LV's Hamilton takes over 2nd place in IRL points

Davey Hamilton both gained and lost ground in his quest to capture the 1998 Indy Racing League championship.

The Las Vegas resident took a career-best second place in Saturday's Atlanta 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and moved from fourth to second in the drivers standings. At the same time, Hamilton went from a 14-point deficit to Scott Sharp to a 23-point deficit to race winner Kenny Brack, who moved into the points lead with his third straight victory.

"We came into the race fourth and we moved up some," Hamilton said. "We really want the championship; hopefully, this points race will go right to the end."

Only two races remain on the 1998 IRL schedule: Sept. 20 in Texas and Oct. 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hamilton, still searching for his first IRL victory, led twice in the Atlanta race for 19 laps after starting 10th. He surrendered the lead for the last time on lap 169 and could never make a serious run at Brack during the final 30 laps.

"The best our car was was on really old tires at the end of fuel runs," Hamilton said of his Reebok Dallara Aurora. "I could still stay wide open and run the same speed whether it was new tires or old ones.

Hamilton said before the race that his team needs a win if it is to win the series championship. After Saturday's race, Hamilton said he feels that first triumph is close at hand.

"We want to win, big time," Hamilton said. "But we know how long it takes to win races (and) we don't have very many yet. We had a great day (Saturday) and hopefully a win is right around the corner."

Henderson resident Sam Schmidt took 15th in the 28-car field after blowing an engine on lap 158.

"It is a real pity," Schmidt said. "We needed a top-10 finish and we were heading that way. The car was handling good. Even getting black flagged, we were still really competitive, but the motor blew."

Schmidt dropped one position in the points standings, to 14th.

* DATE CHANGE: The announcement over the weekend that NASCAR has moved the date of next year's Las Vegas 400 Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from Feb. 28 to March 7 was made to accommodate a new Cup date at the Miami-Dade Motorsports Complex in Homestead, Fla., according to informed sources. The new race date will bump NASCAR's Winston Cup schedule from 33 to 34 races. LVMS officials will give refunds to ticket holders who cannot attend the March 7 race and are in the process of setting up a telephone hotline for fans to call with any questions regarding the date change.

* RAHAL'S PICK: Three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal will name his replacement to drive the Miller Lite Reynard/Ford during a press conference today. Rahal, co-owner of Team Rahal with television personality David Letterman, is expected to name Max Papis to replace him behind the wheel for the 1999 season. Papis asked for, and was granted, his release from Arciero-Wells Racing last week in a surprise move. Rahal, who will continue with the team as an owner, also has held talks with Las Vegan Jimmy Vasser, Henderson's Richie Hearn and Robbie Gordon.

* LVMS DRAGS: Carl Cannavo took advantage of Tim Arden's red-light foul in the final round to win the Pro ET category and highlight National Hot Rod Association/Craftsman ET drag race action Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Cannavo picked up his second victory of the year with an effort of 10.662 at 92.97 mph. Sportsman Division points leader John Sparrow, driving a '74 Pontiac Firebird, captured his fourth triumph of the year with an 11.04 at 111.546 mph. He beat Sandra Darby, who finished second with a time of 12.304 at 108.200 mph in a '79 Chevrolet. William Dudley shot his '70 Plymouth to a final-round time of 14.956 at 92.393 mph to gain his fourth triumph of the season in the Street ET category while Leo Shaver picked up his fourth triumph of the season in the motorcycles, recording a 10.071 at 128.686 mph. Steve Scott had a time of 8.96 at 145.787 mph to defeat Gary Gilbert in a battle of dragsters in the National Performance Eliminator category.

* LVMS SHORT TRACK: Pahrump's Jason Pike outran Randy Harrison and Dan Fitzgerald Friday night to claim the main event of IMCA Modified race action in the AZNEV Series at the LVMS clay oval. Rounding out the top five drivers in the 24-car feature were Randy McGraw and Ray Elam. Allan Levinson claimed the Street Stock main event while Ronny Williams headed the Dwarf Car Division.

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