Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Anything goes when desert racing gets on dirt track

Friday, July 29, 2005 | 9:59 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.

Schedule of events

Friday

5 p.m. -- Gates open to public

5:30-6:30 p.m. -- "Meet the Drivers" autograph session on track

6:35-7 p.m. -- Opening ceremonies

7 p.m. -- Heat races begin

9:20 p.m. -- Semi-main events begin (Trophy Truck and Class 1)

9:50 p.m. -- Terrible's fireworks celebration

Saturday

5 p.m. -- Gates open to public

5:30-6:30 p.m. -- "Meet the Drivers" autograph session on track

6:35-7 p.m. -- Opening ceremonies

7 p.m. -- Heat races begin

9:20 p.m. -- Main events begin (Trophy Truck and Class 1)

9:50 p.m. -- Terrible's fireworks celebration

Desert racing's version of a NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway comes to the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway tonight and Saturday night in the form of the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Cup I short-course race.

While all of the 94 drivers taking part in the limited-field, non-points race are familiar with desert racing, few are accustomed to the door-handle-to-door-handle racing that awaits them on the narrow 1.5-mile desert course SCORE Desert Series officials have constructed.

Las Vegas native Rob MacCachren may be one of the few drivers in the field who knows what to expect from this weekend's racing. A seven-time season class points champion in SCORE, MacCachren also has won championships in the short-course Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) series in the Midwest.

"Because the track's so tight and everybody wants to win, there's going to be lots of pushing and banging -- that's just the deal that's going to happen once we get going," MacCachren said as he pointed to the super-sized bumper on the front of his Ford F-150 Trophy Truck.

"I think the racing is going to be awesome. We're just praying that we get good starting positions in the races -- that's going to be the key."

Because of his familiarity with this style of racing, MacCachren, 40, is the acknowledged favorite to win the Trophy Truck class in the inaugural event -- as several of his peers pointed out during a media gathering Thursday.

"We've been doing this (type of racing) a lot and we do have an advantage doing it as much as we do," MacCachren said.

Still, MacCachren said there could be more perils on a short course than a driver might encounter in a standard desert race because of the close racing.

"We hit some big obstacle every three or five miles and here we're hitting them every 100 yards, so you're constantly gathering the truck up and trying to get everything going," MacCachren said.

"Another big difference between desert (racing) and this type of short-course racing is that someone else here can dictate your outcome by running into you, spinning you out or running into your tire and giving you a flat tire. In the desert, you're out on your own. Here, there are a lot of other elements with the competitors that dictate how you do."

MacCachren comes into this weekend's race as the overall points leader in the SCORE Desert Series and leading the standings in Class 1-2/1600. This weekend, MacCachren will compete in three different classes (Trophy Truck, Class 1-2/ 1600 and Class 10) but said the challenge will be the same in each race vehicle.

"It's going to be very difficult to pass," he said "A typical desert race is 500 miles or 250 miles and you've got hours to get the job done and win the race. Here, we've got six laps so we're looking at 8 to 10 minutes to get the job done.

"This track is so tight that getting a good start is going to be very, very important because it's going to be very, very difficult to pass. Whatever you've got to do to get to the front, you've got to do. It's going to be a heck of a show trying to get to the front."

Spectator gates open at 5 each night and racing begins at 7 and concludes by 9:45. Tickets are available at the gate.

CASE DISMISSED: A United States District Court Judge in Michigan on Thursday dismissed all claims by Ford Motor Company's lawsuit against NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Kasey Kahne. Ford had sued Kahne over his move from Ford to Dodge last season.

According to the law firm representing Kahne, the court found "that the Kahne-Ford personal services agreement is not enforceable" and that Kahne had been free to switch to Dodge and Evernham Motorsports when Ford failed to provide a full-time Nextel Cup car as requested by Kahne for the 2004 season."

ANDRETTI GREEN FINED: Indy Racing League officials fined Andretti Green Racing an undisclosed amount of money for failing to require its drivers to attend a mandatory autograph session last weekend at The Milwaukee Mile.

AGR officials ordered its drivers to skip the session when event organizers created a different waiting line for rookie sensation Danica Patrick. AGR team members reportedly have been upset with the way the league has promoted Patrick at the expense of its other drivers.

"The decision by the team principals not to have their drivers appear at the league-mandated autograph session is a very serious situation," IRL president Brian Barnhart said in a prepared statement. "I know that all of our teams, including AGR, understand that an important aspect of the league's identity is accessibility.

"Moving forward, the league will not hesitate to transition from fines to more severe penalties such as moving cars to the back of the field or even a deduction in championship points."

There was no word whether Andretti Green Racing would appeal the fine.