Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.
As is the case with the majority of the drivers in the Champ Car World Series, Patrick Carpentier comes from a road-racing background and has scored four of his five career victories in the series on road courses.
Nevertheless, Carpentier said his confidence is at an all-time high as he prepares for Saturday night's Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona on the 1.5-mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"I'm really looking forward to it," Carpentier said of the 166-lap event under the lights at his hometown track. "We have a lot of downforce on the cars so we're going to be running close together for (166 laps) and it's going to be a very exciting race. For the fans, it's going to be a great show."
But it also figures to be a challenging one. Half of the drivers in Saturday's 18-car field have little or no Champ Car experience on a superspeedway.
"It's a little bit of a concern -- especially if we know we're going to run that close from one another," Carpentier said. "With the downforce we have, it'll be a little bit easier and it's going to be harder at the same time because everybody's going to be together and we're really going to have to watch what we're doing."
Carpentier, now in his eighth season in the Champ Car series, also likes his chances in the race because of his history on oval tracks throughout his career. Despite his road-racing roots, Carpentier scored his first Champ Car victory on an oval -- at Michigan International Speedway in 2001 -- and has scored 23 of his 72 career top-10 finishes on ovals.
"I think, for us, it's a good track and we always seem to have a good car on the ovals," Carpentier said of his Forsythe Championship Racing team. "(Our history on ovals) has been great, so that's why I'm looking forward to this one -- especially being a race where we'll have a lot of friends coming in."
Carpentier also is riding a wave of momentum coming into Saturday night's race. In the past two races, he has finished second at Montreal and won in his most recent outing, two weeks ago at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. Carpentier stands fourth in the championship, 61 points behind series leader Sebastien Bourdais but only 37 points out of second place.
But Carpentier was quick to point out that his recent success on a temporary street circuit (Montreal) and a permanent road course (Laguna Seca) doesn't necessarily translate to success on a superspeedway.
"They're two different things completely," he said. "It's a separate thing but the one thing you can carry over is momentum and the confidence knowing the team and everybody is happy and that carries over to any kind of track. That is why I am really confident right now."
Although he still has a mathematical chance to win his first Champ Car championship, Carpentier acknowledged he is running out of time with only three races remaining on the 2004 schedule. His best finish in the championship is third, in 2002, and he said he wouldn't be disappointed if he could move into second place by season's end.
"Sebastien jumped out to a big lead in the points around the same time I was knocked out of some races, so that's going to be difficult," Carpentier said of overtaking Bourdais. "But second place is in reach I would be happy to finish there."
And "finish" is an appropriate word, considering that this could be Carpentier's final season in the Champ Car World Series. His contract with Forsythe Championship Racing expires at the end of this season and Carpentier said the only offers he has to drive next season have come from teams in the rival Indy Racing League.
Carpentier would not disclose which IRL teams are bidding for his services, but he has said that he wants to drive for a team where he would be the No. 1 driver. The lure of racing in the Indianapolis 500 -- which he never has done -- also makes moving to the IRL appealing.
"I think the Champ Cars are great to drive, but I've never done the Indy 500 and I'd like to take a shot at it someday," he said. "But we'll see how things play out over the next couple of weeks and then make a decision."
Schedule for this weekend's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Champ Car World Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
FRIDAY
11 a.m. -- Spectator gates open
12:15-2 p.m. -- Champ Car practice
4:30-6 p.m. -- Champ Car qualifying
8-9:30 p.m. -- Champ Car practice
SATURDAY
10:30 a.m. -- Spectator gates open
10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. -- NCTS practice
3:30 p.m. -- NCTS qualifying
5:15-5:45 p.m. -- Champ Car warmup
6:30 p.m. -- NCTS driver introductions
7:29 p.m. -- NCTS Las Vegas 350 (146 laps, 219 miles)
8:45 p.m. -- Grid Champ Cars
10 p.m. -- CCWS Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona (166 laps, 249 miles)
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