has good weekends, (the lead) can reverse and that's what happened. Now it's my time to have this sprint until the end. I hope I can keep having great results and catch him."

Junqueira turned the fast lap during a one-day test session at LVMS last month while Bourdais was the second-fastest driver among the 15 that tested on the 1.5-mile oval.