Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Starr’s thoughts with Houston

Friday, Sept. 23, 2005 | 9:32 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.

David Starr, who won the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will have more than racing on his mind this weekend.

Starr is a native of Houston and said his thoughts will be with his family, friends and fellow Houstonians who either are bracing for or fleeing from approaching Hurricane Rita.

Starr said his mother and father were planning to join him in Las Vegas for Saturday's race but other family members were among those evacuating the city before Rita makes landfall this weekend.

"All of my family -- my aunt, cousins, my mom and dad and everybody -- lives in Houston so they're just trying to get everything braced down and kind of get out of the way," Starr said Thursday.

"My mom and dad were going to come up here for the race this weekend and my mom is all excited about getting to Vegas and my dad, he's all worried about our business being blown away."

Starr said he is grateful to the Champ Car World Series, which is donating proceeds from its race Saturday night -- which is part of the "Double Down in the Desert" racing doubleheader -- to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund. The open-wheel series also is holding online auctions at its Web site to raise additional money for the relief organization.

As a resident of Houston, Starr said he has been personally impacted by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast three weeks ago.

"There are a lot of people in need of help and homeless," Starr said. "In Houston, there are a lot of evacuees from New Orleans and now there's a hurricane blowing into Houston, so my heart goes out to these people who lost everything they've ever had.

"They don't want to be there in Houston; they've lost everything they had and now they're going to have to get evacuated to somewhere else. It means a lot for the Champ Car series to have a release of race money in honor of them and I'm proud and I thank the Champ Car series."

ON POINT: Dennis Setzer, who holds a 59-point lead over Ted Musgrave in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings coming into Saturday's Las Vegas 350, said he doesn't plan to change his strategy as the series rolls into Las Vegas.

Setzer is coming off of a second-place finish at New Hampshire International Speedway -- a race in which he finished one spot ahead of Musgrave.

"We had a great run in New Hampshire," Setzer said. "Our approach to that race is the same approach we are using for Las Vegas: focus on the race at hand and race to win. It has been successful for us this season and it is what is going to continue our success in these last six races."

AUTOGRAPH SESSION: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver and Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan will sign autographs at his souvenir trailer on the LVMS midway from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.

NEW SPRINT SERIES: Some of the biggest names in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series, including 19-time champion Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Kraig Kinser and Joey Saldana, are leaving WoO for a new sprint series being started by the principals who run the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

Richard and Kyle Petty were scheduled to make the announcement today at a press conference at Dover International Speedway. NASCAR stars Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Dave Blaney and the Pettys are expected to announce that they will field cars in the National SprintCar League, which will debut in early 2006.

The World of Outlaws will put on a two-night show at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway dirt track in late October. Speedway general manager Chris Powell said it was "too early to tell" which sprint series would be racing at his facility next year, although he said he has had talks with both WoO and NSL in the past week.

SAD NEWS: Corky McMillin, one of the pioneers of SCORE desert racing, died Thursday in a San Diego-area hospital. McMillin, who had suffered a heart attack Sept. 10, was 76.

McMillin was a three-time SCORE Class 2 season champion who won the grueling Baja 1000 in 1985. McMillin, a SCORE Desert Series regular since 1976, was fourth in points in Class 1 through four races this season.

"Corky McMillin was a man among men and truly from the mold of the league of extraordinary gentlemen and it is a tragic loss to truly thousands of people who have been touched by this great man's life," SCORE president Sal Fish said. "At 76, not only was Corky the oldest regular in the SCORE Desert Series, but his long and generous life was an inspiration to all of us.

"As courageous a fighter as he was and as fierce a competitor, he will be remembered best of all for his generosity and the legacy of McMillin Racing he has left for all of us to enjoy. To say that we will all miss him is a gross understatement. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the McMillin family and McMillin Racing during this most difficult time."

McMillin's sons Mark and Scott and grandsons Andy and Daniel also compete in the SCORE off-road series.

SCORE NEWS: SCORE International announced a 2006 race schedule that is virtually identical to this year's schedule. The season opens Jan. 12-15 with the 12th Laughlin Desert Challenge and concludes Nov. 15-18 with the 39th annual Baja 1000. The series also will return to the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in July for a non-points stadium-style race. The complete schedule can be found at www.score-international.com. ...

Highlights from the 37th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race will be broadcast as a 1-hour prime-time special Tuesday at 9 p.m. on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). Round 3 of the six-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series was held Sept.4-5 in Ensenada, Mexico.