Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Gaughan keeps Nextel Cup door open

Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 | 9:28 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.

Brendan Gaughan would neither confirm nor deny a published report that he is close to signing a deal that would have him running the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season in a second PPI Motorsports Chevrolet. PPI, which is owned by Cal Wells, fields the No. 32 Chevy for Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Gaughan, a Las Vegas native, only said that he is committed to running 18 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races -- including all that are companion events on Nextel Cup weekends -- in the No. 77 Orleans Racing Dodge. Steve Park will return to the Las Vegas-based team this season and drive the No. 62 Dodge in all 25 races.

Gaughan reiterated last weekend during truck testing at Daytona International Speedway that he had not ruled out the possibility of also competing in the Nextel Cup Series this season.

"I may be looking at a few things (in Nextel Cup)," Gaughan said. "There's talk about a lot of things. I let everybody talk. I listen to all the deals. You never know what might be there. A lot of people have called and expressed some interest (and) I've called a few people and expressed interest.

"I'm fortunate right now that people look at my last season and think something else had to be wrong besides the driver. My sponsor thinks that and a lot of teams think that. I'm at a point in my life where I can kind of do it like I want and right now I want to come run 18 truck races with my Orleans guys."

Gaughan finished second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings and 28th in Nextel Cup points last season in the No. 77 Penske-Jasper Racing Dodge, but parted ways with the team at the end of the season. Travis Kvapil has been hired to drive the car this season.

"We're well ahead of the pace from any of the previous seven years," Powell said of ticket sales. "Selling out the Dale Earnhardt Terrace a full seven weeks before the race is a testament to the strength of NASCAR racing as well as the excellent overall experience that people enjoy when they come to Las Vegas for a major motor sports event."

Powell also said a limited number of tickets still are available in the Section 4 grandstand outside Turns 3 and 4.

In the past when the speedway has come so close to a sellout of its NASCAR Cup race, track officials have erected temporary bleachers outside of Turn 3 to accommodate an additional 16,000 spectators.

Powell made no announcement Thursday whether the track would add the bleachers for this year's races which, if all those tickets were sold, could push attendance for the March 13 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series to nearly 160,000.

The drivers will be competing for a $100,000 first prize that will benefit the winner's charity and Michael Waltrip's Operation Marathon, which provides support to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Other drivers scheduled to participate in the tournament are Waltrip, Kyle Petty, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Casey Mears and Dale Jarrett.

The Texas hold'em tournament begins at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 31. The top six drivers will move on to the finals, which begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

The tournament is open to the public, but there will be limited space.

Former open-wheel standouts Blake Feese and Boston Reid are scheduled to run a minimum of 13 races each in the No. 5 Lowe's Chevy, which Busch drove to a second-place finish in the 2004 Busch Series standings. Busch will be running for Rookie of the Year honors in the Nextel Cup Series this season in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Kellogg's Chevy.

Fruit of the Loom will sponsor Gordon's car in nine races this season and Jim Beam signed up for an undisclosed number of races. Harrah's Entertainment also will serve as a sponsor this season, Gordon has said.

Jim Beam becomes the third hard-liquor sponsor in the Nextel Cup Series since NASCAR lifted its ban on such sponsorships in November. Crown Royal will sponsor Kurt Busch's car in several races this season and Jack Daniel's will sponsor's Dave Blaney's car for the full season.

Fernandez won three races and finished fifth in points in 2004 after moving to the IRL from Champ Car, but lost his backing from longtime sponsors Tecate and Telmex during the off-season. Fernandez said he would continue to field cars for drivers Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsuura in 2005.

"I am proud of our accomplishments in our first season of IRL competition," Fernandez said. "Three wins and fifth in the championship showed the strength and maturity of the team we began four years ago. However, as we enter a new season, I am faced with the hard fact that I do not have the necessary budget to compete in 2005.

"Given our current situation with the start of the new season just over two months away and as necessary to keep the team intact and functioning at maximum levels, the team will focus its attention on Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsuura. I enjoyed one of the best seasons of my career in 2004. As a driver, I feel I have a lot left to offer. I am working hard to be able to race again as soon as possible."

Stewart, 19, crashed in the final 250cc practice prior to Saturday's main event, which was won by Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael, and fractured the radius bone in his left forearm. The race was to be Stewart's second start in the 250cc class after moving up from the 125cc class he dominated for several years.

Stewart has surgery Tuesday to repair the fracture and will not compete in Saturday's race at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.

"It's too early to speculate how soon James will return to racing," Bruce Stjernstrom, Kawasaki's director of racing, said in a release. "That decision will be up to James and Kawasaki."

Hight, 35, is married to Force's oldest daughter, Adria.

Approximately 7 miles of the 11-mile course used for the popular event is located on a parcel of land the Bureau of Land Management intends to auction off later this year. SCORE International, the event's sanctioning body, is exploring alternative routings of the course for next year's race in the event the new owners of the land choose not to make the property available for racing.

The news of the impending land auction comes on the heels of one of the most successful weekends in the race's 11-year history. The four-day event, which includes two days of pre-race activities, attracted an estimated 35,000 spectators, including 20,000 for Saturday's races.