Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Race through downtown San Jose rough but rewarding

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 | 9:20 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.

Despite a narrow street course that allowed for virtually no passing and included a bone-jarring section over railroad tracks, the inaugural San Jose Grand Prix was a hit with most Champ Car World Series competitors.

Sunday's crowd of 62,371 pushed the three-day attendance to more than 153,000 for the downtown street race won by reigning series champion Sebastien Bourdais.

"You always tend to underestimate at first what these cars need," Bourdais said. "When you look at the street, it really doesn't look that bumpy. But when you're doing 175 miles an hour down the straightaway, all of a sudden it becomes a different affair.

"You know, I guess it would be really convenient if we didn't have to cross these rails (railroad tracks) but, you know, it was a premiere; I think we still made it work. I think it was still quite a race ... very impressive for a first one."

Paul Tracy, who finished second to Bourdais, said he was impressed with the fan turnout for the inaugural event.

"It was a great event -- a great festival event," Tracy said. "The buzz in the city was great. Having it right here in the downtown is fantastic. I mean, most of the street courses that we've been to, whether it be Vancouver or Toronto, they were centered kind of around a park or roads that aren't used that often, not really in the downtown sector ... in the entertainment district, so to speak.

Like Bourdais, Tracy said he would like to see some changes made to the 1.448-mile course to allow for more passing and to avoid the dreaded railroad tracks.

"Obviously, the track needs to make improvements but the city is behind the event 110 percent (and) those improvements will come," Tracy said. "Obviously, they've got to look at the city blocks, what the mayor is willing to make available for next year, then re-design the track.

"Some parts of the track are quite fun to drive. If they just add a little bit more to the track, maybe another half a mile to it, (or another) quarter mile (and) give us another straightaway with a braking zone, then there will be opportunity (to pass)."

POPULAR WIN: Bryan Herta snapped a 34-race winless drought in Sunday's Indy Racing League event at Michigan International Speedway -- a welcome victory for his Andretti Green Racing teammates.

Herta was the last of the four AGR drivers to score a victory this season, joining Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti as a winner in 2005.

"There's nobody more deserving of a victory than him," Wheldon said of Herta. "He busts his (tail) for this team more than the other three and I think sometimes we take the glory. It's just very, very good to see him in victory lane."

LIKE FATHER ..: Graham Rahal, the 16-year-old son of IRL team owner Bobby Rahal, won the first Star Mazda Championship race of his career Saturday at Portland International Raceway.

Bobby Rahal won three CART championships and the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and retired in 1998 with 24 career Champ Car victories. He now field cars for Buddy Rice, Danica Patrick and Vitor Meira in the IRL IndyCar Series.

OUTLAWS UPDATE: Steve Kinser continues to make the World of Outlaws Sprint Series his personal playground this season. Kinser, a 19-time WoO season champion, earned his 16th victory of the season and 529th of his career Saturday at Princeton Speedway in Princeton, Minn.

Kinser holds a 416-point lead over Jason Meyers and a 445-point edge over Craig Dollansky in the WoO standings.