Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Southern Cal emerges as possible F1 race site

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. His golf notebook appears Tuesday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4089.

It suddenly appears as if the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is no longer a lock to get the lone U.S. Formula One race beginning in 2000.

Tommy Baker, who spearheaded a failed attempt to bring the international racing series to Las Vegas, now is working with officials in Orange County, Calif., to run an F1 race in Southern California.

The federal government recently turned over a 4,700-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro to Orange County, and Baker is negotiating with elected officials to stage an F1 race on the property.

"Bernie Ecclestone (F1 president) has standing offers from the cities of Atlanta and San Francisco, as well as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to become the host city for an American Formula One race," Baker said.

"But as of this date, no deal has been struck anywhere in the country to run a Formula One race in America."

Indianapolis Motor Speedway was believed to be the front-runner to land the American F1 race after Las Vegas dropped out of the running last month.

Baker is hoping he can make headway with Orange County officials, who are assigning an asset management contract to develop the property.

Baker said the Orange County site recently hosted a vintage car race on a temporary road course set up on an abandoned airfield tarmac and drew 126,000 people over a three-day weekend.

"They drew 126,000 people for a vintage car race -- a race not sanctioned by any professional series -- featuring amateur drivers," Baker said. "Can you imagine what a Formula One race would (draw) there with the best drivers in the world?"

Clark County commissioners last month chose local golf course developer Billy Walters to develop a parcel of land at the south end of the Strip after officials from Circus Circus, Inc., and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway voiced objections to Baker's plan.

Unlike local officials, Orange County leaders have been receptive to Baker's proposal to run a Formula One race on the land. But he said he did not know if he could put a deal together in time to meet Ecclestone's self-imposed early November deadline.

"We're forwarding all the information to Bernie Ecclestone and we'll see what happens from there," Baker said. "Ecclestone has made no commitment yet on another venue so we're hopeful we can get something done (in Orange County).

"Obviously, our first choice would have been Las Vegas. But since that didn't pan out, we're trying to make it work here."

NASCAR

Rusty Wallace is looking to snap his 59-race winless skid this Sunday in the Dura-Lube/Kmart 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, but the former Winston Cup champion is thinking about another streak.

"A streak that we really need to get started is winning races at Phoenix," Wallace said. "I can't believe that we've been racing on a track like that for 10 years now and we're still chasing our first win.

"With all the wins we've racked up on the flat tracks and on the one-mile tracks through the years, it surprises me that we're still looking for win number one."

Wallace finished second last year at Phoenix after starting third and led the most laps before he was overtaken in the closing laps by eventual race winner Dale Jarrett.

"We've had strong runs at Phoenix and have come close several times," Wallace said. "Last year's race was another one of those close deals. We qualified third and ran strong all day long. We moved to the front, led the most laps and thought we had the field dusted. Then, the 88 car (Jarrett) seemed to come out of nowhere to win the thing."

Jeff Gordon can clinch the Winston Cup championship Sunday if he earns 12 more points than Mark Martin. Gordon, who has 11 wins this season, needs only to finish in the top 32 in each of the final three races to wrap up his third championship and the $2 million that goes along with it.

CART

Race fans will have the unique opportunity to sponsor three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal's Miller Lite Reynard/Ford as the retiring Rahal competes in his final race as a driver Nov. 1 at the California Speedway in Fontana.

For a minimum $25 cash donation to The Bobby Rahal Foundation, fans attending CART's season-ending Marlboro 500 will be able to add their signature to one of two special four-square-foot decals that will be mounted atop the sidepods of Rahal's race car. Donors will receive an autographed photo of Rahal with the car.

Fans interested in sponsoring Rahal's Last Ride may sign up at the Team Rahal merchandise trailer behind the California Speedway's main grandstand on Saturday, Oct. 31.

IRL

Jeff Ward, who finished 21st in the Las Vegas 500K earlier this month, plans to make his NASCAR Winston Cup debut this Sunday in the Dura Lube/Kmart 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Ward will drive a car owned by Bill Strauser of Walla Walla, Wash.

"I'm looking forward to racing a Winston Cup car in Phoenix," Ward said. "I like the track at Phoenix and I hope that my experience there enables us to make the race."

Ward, a seven-time AMA national motocross champion who moved to auto racing in 1992, captured the pole for the Dura-Lube 200 IRL race at PIR in March.

"The stock cars and IRL cars are totally different and I'm going to have to use my natural instincts to make the right adjustments for the stock car," Ward said. "It would be great to start my first NASCAR race at Phoenix after sitting on the pole for the IRL race in March." ...

Las Vegas resident Davey Hamilton and his Nienhouse Motorsports crew chief, Jamie Galles, are nearing the end of a 1,000-mile motorcycle ride from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Hamilton and Galles are riding the same course that will be used for the Baja 1000.

Backmarkers

Mark Weber piloted the Las Vegas-based U-10 Wild Fire unlimited hydroplane to its first final-event victory for KG Racing team owner Kim Gregory in last weekend's Hydrofest in Hawaii.

Weber brought the Wild Fire home in first place after Dave Villwock (Miss Budweiser) and Mitch Evans (Appian Jeronimo) jumped the timed start and were penalized a lap. ...

Some of the top Grand American Modified drivers in the Southwest, including Las Vegas division champion Randy Swalwell, will be featured Saturday night in the Grand American Championships at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 3/8ths-mile paved oval. Gates will open at 4 p.m. with racing set to begin at 7:30 p.m. A 60-lap feature, which will include a pair of 30-lap mains, will have drivers chasing a winner's purse of $2,000. ...

Two-time ARCA champion Tim Steele and Indy Racing League driver Jeff Ward are two of the early entrants to run in the Sam's Town 125 NASCAR Winston West race Nov. 7 at the LVMS 1.5-mile superspeedway.

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