The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 46

SPORTS DAILY SPOTLIGHT MOTORSPORTS i Friday February 26 1999 I 10 THE KANSAS CITY STAR Big bucks lure CART to Hawaii mwww 1 wm 9 fwtHpwi ON THE NET Be sure to check out wwwthatsracin com an Internet site updated every day of the year with Winston Cup racing news Look for daily live reports on what's happening in the sport and find it first at wwwthatsracincom said the cofounder Dick Rutherford a $10 million purse is spectacular" The event will be open to the top 12 drivers from the CART regular series plus four others chosen by the event promoter Why 16 cars? wanted an opportunity for them (drivers) to show their Rutherford said want a fol-low-the-leader As might be expected the event is proving to be a big hit with drivers and teams "How could you not get excited about being one of 16 drivers with a chance to win $5 said dri ver Michael Andretti commend CART for being so progressive and putting this event The event will feature a unique format Cars and drivers will compete in two 60-minute heats The finishing order will be determined by accumulated points from the heats In between heats there will be a 60-minute intermission Rutherford said the intermission will feature celebrities and entertainment but would not be specific The race will be on a 18-mile course set up at the Barbers Point airport near Honolulu is a perfect setting for By JIM PEDLEY The Kansas City Star Feuding between IRL and CART combined with the increased appeal of NASCAR has made for tough times for American open-wheel racing CART will try to change all of that with one megadramatic event this season On Nov 13 CART will stage the largest one-day payout event in racing history in the Hawaiian Super Prix The total purse for the event will be $10 million The winner's share will be $5 million "We have got to do something said driver Christian Iftlttir paldi always enjoy racing inplaces like that Lots of sun and ao tive people all The race will not be a CART points race and will fall two weeks after the regular season ends Television will be on a pay-per-view basis only want to win every race that I am said Andretti CART'S all-time leader in wins that Was before a $5 million carrot was dangled in front of Money will also be paid out for winning the pole a quarter of af million dollars and such thjjlgs as fastest lap rjltnA POLL POSITION How many races will Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon win in 1999? Last will Vote at wwwthatsracincom Celebrate a dominant driver I 33 Root harder for someone else WKtKKKttKKA 32 Pay less attention to racing jeo -oo There were 10459 votes: Mi 8 week we asked: How you react if Jeff Gordon wins again Sunday? dbilfr THE RANKINGS NOTEBOOK Kenseth preps for next level The Charlotte Observer ranked top Winston Cup teams after the Dura-Lube 400 based on 1999 performance (preseason rank in parentheses): By JIM PEDLEY The Kansas City Star 6 (7) Jeff Burton (No 99): Appeared on his way to a Saturday-Sunday double at Rockingham 7 (8) Jeremy Mayfield (No 12): Kept leaders in sight at Rock ingham but he just get up among them 8 (9) Bobby Labonte (No 18): If Rockingham had ended with a long green run he might have been the winner 9 (5) Dale Earnhardt (No 3): How can a team with a driver this experienced miss the setup so badly at Rockingham? 10 (12) Terry Labonte (No 5): Slips back into the top 10 after typical Labonte finish a quiet seventh (2) Mark Martin (No 6): Just for the sake of variety he uproots Gordon from the top spot this week 2 (1) Jeff Gordon (No 24): One blown engine a sign this team is human but nothing more serious 3 (3) Dale Jarrett (No 88): Six seconds in past seven Rockingham races annoying but could be lots worse 4 (4) Rusty Wallace (No 2): Didn't leave Rockingham feeling like he frittered a win away but still got a top-10 finish 5 (6) Mike Skinner (No 31): Ladies and gentlemen meet your Winston Cup points leader The Associated 1 Testing of Formula One cars is being conducted this winter on the four-groove tires that have been mandat for the upcoming season Michael Schumacher tested this set on the Ferrari F399 at a track near Florence Italy I le followed Dale Earnhardt Jr to the finish line seven times in 1998 He followed Earnhardt Jr in the quest for the Busch Grand National title last year And he always followed Earnhardt Jr when it came to interview requests Now Matt Kenseth plans to follow Earnhardt Jr again but in a much more desirable fashion: into the ranks ofWinston Cup racing While Earnhardt Jr will enter that series this year albeit on a part time basis with five rides Kenseth will wait until 2000 Kenseth said this week that he will spend 1999 seeking sponsorship for his Winston Cup effort Oh and also going after the Busch title that he just missed a THE NUMBERS Tire change Forcing changes and adjustments to Formula One cars for the coming season is the switch to four-groove I Last year the series went to three grooves because the old slick tires were deemed too fast With Goodyear out all tires for Formula One will be supplied by Bridgestone this season Cup circuit Therein lies a problem and an opportunity for Kenseth having to compete against seasoned drivers from the premier circuit when it suits their fancy to sign up for a Busch Grand National race raises the level of Kenseth said if Cup guys were not coming in I would have won more races last year ago off to a pretty good start currently sitting second in the points race behind Randy Lajoie He finished fourth at Daytona and third last weekend at Rockingham where he a lot of laps just not the most important Beating him to the line at Rockingham were Jeff Burton and Mark Martin two stars on the Winston Winston Cup points leaders The top drivers in NASCAR Winston Cup standings as of Feb 21: Expansion talk includes Kansas City NASCAR: Continued from D-l dretti said "You want to grow quickly because exciting to grow fast But you want to grow with some control because easy for any business to outgrow But grow NASCAR will do Kansas International Speedway is scheduled to open next year or the year after A Winston Cup race may come in the first year or maybe in the second or third But things are looking good for a race here soon Many are pointing to Las Vegas and the success it enjoyed last year its first with a Cup race for a climate favorable to expansion More than 200000 people attended the Sunday Winston Cup race and the Saturday Busch Grand National race TV ratings for the new event at the new track were excellent Vegas was a key peg in this whole Barrett said series came to a virtually untapped area and just hit a home run it hit a Mark McGwire out-of-the-stadium home run The seats were sold out in just a few days And the entire city embraced us and made us part of the family You have to feel a lot of other cities had seen the reception and saw what people thought and they had to start Wondering themselves if it time to start big-league auto After taking this weekend off the Winston Cup series will head to Las Vegas for year two of the Las Vegas 400 And drivers seem eager to get back to the desert track is one of the showcases on the circuit" Andretti said seat was sold out within a few days The television coverage was fantastic and everybody had a good time I guess Mark Martin (the race winner) had the best time but the drivers the teams the fans everybody seemed to really be enjoying Such good feelings among paftfc-ipants sponsors and fans are going to play an increasing part in getting and keeping races Eddie Gossage track manager of Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth another of the sue newest sites offered advice to Kansas Gity have got to tell the people of Kansas City to support it to be vociferous in supporting it and to be committed to Gossage said takes tremendous fornia and this year Miami being the others NASCAR is obviously intent on moving outside of its traditional Southeastern support base And you have to be a stock-car racing veteran to see why Rookie Stanton Barrett said: "Once markets are added such as Kansas City Chicago and a couple of the other demographically attractive areas the sport is going to reach even greater heights a good time I think to be in NASCAR Winston Cup Mayfield said: to these new tracks in these new markets is good for everybody good for the fans good for the sponsors good for the teams making new fans all the time Every time we get the chance to bring in new fans we need to grab NASCAR senior vice president Brian France is intrigued by expansion But he says any expansion must be Officials at the governing body are wont to kill the golden goose As are some drivers controlled aspect is probably the most John An NEXT RACE: March 7 Las Vegas 400 Las Vegas tions at NASCAR and appears to be heir apparent to Bill France Jr told the Associated Press that facilities that already have races but want second events could be out of luck I le said NASCAR would prefer to enter new markets He dropped the name of Kansas City Also this week The Providence Journal reported that Gary Bahre track president of New Hampshire International Speedway said NASCAR is committed to Kansas City you listen to what NASCAR has been said Michael Krane-fuss owner of Jeremy Winston Cup Ford Taurus will probably be adding three to four (more races) Our understanding is they are looking quite seriously at Kansas City Denver and Chicago And 1 think that is absolutely the correct way to words come a week before Winston Cup teams and fans head for Las Vegas one of six NASCAR racing sites added in the last six years and one of four added in the last three years Texas Cali- Grand National series The top 10 drivers as of Feb 21 NEXT RACE: March 6 Sam's Town 300 Las Vegas 425 Lawn and Garden Tractor with 20-hp V-Twin liquid-cooled engine 48-inch cutting width two-pedal hydrostatic transmission and over 20 different attachments available financed with an LX 7 Utility Cart with bolted-box design and removable tailgate To locate a John Deere dealer near you call toll-free GT235 Lawn and (harden Tractor with I8rhp overhead-valve engine 48-inch cutting width and hydrostatic transmission aN r- tfwr 7 a month when 1X188 Ijmti Tractor with 48-inch cutting width 17-hp liquid-cooled V-Twin engine and two-pedal hydrostatic transmission 60011 $91 per month with no money down aO'UTi 04 per month financed with an GT Tow-behind plug aerator with 40-inch 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