The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 57

SPORTS DAILY SPOTLIGHT MOTORSPORTS I) 15 THE KANSAS CITY STAR Friday September 2D 2000 S-fhat's Racin' Heartland not favorite ON THE NET Be sure to check out wwwthatsracincom an Internet site updated every day of the year with Winston Cup racing news Look for daily live reports on happening in the sport and find it first at wwwthatsracincom TRACK OF THE WEEK Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is the shortest track on the Winston Cup schedule The Associated Press Drag racer Gary Scelzi who holds a slim lead over Tony Schumacher for top-fuel points will race Sunday in the finals at Heartland Park Topeka where he was involved in two crashes last year equally frightening wreck the day before had destroyed his primary chassis With both chassis out of commission ft appeared the weekend was over for team However the man who builds chassis Brad I iadman happened to be in attendance at I leartland that weekend With Hadman leading the way crew headed to a garage near Topeka and worked on refitting and rebuilding the primary car until 5 Sunday morning When they emerged they had a top-fuel dragster A pretty good one too It won twice in eliminations and took Scelzi to the semifinals It lost in the semis which were delayed by cold weather until Monday but proved good enough to be entered in the NI IRA nationals event held the following week in Memphis Tenn "It was patched together but it was a sound Scelzi said "It only lost in Memphis because I was off the starting line Scelzi probably cannot afford to crash or be late off the line when Heartland is host to its annual NI IRA event this weekend I Ie is involved in a tight race with Tony Schumacher for the top-fuel points lead Scelzi is just eight points up on Schumacher with five nationals to By HM PEDLEY The Kansas City Star TOPEKA On Wednesday drag racer Scott Geoffrion used the term in talking about Heartland Park Topeka Drag racer Gary Scelzi did not Interesting memories for Scelzi maybe Not fond When last seen at I leartland which was a year ago this weekend at the Advance Auto Parts NilRA Nationals Scelzi was tumbling down the I leartland quarter mile at almost 300 mph Debris was flying off of his top-fiiel dragster and then there were flames And then there was only tangled tubing and smoking parts and weird silence probably was the most devastating crash ever been Scelzi said of the accident which came during a qualifying run One of the members of the Safety Safari medical team got to the scene of the wreck and told Scelzi that there was no way he could be OK Scelzi insisted he was OK I ie was checked out I ie was OK He raced again in the next round at Heardand and therein lies the most interesting part of Topeka 1999 for Scelzi See that Saturday wreck destroyed Scelzi's backup chassis It destroyed that chassis because an clutch disk problems fuel pump problems and slide valve problems The result was three straight first -round losses It appears mechanical flu is on the wane He lost in the finals at the last nationals two weeks ago by less than a thousandth of a second The second-place finish pushed Scelzi back into the points lead was tough to lose (at Reading Pa) but the bottom line is we ate in Scelzi said A victory in the finals Sunday at Heartland could completely cure the flu And give it to Schumacher "Time is running Schu macher said weekend could make or break the go One early-round loss by either driver this weekend could mean curtains "Me and Schumacher said down to a five-race shootout This is very tight very Larry Dixon is 136 points back and is not out of it either Plus Dixon has the potential to sink Scelzi or Schumacher this weekend Scelzi said of the points race It start that way this year Scelzi won the first nationals of the year and five of the next 13 Then beginning at Brainerd Minn in August caught the Scelzi said The symptoms of this kind of flu were things like Knight Kidder Tribune THIS WEEKEND'S RACE Topeka track again could be the fastest NAPA AutoCare 500 NOTEBOOK WHENWHERE: Noon Sunday Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Va KFKF (94 FM) THE FACTS: A year ago Jeff Gordon racing for the first time after crew chief Ray Evernham resigned to start his own team took the lead from Dale Earnhardt with 25 laps remaining and hung on to win Ricky Rudd won in 1998 setting a Winston Cup record for consecutive seasons with at least one victory at 16 Richard Petty won a record 15 times at Martinsville Darrell Waltrip leads active drivers with 11 victories at the track QUOTE OF THE WEEK dianapolis the writers were asked to chose the best storyline in past years win was the only one by an American in a Formula One race held in this country The SCRA sprint-car series Will return for a two-day show at lakeside Speedway next June The SCRA is the top non-winged sprint-car series in the country It ventures away from its southern Califomia-Arizona turf just once a year It visited Lakeside for a one-day show this year TWo local racing events that were rained out last weekend will be held this weekend The annual Fall High School Drags at Kansas City International Raceway will be Sunday Gates open at 8 am Time trials begin at 9 am Also the championships of the World Cup will be Saturday night at 1-70 Speedway Grandstands open at 5 pm and practice begins at 6 pm Force The rord elapsed time is 4788 and held by Force Drivers love coming to I leartland With the new surface they love it even more an amazing track to come to" funny-car driver Ron Capps said a driver you say 'OK You know your crew chief is going to have the best Lendrum said "Obviously love to have the records back We were the fastest for Could happen Scelzi said need like 68 degrees with the sun out and the air he said Mario 1977 victory in the United States Grand Prix at Long Beach has been chosen the top moment in US Formula One history by a panel of American racing writers In voting sponsored by MasterCard and conducted before this Formula One race at In just one of those places where hard to get around without getting a doughnut on your door hy the end of the Winston Cup driver Tony Stewart on Martinsville Speedway 48-second top-fuel run first 4-second funny-car run first 300-mph funny car run first 45-second top-fuel run Those have all been broken But the new surface at I leartland could bring some back Making the surface quicker is the lengthening of the concrete portion of the track the fastest part of the track from 300 feet to 660 feet track is now concrete through all of the shift points" said Jay Lendrum owner of Heartland The NIIRA speed record for top fuel is 32691 mph and is held by Tony Schumacher The record for elapsed time is 4480 seconds and is held by Scelzi The funny-car record for speed is 32405 mph and is held by John By JIM PEDLEY The Kansas City Star TOPEKA At one time Heartland drag strip was dubbed "the fastest track in the Come Monday it could be dubbed that again Since last NI1RA event at Heartland a new surface has been put on the track And it appears that surface will be considerably faster than the one it replaced "If a record run can be had under the new 90-percent rule this is the place it can be top-fuel driver Gary Scelzi said Ah the 90-percent rule new this year It mandates that fuel used in the professional divisions cannot contain more than 90 percent ni-tromethane The rule was not designed to slow cars down It was designed to keep the engines of top fuelers and funny cars from exploding But slowing the cars has been a side effect Heartland was the site of several drag racing records in the '90s: First WINSTON CUP STANDINGS i Bobby Labonte 2 Dale Earnhardt 3 Dale Jarrett 4 Jeff Burton 5 Tony Stewart 5 Ricky Rudd Rusty Wallace 8 Mark Martin SPEEDWAY: An auto-racing first year they held 12 races Indy Lights cars have much the same appearance as CART and IRL cars but are 100 pounds lighter and have wheel bases that are about 8 inches shorter Like IRL cars the Lights chassis are flat -bottomed that is they do not incorporate effects" Lights use non-turbocharged V-6 engines made by General Motors They have about half the horse power 425 as a CART car but reach speeds of 190 mph It lists some of the biggest names in American open-wheel racing as members of its alumni Kansas Speedway season-ticket holders will now have access to five major races next year NASCAR Thicks Busch Grand National the IRL Winston Cup and now Indy lights That number could rise again pending negotiations with other series A comparison Category CART IRL INDY LIGHTS Weight 1550 1350 1450 Engine size V-8 V-8 V-6 Air intake Turbo Non-turbo Non-turbo Horsepower 900 650 425 Top Speeds 230 210 190 ln pounds Dayton Indy Lights alumni Greg Moore (CART) Paul Tracy (CART) Bryan Herta (CART) Cristiano da Matta (CART) Adrian Fernandez (CART) Tony Kanaan (CART) Helio Castroneves (CART) PJ Jones (Busch Grand National) Robbie Buhl (IRL) Airton Dare (IRL) other than a business decision are in the entertainment Barnhart said are fighting for the entertainment dollar We are trying to improve the shows for that entertainment Barnhart said the decision to pair the Indy Light and IRL races was made by the Kansas Speedway officials "and we are comfortable with He noted that Indy lights thout operated by CART has produced drivers who have in the past and currently are running IRL So he said running races on the same day would benefit both series Saal concurred that the decision to race with the IRL is bom out of business concerns working with them (the ERL) it only helps everybody involved" Saal said are people working in the same industry and I have to give Brian Barnhart credit for this we both get stronger if we put on shows Saal and Barnhart deny that the decision to stage races together they may do the same thing at the new International Speedway Corp track in Joliet 111 in no way comes as an olive-branch gesture The Indy lights series races on ovals and road courses Its oval races are 100 miles long and do not require pit stops Indy races are generally held on ffie same day and at the same track as CART events This Continued from D-l similar in appearance to those of CART and the IRL but are a bit smaller and not as powerful The decision to pair the IRL and iights series will definitely benefit fans as the race will come at no added expense for speedway season-ticket holders is going to be a value-added event to the RPM (season ticket) package that we are said leff Boerger vice president and general manager of Kansas Speedway It aids Indy lights gives their athletes an oppor-i unity to race in front of a lot of Boerger said And it could also aid the cause of open-wheel racing in this country The IRL was formed in the mid-90s by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George who maintained that the CART series was becoming among other things too costly In 1996 CART boycotted the Indianapolis 500 because of a disagreement with George and his group over rules and specifications for cars and the two series have been running separately ever since The separation broken briefly this year when CART team owner Chip Ganassi entered two cars in the 500 has extended down to the support series It has also led to acrimonious feelings at times between the two series and their supporters Holding an Indy Lights race as a warmup to an IRL race next year at Kansas Speedway wall be a first have been difficulties in the Boerger said great they are getting together and putting on a show and Kansas Speedway is here to give them a venue to do Adam Saal public-relations director for Indy Lights said the coming together could lead at least to trust between our Brian Barnhart vice president of racing operations for the IRL said however that a decision to race IRL and Indy Lights in the same show should not be viewed as anything Otrm M0 Tomorrow Night Sept 30 7:30 pm One more chance to see the biggect 21CS Late Model and Modified show of the year! (913) 299-2040 mmt-70apfdwaycom.