The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 40

D8 FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2003 nd Sports THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WWW.INDYSTAR.COM AUTO RAGING Bud team leads hydroplane series UPCOMING RACES Winston Cup Next green flag: DodgeSave Mart 350 at Sonoma, i i IPH wmT- 7 PIT PASS Steve Ballard ets Sunday Points leaders Matt Kenseth .2,275 Dale Earnhardt Jr. .2,090 Jeff Gordon .2,052 Bobby Labonte 1,998 Kurt Busch 1,933 Indy Racing League Next green flag: SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond, June 28 Points leaders Tony Kanaan 211 Scott Dixon 168 Al UnserJr 167 Helio Castroneves (tie) 167 Gil de Ferran (tie) 167 CART Next green flag: G.I. Joe's 200 at Portland, Sunday Points leaders Michel Jourdain Jr. 9 Bruno Paul Tracy .81 Patrick Carpentier .70 Sebastien Bourdais 53 Formula One Next green flag: European Grand Prix at Nurburgring, Germany, June 29 Points leaders Michael Schumacher 54 Kimi Raikkonen 51 Fernando Alonso 34 Ralf Schumacher 33 Juan Pablo Montoya 31 Rubens Barrichello (tie) 31 NHRA Next green flag: Sears Craftsman Nationals at Denver, June 26-29 Points leaders Top Fuel Larry Dixon 1,053 Doug Kalitta 785 Darrell Russell 646 Brandon Bernstein 629 Cory McClenathan 602 Funny Car Tony Pedregon 1,030 Whit Bazemore 929 Gary Densham 724 Del Worsham 690 Ron Capps 662 Pro Stock Greg Anderson 1,006 Kurt Johnson .942 Warren Johnson 721 Jeg Coughlin 663 Scott Geoffrion 509 Ben Margot Associated Press We go what direction? Kevin Harvick (from left), Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon hit the first of Winston Cup's two road-course races of the season this weekend at Sonoma, Calif. Winston Cup drivers prepare to turn right The Unlimited Hydroplane series has its marquee team in the fold.

Less certain is the future of its marquee event. Despite the death of team owner Bernie Little in April, the Miss Budweiser team winner of a record 134 races and 22 championships will continue with Little's son, Joe, assuming the ownership role and six-time champion Dave Villwock returning as the driver. But promoter and sponsor issues have put in jeopardy the 100th anniversary of the Gold Cup, tentatively scheduled in late August on the Detroit River. "That's kind of a shocker," said driver Mark Evans, re- turning to the series after a two-year absence. "Hopefully things will work out.

It is just not right to have a season without the Gold Cup." Series spokesman John Love said negotiations are ongoing. "I think it will all eventually get sorted out," he said. The series can ill-afford to lose any race with only six on the schedule. The first two are back-to-back in Indiana, starting June 28-29 with the Thunder on the Ohio at Evansville and followed July 4-6 by the Madison Regatta. There was concern recently about those events when heavy rain raised the Ohio River to dangerous levels, but officials said this week the river is receding and should be fine by race time.

Villwock said the Miss Bud team was never in danger of folding and Little had taken steps to ensure it would continue without him. "We can't replace Bernie, but we can go into the future and conduct ourselves as Bernie would," Villwock said. "Joe Little will be his own guy and will be a little different, but we plan to do things as Bernie would do. Bernie never taught us how to play defense. We plan on playing offense and will go into the season with that attitude." Villwock, the defending series champion, has won at Evansville for seven consecutive years, an unprecedented streak for any driver at a single venue.

It is partly explained by the fact Miss Bud has more resources and manpower than any team in the sport and thus comes into the season opener more prepared. But it takes more than that to win seven in a row. "Odds are really starting to work against us, we've won Evansville so many times," Villwock said. "I love the town, I love the people and I love the race course, and it almost jf ft can put their open-wheel racing experience to good use at the former Sears Point Raceway. Old hands Wallace and Rudd, each with six road-course wins, can look at the up-and-down 1.99-mile layout and see it as a level playing field.

And then there are the six hired guns who road race for a living and would like nothing better than to steal away a Winston Cup win. Canadian Ron Fellows has come close a couple of times and will have perhaps his best chance as he replaces Jeff Green in a Dale Earnhardt Inc. car. "I am excited beyond belief," he said. Among the other so-called ringers are former CART and Winston Cup driver Scott Pruett in a fourth Ganassi Racing entry and Johnny Miller, the Trans-Am points leader.

Miller will be making his first Winston Cup start in the Morgan-McClure car vacated this week by the firing of Mike Skinner. Veterans PJ Jones and Boris Said and first-time starter Paul Menard, son of Indy Racing League team owner John Menard, round out the list. Fittipaldi could be thrown into the mix, too. The former CART and Formula One driver, who last week took over a Petty Enterprises car from John Andretti, will be making his first road-course start in a stock car. "It seems to me Sears Point can put me on more of an equal foot tapped," Pyne said.

"This is a category for us where the opportunities are limitless." The Nextel Cup also should bring the wireless communications leader "significantly more" than the $160 million worth of media exposures Winston got in 2002 during broadcasts on Fox, NBC and TNT, according to Joyce Julius and Associates, which does independent sponsorship evaluation. Nextel has the largest all-digital wireless network in the country. It also has some marketing involvement with the NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball. It will not be involved with the Busch Series or the Craftsman Truck Series, which are keeping their sponsors. Beginning in 2004, Nextel will apply its technology to communication between drivers and their teams, and to enhancing the fan's experience at the tracks and while watching at home.

The deal also gives Nextel series exclusivity in telecommunications, although Alltel and Cin-gular Wireless, which already are seems like we can't lose there. But sooner or later, that streak has to end." Papis returns to CART Max Papis resumes his Championship Auto Racing Teams career this weekend at the place it nearly ended. The popular Italian driver has been without a regular ride since his Sigma Autosport team folded on the eve of last year's race at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway. He returns to CART just in time for the G.I. Joe's 200, a race he won from the pole on his last visit in 2001.

He takes over the PK Racing ride vacated when owner Craig Pollock released rookie Patrick Lemarie. Papis said he couldn't think of a better place to come back. He'll be the only driver in Sunday's field who has won on the 1.969-mile Portland layout. "The last time I raced there I kicked butt. I won from the pole and dominated the race so I left as the king of Portland and I am coming back with the same will," he said.

Papis has been racing sports cars and even had a NASCAR test with Ray Evernham's team. He hung around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May looking in vain for a ride. Finally, perseverance paid off. "I think it's a nice thing to know people haven't forgotten it was someone walking around the paddock (who) had 11 podium finishes and three wins," he said. "I think they were worth something." Notes Tony Renna, who finished seventh at last month's Indy 500, will be one of more than 600 competitors Saturday in the Roly Poly Sprint Triathlon at Eagle Creek Park.

The event consists of a 500-meter swim, a 10-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run. More than a dozen Indy Racing League drivers are expected to participate in an open test today at Kentucky Speedway. Points leader Tony Ka-naan is the only title contender skipping the test. The series returns to the 1.5-mile oval for a race Aug. 17....

To discourage fuel-economy strategy, CART will maintain its mandatory pit windows at Portland. Drivers will not be allowed to drive more than 28 laps without pitting. Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at 1-317-444-6184 or e-mail at steve.ballardindystar.com MM Si" 150 299 UOFvlE urur enure By Steve Ballard steve.ballardindystar.com SONOMA, Calif. If a half-dozen drivers are making their first starts of the season if Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd are confident of ending long win-less streaks if Christian Fitti-paldi is a contender and if Tony Stewart is looking to Robby Gordon as the man to beat, the NASCAR Winston Cup series must have arrived at a place where right turns are required. The DodgeSave Mart 350 on Sunday at Infineon Raceway is the first of the season's two road-course races.

Like Watkins Glen, N.Y., in August, few drivers are lukewarm on the prospects of negotiating the twists, turns and elevation changes of a permanent road circuit. They either love it or hate it and by the end of the weekend, their results almost invariably leave them loving it or hating it more. "Guys who are really good with throttle control are the guys who are good at Sonoma," Stewart said. "Guys who are used to just mashing the gas struggle." No one loves hitting the road more than Jeff Gordon, who owns a record seven road-course wins. But instead of Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt the drivers he trails atop the Winston Cup standings, his primary competition this week is likely to come from unusual sources.

Robby Gordon and Fittipaldi NASCAR Core fans will adjust to changes. From D1 Indeed, RJR cannot advertise Winston, its top cigarette brand, on radio or television and is forbidden to market to people under 18. Nextel already is well-entrenched in that area. "They market to children and families, a market that is un- illy i 1 i -im- III i 111 II mm mm 1 1 if i mm mm B9kJI Figure 8 Friday Supermodifieds, Outlaw Stock, Roadrunnere, Hornets, Bombers 7pm 150 Lap Figure 8 Saturday 3rd Annual Jake's 150 Outlaw Stock, Late Modei Roadrunners. Hornets 7pm ing," the Brazilian said.

"There will be guys that will be good, guys that have always been good on road courses, but it might be a bit more biased to seasoned road-course drivers. I want to try to take advantage of my experience." Rudd is winless since this race a year ago and Wallace's drought has reached 77 races. "The first couple of years (NASCAR first visited Sonoma in 1989) it seems like it always came down to me and Rudd," said Wallace, who has been stuck on 54 career wins for more than two years. "We've been turning left all season, so maybe turning right for a change will see us have the right stuff to finally put together a whole race." If the race comes down to a battle of the Gordons, Stewart likes Robby. Stewart won at Watkins Glen last year only after a bizarre fire ignited by Robby Gordon's in-car TV camera forced him out of the race.

"You look at Robby, every year he's a standout at the road courses," the reigning Winston Cup champion said. "Anytime you bring some of these road-course guys in they're a threat, but Robby kind of stands out as the biggest threat because he runs a Winston Cup car week-in and week-out. "He's a very, very talented road racer, so you kind of gauge yourself off of him all weekend." Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at 1-317-444-6184. Nel Redmond Associated Press Competition: Winston Cup driver Robby Gordon (left) and crew chief Kevin Hamlin carry the Cingular Wireless logo on their equipment. involved in Winston Cup, will be allowed to remain something Donahue encourages.

"At a time when the Home Depot car races at Lowe's Motor Speedway and the Miller Lite car participates in the Budweiser Shootout, there is certainly room for Cingular Wireless to compete for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series," Cingular spokesman Da-ryl Evans said. Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. attended the news conference, where Earnhardt emphasized Nextel's addition was a sign of how far NASCAR has come from its down-home roots in his home state of North Carolina. He and Gordon were presented cell phones with their car numbers and paint schemes on them. Earnhardt said any sensitivity among longtime NASCAR fans about the sponsor change was misplaced.

"I can't see anybody not getting excited about such a large step forward for the sport," he said. J. pi Ml m- ON TV NASCAR Winston Cup: Quali- tying, 5 p.m. today, Speed; race, 3 p.m. Sunday, WXIN-5? NASCAR Trucks: O'Reilly 400, 2 p.m.

Saturday, Speed CART: Qualifying, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Speed; race, 2:30 pm Sunday, WISH-8 IRL Franchitti says surgery will help in the long run. From D1 pole and finished fourth for Team Green in the Championship Auto Racing Teams series. He made his Indianapolis 500 debut last year, too, starting 28th but finishing 19th. "I feel awful for Dario right now," team owner Michael Andretti said.

"I know this is one of the hardest decisions he has ever had to make, and I know he is making the right choice. Dario is a very important part of Andretti Green Racing and he is doing the right thing for himself and the team. "For sure, the team is 110 percent behind Dario." Franchitti began the season with a seventh-place finish at Miami A gearbox problem dropped him to 16th at Phoenix. As a result of the motorcycle mishap, he missed March's Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, May's Indy 500 and the Bombardier 500 at Texas earlier this month. Andretti Green Racing rookie Dan Wheldon drove the Honda-powered No.

27 car at Japan and finished seventh. Re placement driver Robby Gordon was 22nd at Indy. Bryan Herta subbed at Texas and fin ished fifth. The search has begun for a fill-in driver to conclude the season's last 10 races. Call Star reporter Phillip B.

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