Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Tracy’s series gives Champ Car welcomed exposure

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 | 12:03 p.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.

Paul Tracy and Forsythe Championship Racing teammate Mario Dominguez will be the featured drivers in a 13-episode reality-based television series that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Champ Car World Series.

Although the series "Race Car Driver" focuses on Tracy and Dominguez, fellow Champ Car drivers Sebastien Bourdais, Oriol Servia, Jimmy Vasser and Cristiano da Matta, and team owners Gerald Forsythe, Carl Haas and Kevin Kalkhoven also will be highlighted throughout the series' run.

"Race Car Driver" debuts at 5 p.m. (PDT) today on Superstation WGN (Cox cable channel 16) with a 1-hour episode and will be replayed Saturday afternoon.

Filming began in April during the Long Beach Grand Prix and is scheduled to continue through the season finale in November in Mexico City. Material from the Sept. 24 Champ Car race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be included in the episode that airs in early November.

Champ Car officials, naturally, are pleased with the exposure their series will receive from the series.

"We couldn't be happier with 'Race Car Driver' and we expect that the viewers will come away with a new appreciation for our drivers, our teams and our sport," Champ Car president Dick Eidswick said in a prepared statement.

"We are sure that once viewers get a look at the show, they will want to keep watching not only 'Race Car Driver' but Champ Car racing as well."

VEGAS BOUND: Servia, who is coming off his first career Champ Car victory, said he is looking forward to the Sept. 24 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- but not necessarily for the racing.

"I think just going to Vegas in general is always good," Servia said. "It's good for the series, good for the fans, good for the drivers. It's just a very different race in a very cool city."

Like many of the drivers who competed in last year's inaugural Champ Car race at LVMS, Servia said he was not thrilled with the fact that the cars were "easy" to drive because of the amount of downforce series officials mandated they run.

"Vegas is a little bit ... I think is a little too easy for us to go flat (out)," he said. "I have to be honest, it's not the typical kind of racing we like to see in a Champ Car."

Servia started last in the 18-car field a year ago after missing his qualifying attempt due to mechanical problems. He led four laps before finishing 12th.

MORE TV: Newman/Haas Racing co-owner Paul Newman will be the featured guest on HBO's "Costas Now," hosted by Bob Costas, Friday night at 9.

Costas conducted the interview last month during the Molson Indy Montreal -- a race won by Newman/Haas Racing's Oriol Servia. Mario Andretti and NHR driver Sebastien Bourdais also were interviewed for the show.

AT HOME IN CHICAGO: He may have grown up about 200 miles east of Chicago, but Sam Hornish Jr. has made himself at home when the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series makes it annual stop at Chicagoland Speedway -- the site of Sunday's Peak Antifreeze Indy 300.

In four races at the 1.5-mile oval, Hornish has earned two victories, a runner-up finish and a sixth-place effort (last season). His .0024-second victory over Al Unser Jr. in the 2002 race at Chicagoland still stands as the closest finish in IRL history.

OUTLAWS UPDATE: Donny Schatz held off series points leader Steve Kinser in Sunday night's $20,000-to-win World of Outlaws Harvest Classic main event at Calistoga (Calif.) Speedway for his sixth victory of the season. Tim Shaffer, Jason Meyers and Daryn Pittman rounded out the top five.