Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 | 9:57 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
FOUNTAIN, Colo. -- It's amazing what a victory can do for a driver's confidence.
Scott Sharp, who was winless for more than two years before taking the checkered flag last Sunday at Kentucky Speedway, likes his chances in Sunday's Indy Racing League Honda Indy 225 at Pikes Peak International Raceway.
"Our short-track program has been so strong on these kinds of circuits -- especially when you look at Phoenix, which correlates quite well," Sharp said. "We have developed our setup even further since then. I think we go to Colorado with a tremendous chance to do well and we have a lot of momentum coming off our win last weekend."
Sharp earned his ninth career victory in the series last weekend when he held off Vitor Meira for his first win since April 13, 2003, at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.
Sharp, 37, has a pair of front-row starts at the 1-mile Pikes Peak oval and a top finish of third in the 2000 race here.
"Pikes Peak is a mile track but boy, it races like a big track," he said. "I really like Pikes Peak. I like how the race unfolds there; it is just different. The race starts and then it is just crazy out there with people (racing) two and three abreast. There are multiple grooves and it is just a real racy track.
"I think that is the type of circumstance where our team is really going to excel."
Last year, team owner Adrian Fernandez drove his car to a second-place finish (behind Dario Franchitti) at Pikes Peak. This season, Fernandez is concentrating on his ownership role and budding NASCAR career after losing his primary sponsorship during the off-season.
BUSCH PREP: Fernandez completed a two-day test this week at California Speedway with Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 NASCAR Busch Series car in preparation for his start in the Sept. 3 Busch Series race at the 2-mile oval.
"This test was all about track time for me to get used to the car," said Fernandez, who drove the car in the Busch Series road-course race in Mexico City in March. "These cars are different (from open-wheel cars); you have to lift and you have to feel the car, which is difficult compared to open-wheel cars where everything happens very quickly. Everything here happens a lot slower.
"It is totally different, but I am excited. I am starting from zero but the miles we did in this test was a big help. I am really looking forward to driving on the track with other cars."
Fernandez is also scheduled to compete in Busch Series races this season for Hendrick Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
WILL TABBED FOR DRAGSTER: Hillary Will, a 25-year-old Northern California native, has been hired to drive an NHRA Top Fuel dragster next season for Las Vegas businessman Ken Black.
Kalitta Motorsports will prepare the dragster for Will, who is driving a Top Alcohol Dragster in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Will earned her first NHRA national-event victory in TAD at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in April.
"I decided that I wanted to make drag racing my lifelong career," Will said. "I left my job as a financial analyst and went for it. I was hoping that I would get a chance like this eventually, but to get it now and with a championship-caliber team is incredible."
Black, who fields Pro Stock cars for two-time NHRA champion Greg Anderson and 2004 Rookie of the Year Jason Line, said the decision to select Will to drive the new dragster was an easy one.
"We had a long list of talented drivers to choose from," Black said. "We weighed all the options and decided that Hillary is the best fit for what we ultimately want to accomplish, and that's to win a Top Fuel championship. Not only has she proven herself to be a very skillful driver at many different levels, she has also shown us that her intelligence and charisma will be invaluable for our team as we move forward with our marketing goals.
"Shirley Muldowney was the best female driver this sport has ever seen. She was one of the best, regardless of gender, to ever sit in the driver's seat of a Top Fuel dragster. My hope is that Hillary's career will mirror Shirley's terrific accomplishments as a champion."
DEI SIGNS EURY JR.: Dale Earnhardt Inc. president Teresa Earnhardt announced Thursday that the company has signed crew chief Tony Eury Jr. to a long-term contract.
The move is expected to lead to Eury and Dale Earnhardt Jr. reuniting next season. Eury was Earnhardt's long-time crew chief before DEI shuffled personnel during the off-season and paired Eury with Michael Waltrip.
KYLE BUSCH'S 'TEST': Kyle Busch, a Las Vegas native, will be doing some "testing" during Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
According to his team, Hendrick Motorsports, Busch will be racing with the potential 2006 paint scheme for his No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet. A final decision on the design will be based on how the car looks from the grandstands and on the television broadcast of the race.
NICE SUMMER: Alex Haase of Las Vegas finished fourth in points in the Legends Car Pro division during the 10-week Hardee's Summer Shootout at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
Haase, 15, drove the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry in the Summer Shootout.
BUSY WEEKEND: Spencer Clark of Las Vegas will be doing his own version of "double duty" this weekend as he is scheduled to compete in Saturday night's Super Late Models race at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Sunday's NASCAR West Series race at Pike Peak International Raceway.
Clark, who leads the Super Late Models standings at The Bullring, will be making his fourth West Series start of the season and his first for team owner Clay Andrews and crew chief Travis Sharpe.
SCORE DRAW: SCORE Trophy Truck teammates Gus Vildosola of Mexico and Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas drew the first starting position for next month's 10th annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 desert race. Round 5 of the six-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series will be held Sept. 10 behind Buffalo Bill's Resort in Primm.
MacCachren, SCORE's Overall and Class 1-2/1600 points leader, teamed with Vildosola to finish second to Honolulu's Alan Pflueger in last year's race.
SCCA AUTOCROSS: The Las Vegas Region of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) will hold their 11th Autocross event of the year Saturday night at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl's southeast parking lot. Registration opens at 5 p.m. and closes at 6:30. Additional information can be found at www.lvrscca.org.
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