Young Lions Appear Ready to Roar in Indy Car Racing

One of the major criticisms of Indy car racing in general, and CART in particular, concerns the apparent lack of development of young American drivers.

Bobby Rahal, at 44 the elder statesman of open-wheel racing, says it’s a bad rap.

“We have the finest crop of young drivers that we’ve had in years,” said the three-time

PPG CART driving champion and winner of the 1986 Indianapolis 500.

“Jimmy Vasser was just 30 when he won our championship last year, and Bryan Herta, Richie Hearn and P.J. Jones are all under 30, and they’re all very good race car drivers. Robby Gordon is another good one under 30. He’ll be back with us next year.”

Gordon, 28, left Indy cars last year to race Winston Cup stock cars for Felix Sabates, but the former off-road champion from Orange is expected to return to CART in 1998 with Barry Green’s team. Herta is 27, Hearn 26 and Jones 28.

“When I started racing in CART, I was almost 30 and I was one of the younger drivers,” Rahal said. “The veterans like Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Johnny Rutherford and A.J. Foyt were in their 40s and they were the guys to beat.

“Heck, Al [Unser] Jr. and Michael [Andretti] are still in their early 30s, and they’re old-timers in the series. Ten years ago, I talked about retiring when I got to be 40, but I’m still enjoying driving and I believe I can run with these kids and beat them.”

Rahal has won 24 races in 16 years with CART, but has not visited the victory circle since 1992, when he won four races. His best finishes this season have been a third at Mid-Ohio and a fifth at Cleveland.

But Rahal would rather talk about his protege, teammate Herta, than himself.

“Bryan is so, so close to winning,” Rahal said. “He had one stolen from him last year at Laguna Seca [on Alex Zanardi’s final-lap pass through the dirt] and this year there is no doubt in my mind that he would have won at Laguna Seca if his tires hadn’t gone [bad].

“Bryan was by far the quickest driver. What he did in qualifying was one of the most impressive performances all year. He not only broke the track record three times in the last session, but his best lap was a half-second faster than Zanardi, who was second best. These days, when the fields are so closely bunched, that was staggering.

“He was on Goodyears and the next Goodyear qualifier was Gil de Ferran, ninth. If his tires hadn’t gone away after 15 laps or so, he would have won easily. Once his tires heated up, you could see him going backward.”

Herta, who used to live in Valencia, led the first 21 laps before being passed by Scott Pruett and Zanardi. He finished sixth.

“The car felt good at the start, but after 15 laps I was just driving my butt off to stay ahead,” Herta said. “We thought we might have a chance to come back but the second set of tires was worse than the first. No grip at all.”

Rahal said the disparity in tires should not be such a problem in the Marlboro 500 next week on California Speedway’s two-mile oval.

“The edge Firestone has on road courses isn’t as great on ovals. We were quite satisfied with our tires at Michigan and the two tracks are so similar that we should be in good shape.”

In the tire war of 1997, Firestone has won 12 races, the last 10 in succession. Goodyears have been on four winners.

“With the chassis and engine combinations so close, the tires have had a huge impact on the results, especially on the road courses,” Rahal said.

Weather conditions may be the difference in the season finale at Fontana.

“Heat and wind could be bigger factors. People who tested there said the wind has an unsettling effect, even more than the heat.

“I like the idea of finishing the season with a 500-mile race. Every series needs a marquee event, like the Indianapolis 500 or the Daytona 500, and I think the race in Fontana will become that for CART.

“To end with a 500-mile race could have a huge effect on the championship. The champion has been decided already this year, but there is potential for three, maybe four drivers coming to Fontana with the championship on the line. Five hundred miles will be a real test for them.

“It’s become a lot more of a test than it was when I started. Back then, we paced ourselves. We’d stay on the lead lap for the first 350 miles and then race the last 150. Now, you have to run all out the entire way and hope everything stays together on your car.”

Rahal doesn’t believe that Zanardi’s having clinched the title with a third-place finish at Laguna Seca will detract from the race.

“To win any 500-mile race is very satisfying,” said Rahal, who has won two, the 1986 Indy 500 and the Pocono 500 in 1988.

When Rahal completes his first lap Sunday, he will be the only CART driver to have raced at Riverside, Ontario and Fontana. He won the last Indy car race at Riverside, the Los Angeles Times 500K on Aug. 28, 1983, and he drove at Ontario in a Formula Atlantic race on May 9, 1976, when he started alongside the late Gilles Villeneuve in the front row.

While other teams were testing at California Speedway last week, Rahal chose to take the time off and prepare for his ninth annual Rahal-Kroger Columbus Pro-Am golf tournament at the New Albany (Ohio) Country Club course near his home. Former U.S. Amateur champion Bruce Fleischer, who will join the PGA Senior Tour next year, tuned up with a course record 63 to beat tour player Bill Kratzert by a stroke.

The one-day pro-am has raised nearly $1.5 million for Columbus children’s charities in nine years.

To show his versatility, Rahal will play in a charity billiards tournament next Wednesday night at the Hollywood Athletic Club. He and fellow drivers Al Unser Jr., Paul Tracy, Danny Sullivan, Rick Mears and Herta will take on challengers. Proceeds will go toward the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank and former pro football player Nick Buoniconti’s Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

NASCAR

When Jeff Gordon--only three victories away from Richard Petty’s single-season Winston Cup record of 13--was asked what keeps him focused on winning, he quoted Magic Johnson.

“I saw Magic Johnson interviewed one time and I’ll never forget this,” Gordon related. “He said what drives him and what kept him playing basketball for so many years was the pure love and desire to win.

“That’s something that happens to me. You get that checkered flag in your mind and in your sight and you’ll do just about anything to get there. There’s certain things I did in quarter-midgets and certain things I did in midgets and sprint cars that mean just as much as the things we’re doing in Winston Cup because it’s just flat-out racing and doing something that you love to do.”

Gordon donated $100,000 from his Winston Million bonus to the National Bone Marrow fund.

SPEEDWAY BIKES

World speedway motorcycle champion Billy Hamill of Monrovia and current world points leader Greg Hancock of Newport Beach will return from their British League assignments to ride at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa on Oct. 4 for the U.S. Speedway championship. Also coming from Britain will be Chris Manchester of Apple Valley and Charlie Venegas of San Bernardino. Defending champion Steve Lucero heads the stateside contingent for the U.S. finals. The final weekly speedway program at Costa Mesa will be run Saturday night.

LAS VEGAS

Cars on Saturday and boats on Sunday will give Nevada racing enthusiasts a full weekend. The Professional SportsCar Grand Prix will be run Saturday afternoon and evening at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the feature Exxon World SportsCar championship starting at 8 p.m. On Sunday, action will shift to Lake Mead, where unlimited hydroplanes will contest the Las Vegas Cup. With four consecutive victories, Mark Evans has taken over the lead in driver standings and his PICO American Dream is close to overhauling 16-time champion Miss Budweiser in boat points.

LAST LAPS

Kern County Raceway in Rosamond was closed by Willow Springs International Raceway owners after Ronnie G. Hall resigned as track operator. The quarter-mile paved oval track was adjacent to the Willow Springs road course, which will continue operation. . . . The Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix will have its third home in as many years when the 57th race is run Nov. 27 at Ventura Raceway. In 1995 it was at Bakersfield and last year at Perris.

The championship of the Winston Racing Series sportsman class at Cajon Speedway will be decided between Gary Tamborelli and defending champion Jerry Gay when the final points race is held Saturday night on the three-eighths-mile paved oval at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. Tamborelli has a 34-point lead. . . . Les Richter and Carroll Shelby will be inducted Saturday into the Route 66 Rendezvous’ Cruisin’ Hall of Fame in San Bernardino.

Winning the Winston Million at Darlington helped Jeff Gordon become the first driver in 30 years to be selected three consecutive times in quarterly voting for driver of the year. The Winston Cup leader tallied 74 points to 69 for Trans-Am champion Tom Kendall and 65 for CART champion Alex Zanardi. Drag racer Cory McClenathan and NASCAR veterans Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin rounded out the top six.

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INFOSTAT

The Long Road

What a car goes through during a CART season:

Amount of paint used: 550 gallons

Amount of oil used: 3,500 quarts

Number of oil changes: 292

Number of tires changed: 2,000

Amount of wax used: 126 bottles

Miles driven during testing: 5,000

Miles driven during races: 3,079

Miles driven during practice: 4,000

Highest temperature in cockpit: 115 degrees