bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING  10/15/99

A lot going on in a hurry

Greetings from Indianapolis on a sun drenched perfect Friday afternoon, in mid October, on the eve of a big weekend of racing, with NASCAR, Formula One, CART and the Indy Racing League all running. How am I going to watch them all?

When I started writing this piece, the primary focus was Tony Stewart's antics, nearly two weeks ago, at Martinsville. As big a piece of conversation as that was, it's almost like old history now.

I was going to follow up with a few examples of why I felt Stewart had become NASCAR's new star, at the expense of, all people, Jeff Gordon.

That's what I like about racing. It changes so fast.

We've been hearing most of the 1999 season that this was a bad season for Jeff Gordon and how he wasn't going to win his fourth Winston Cup title this time.

It didn't matter that Gordon started the season, making a "hold your breath - are you crazy" pass on Rusty Wallace, all the way to the grass, with Ricky Rudd's limping Tide Ford running directly ahead, to win his second "Daytona 500." Had Wallace not backed off, in the name of sanity, the 24 car would've run into the back of Rudd's car 10, about 190 mph, and neither Gordon nor Rudd would be much more than dust by now. As it turned out, Gordon out lasted Dale Earnhardt to the checkered flag and took nearly $1.2 million in Daytona prize money and another $1 million, in "Winston Bonus" money, from RJR.  

It didn't matter that Gordon shared a series high five Winston Cup wins, on the season, with Jeff Burton. It didn't matter that, even at his worst, Gordon was still fifth, in NASCAR Winston Cup points.

Based on what I was seeing, Tony Stewart was looking like the man, each week, in NASCAR.

Each race weekend, and especially during the second half of the 1999 season, Stewart seemed to be moving the 20 car a little closer to his first Winston Cup win; Front row on the grid for the "Daytona 500," sixth at Darlington and Texas, pole at Martinsville, fifth at Talladega, fourth in California, a near win in "the Winston," even closer the following weekend at Lowes Motor Speedway, dominant runs at Pocono and New Hampshire, a third at Michigan. 

Ironically, when Tony Stewart finally got that anticipated first Winston Cup win, I didn't get to see the race until more than one week later. While Stewart was driving to a dominant victory, at Richmond, on Saturday September 11, I was driving home from Chicago. I picked up the MRN radio broadcast, sporadically, coming out of Chicago. My wife, her friend and I stopped at a TGI Friday's, in Merrillville, Indiana, for dinner. The Richmond race was playing on one of the televisions, at Friday's, for a while, and I could see Tony's car 20 leading. Then, someone must've asked to switch, because the race was replaced, on tv, with the Ohio State UCLA football game.

I found out about Stewart's win, at Richmond, the following day, in The Indianapolis Star. Although I wasn't the least surprised, I still felt a lot of pleasure in Tony's win.

When Tony followed up his Richmond win, with a second to Joe Nemechek, at New Hampshire, and then another second, to Mark Martin, at Dover, he moved into fourth place in the Winston Cup points, behind Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.

Stewart was getting more camera time and more media talk than anyone else, for a while, and I bet Home Depot was loving it.

Then Ray Evernham left the Hendrick team to coordinate a Winston Cup return for Chrysler, and Brian Whitesell became the new crew chief for the 24 Dupont Chevrolet; the new chief of the "Rainbow Warriors."

Now the Jeff Gordon - Brian Whitesell combination is two for two, with wins at Martinsville and Charlotte, while Stewart had his $5,000 tantrum, with Kenny Irwin, in the first race, and a generally miserable run, last Monday, in the second.

Ray Evernham used to guide Gordon around, in the early days, when Jeff was known to scream into Ray's headset, with emotion and anxiety. Two faces always come to mind when the image of the Dupont car 24 comes into view. They belong to Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham.

Gordon made his Winston Cup debut at the 1992 season finale, at Atlanta. Although he won one of the 125 mile "qualifiers," at Daytona, the following February, it was Charlotte, in May 1994, when Gordon scored his first Winston Cup points paying win.

Now 48 Winston Cup victories later, including two wins each in the "Daytona 500" and "Brickyard 400," and with three Winston Cup trophies, Jeff Gordon still stands at the top of Winston Cup and American racing, even when having a bad season, with only seven Winston Cup victories. But he does so now without Ray Evernham.

Ray Evernham and Jeff Gordon; a once thought inseparable combination, like Colin Chapman and Jim Clark, Ken Tyrrell and Jackie Stewart, Richard Petty and Plymouth, Roger Penske and Mark Donohue, Roger Penske and Rick Mears, Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt. If  I'm not mistaken, until the Martinsville race, Evernham and Gordon had been together in every NASCAR race, Busch or Winston Cup, since Gordon arrived in 1991.

To get back to my original theory, however, I've changed my mind. Tony Stewart is looking great and is one of the best. But - - Jeff Gordon is still the best, with or without Ray Evernham.

Before the Stewart tantrum, at Martinsville, the big story was Tony George putting the Indy car reunification on hold. That seems like eons ago now.

There's been some fallout on both sides since the George announcement that the Indy Racing League will continue on its own, for the foreseeable future.  

The value of CART stock, on the New York Stock Exchange, dropped 25 per cent. Maybe it was only 21 per cent. Regardless, CART stock took a big hit. This sort of thing tends to explain why CART wanted a merger more than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A story in a recent issue of National Speed Sport News brought into question the validity of crowd counts at CART races. The particular article I read gave specific details about crowd numbers for the 1998 Cleveland race. Although the attendance was given as 58,000, at Burke Lakefront Airport, on race day, in reality there were only 34,000 paid admissions. That makes me wonder how many of the 70,000 people announced, for the recent CART race, at the new Chicago Motor Speedway, actually paid their way into the event. I bet it wasn't 70,000. 

The CART Super Prix, in Hawaii, which promised a winner's prize of $5 million, from a total purse, of $10 million, is apparently still on, although it has become something of a joke in recent weeks with its on again off again merry-go-round.

Scott Pruett asked his boss, Cal Wells, to let him out of CART and give him the new Tide Winston Cup ride. Wells complied. Why would Scott Pruett want to chase a bunch young South American drivers around, race after race, with a car with absolutely no chance of winning with hardly anyone watching on television? It seems like a good business move for Pruett to me. He'll still be chasing a lot of other drivers around, with almost no chance of winning, but there will be a lot of people watching from the grandstands and on television, which translates into tee shirt sales which means big money in racing 1999.   

Wait - - there's more. Roger Penske is not only sacking his long time driver Al Unser Jr. for the 2000 season, with a couple of well - let's just say questionable talents, Gil de Ferran and Greg Moore. He's buying Reynards for next season. What are the folks at Penske Cars, in Poole, England, going to do? But - now comes the strangest twist of all in the Penske saga. The "ex-Captain" is sending his Mercedes engines back to Ilmor, of which he owns 33 per cent - - or something like that, and he's buying Hondas. How can Penske expect anyone else to buy Mercedes engines, for CART, if he won't race them himself? The next thing I expect to see is Roger Penske dumping Goodyear for Firestone, even though a lot of his money comes from selling Goodyear racing tires.   

It hasn't been a particularly good couple weeks for CART. This weekend, however, they will be having one of their biggest days of each season when they run before big crowds, through the streets of Surfers Paradise, Australia. The race won't be much, but CART is a big show over there and they've done a particularly good job with the race.

All's not "peachy" for the Indy Racing League either. The series was dropped from the 2000 schedule, at Lowes Motor Speedway. I guess Bruton Smith didn't like having his proposal, to put fenders on Indy cars, bad-mouthed by A.J. Foyt.

So now Smith and Humpy Wheeler are going to build a half mile dirt oval, in the infield, at Lowes Motor Speedway, and replace the Indy Racing League with the World Of Outlaws. That's probably a good move, because the "Outlaws" seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. The crowds, at WOO races, would make CART and IRL promoters happy. The "Outlaw" stars have built legions of fans, in smaller but no less devout numbers than their NASCAR counterparts. I bet there are a lot of  NASCAR drivers who would be happy to sell as many tee shirts as Steve Kinser, Danny "the Dude" Lasoski, Sammy Swindell or Mark Kinser.

Today Al Unser Jr. acknowledged a five year contract, with Rick Galles, and support from Valvoline, to run the Indy Racing League. Even though, Unser's reputation and star power has been tarnished the past couple seasons, Al's return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be a big positive. For instance, he's probably the most popular race driver, in Indianapolis, even now, after a five year absence from the "Indianapolis 500." All the emotion of an attempt to regain stature, and in Unser's case, an attempt to save his career, will come into play next May.

The human interest aspect will dwarf the two big stories, surrounding the 1999 "500;" Arie Luyendyk's final race and Tony Stewart's double duty, at Charlotte and Indianapolis.

This could prove to be a big deal and there's probably no more appropriate racing driver, in the world, to be in the "Indianapolis 500" than Al Unser Jr. I'll expect a sharp increase in crowds, at the Speedway, for "500" practice.

Can you imagine what might happen if Unser Jr. wins first time out, in the IRL, in January, at Walt Disney World? I bet the usual crowd, in March, at Phoenix, for the IRL race, would double, at the very least. My good friend, John Dailey, who lives in the Phoenix area, and knows the local racing scene, predicts the grandstands, at Phoenix International Raceway, will be full, next March, when Unser comes to town with the IRL, regardless of what happens at Disney World.

Al Unser Jr coming to the Indy Racing League is the primary thing that makes me anticipate the 2000 racing season. It's probably one of the best things that has happened with the IRL since it started competition. How it will turn out is any body's guess. But it's going to turn a lot of attention to the IRL next year. 

The IRL closes its fourth season, this weekend, at Texas Motor Speedway. The IRL crowds, at Texas, have been good, with 120,000 people attending the June 1997 race.  Last season, 80,000 people attended the Saturday night IRL race, in June, with another 70,000 attending the Sunday afternoon race, in September. It will be embarrassing if the crowd Sunday is less than 50,000.

One thing about being an IRL fan is that the very first thing you look for during an IRL telecast is the size of the crowd.

 I hope there's a good crowd Sunday for the race. I like the Indy Racing League and I'm happy they are going to keep this thing going. I like the racing, the competitors and the concept. Nothing would please me more than to see the IRL become popular. I think it can, but so far they haven't found the hook.

There's a six man battle going into the season closer, Sunday, at Texas, for the 1999 IRL championship, between Greg Ray (255 points), Kenny Brack (242), Sam Schmidt (225), Scott Sharp (209), Scott Goodyear (207) and Buddy Lazier (204).   

That's pretty neat if you think about it; a six man battle for the championship going into the final race of the season. I sort of think Ray will come through Sunday, but Brack is tough and Schmidt is getting tougher all the time. The champion ought to come from one of those drivers, but any of the six can win on a particular day.

If Al Unser Jr. coming to the IRL and the "Indianapolis 500" is my number one excitement for the 2000 racing season, number two is next September's Formula One race, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The F1 race, at the Speedway, is shaping up as a big deal; a very big deal. I'm going to be surprised if it doesn't become one of the most popular racing events in the world.

If you think about it, every race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is huge. The "Brickyard 400" brings NASCAR's biggest crowd and the beleaguered old "Indianapolis 500" is still a very popular race(by most categories the most popular race in the world), which people still want to see. Sorry Robin Miller!

I'm having a good time watching Formula One in 1999. It wasn't too great during the first six races of the season, but the rains came to Magny-Cours, on June 27, and F1 hasn't been its boring, uncompetitive self since. This has been the best F1, for me, since the days of Nigel Mansell and I actually get excited to get up Sunday morning to see the live Speedvision feed and listen to Sam Posey. Sometimes I oversleep and have to watch the delayed Fox Sports stuff, but that's okay too.  

There's been some stuff worth seeing this season.

I liked seeing David Coulthard and Eddie Irvine put on their late race shows, at Silverstone and then again two weeks later in Austria. I thought the race, at Spa, was pretty neat too. I know that Coulthard came in for criticism for bumping teammate Mika Hakkinen at the start of the race. But what the hell? Could Mika ask for a more supportive teammate than Coulthard has been? I don't really think DC can be faulted too much for what happened in Belgium and I'm glad he won the race.

I'm sorry that Michael Schumacher was hurt at Silverstone, and I'm glad he's returning to F1 this weekend, in Malaysia. You have to admit though, that since Michael's accident, the boring Hakkinen - Schumacher thing we've had to endure, for the past couple years, was replaced with something with some surprise to it.

Obviously Schumacher, then Hakkinen, are the two best drivers in F1, at the moment. Eddie Irvine is no Michael Schumacher and Hakkinen has shown a clear superiority, the past couple years, over Coulthard, at McLaren. But Coulthard and Irvine are probably the two drivers I most enjoy watching in today's Formula One. So I enjoy seeing both win.

It's fun that Irvine is only two points behind Hakkinen in the F1 standings with two races left. Wouldn't it be a gas if the first Ferrari driver to be World Champion is - - Eddie Irvine?

I think it's neat.

I also liked seeing one of Jackie Stewart's cars win a Formula One race, in only the third year of operation for Stewart Grand Prix. Jackie Stewart has been a hero since 1968 and seeing him win at Mosport, in 1971, and at Watkins Glen, in 1972, rank among my all time favorite memories.

It's pretty impressive that Stewart and son Paul put together a Grand Prix team so quickly, even if they did a lot of it with money from Ford Motor Company. I'm sorry that the team will be called Jaguar, rather than Stewart, next season, but I'm glad Jackie made something like $60 million from the deal and that he will still be a front man for the team.

Johnny Herbert's win was opportune, but it was basically the cap on several impressive runs this season by Rubens Barrichello, in the other Stewart - Ford.

Perhaps the real hero of the past eight F1 races is Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Frentzen's win, in the rain, in France, got this wild and crazy ride going. The German took fourth places, at the next two races, in Britain and Austria, followed by thirds in Germany and Belgium. Then came another win at Monza, followed by a pole and an early race lead three weeks ago, at the Nurburgring.

Frentzen has brought Eddie Jordan's yellow cars along with him, adding to the list of teams that can win, in Formula One, under a variety of circumstances, to four.

That's a nice change and it's refreshing to have more than two cars that can win F1 races. Six different drivers have won this season; Irvine, Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Frentzen, Coulthard and Herbert.

Over the past decade, it's been Senna versus Prost versus Mansell versus Schumacher versus Hill versus Villeneuve versus Hakkinen, with McLaren - Honda versus Ferrari versus Williams - Renault versus Benetton - Ford versus Benetton - Renault versus McLaren - Mercedes or something like that.   

I like this better and I'll be up early Sunday morning to watch the race in Malaysia.