Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Rahal hoping to go out with a bang

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

In his farewell tour as a driver in the CART Fed Ex Championship Series this season, Bobby Rahal has had his share of emotional moments.

There was the post-race parade lap around his home track, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and the unexpected standing ovation by a small but loyal group of fans following qualifying at the Milwaukee Mile.

But neither of those incidents will prepare Rahal for this weekend's Marlboro 500 at California Speedway in Fontana. It will be the final competitive race of what has been billed as "Rahal's Last Ride."

"Yeah, this is it," Rahal said about this weekend's race, which will conclude a 17-year CART driving career that saw him won three PPG Cup titles and 24 races.

"I have never had problems sleeping the night before a race, but I have a feeling that Saturday night ... it's going to be obvious that it just isn't another Saturday night before a race. I think that is probably when it is going to have the biggest effect on me."

Then again, it may not hit the 45-year-old veteran that his driving career has ended until the checkered flag waves. And make no mistake, Rahal intends to be the first car across the line when the checkers fall.

"I do want to do well in the race," said Rahal, who will continue in CART as owner of a two-car team, with drivers Bryan Herta and Max Papis, his replacement behind the wheel for next year.

"I do want to try to win it. And it will take everything I have got to kind of keep that focus. I still have one shot (and in a) 500-mile race, anything can happen."

But Rahal also is being careful not to put too much pressure on himself to win his first CART race since 1992 and his first 500-mile race since 1988.

"All year long I have tried to do everything we could to win a race and we have been close," he said. "We have led races, we have qualified in the front row, we have been in a position to do very well and things just happened.

"I don't think I'm going to do anything differently (Sunday). I am not going to go crazy."

At times throughout his career, Rahal has been best when he has had to win, such as the 1986 Indianapolis 500. That year, Rahal won his first and only Indy 500 just 10 days before his team owner, Jim Trueman, died of cancer.

That ranks as one of Rahal's most memorable moments in a very memorable career.

"It still seems a little bit unreal because of all the events that led up to it and after," Rahal said of that Indy 500. "That morning, little did we know what was going to happen three hours later. To realize somebody's else's dream truly was a very special thing for all of us.

"I guess (Sunday's race) is kind of like when we won Indy for Jim -- you knew he wasn't going to be at the Indy 500 the next year, so you better get with the program this year.

"I guess maybe I will probably bring that same commitment to this weekend."

NASCAR

Ron Hornaday, the 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, and seven-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world champion Ty Murray will pay a visit to the pediatrics ward at University Medical Center next Thursday.

Hornaday is in Las Vegas for next Sunday's running of the truck series season finale, the Sam's Town 250 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hornaday leads defending series champion Jack Sprague by 13 points in this year's title chase. ...

Jeff Gordon, who is on the verge of clinching his third Winston Cup championship in four years, explained why he chose Las Vegas Motor Speedway as one of the five tracks at which he will run his new Busch Series car next year.

"You look at the tracks that we picked, Las Vegas and Charlotte and Texas, they're all kind of the same size and shape and, also, tracks that I wouldn't mind getting more laps on," Gordon said. "I haven't made many laps at Texas and the ones that I made at Vegas weren't worth a darn."

Gordon battled an ill-handling car in the Las Vegas 400K in March and finished 17th, one lap down, after qualifying fifth-fastest. Gordon and his wife, Brooke, are co-owners of the car, which will be sponsored by Pepsi.

CART

Las Vegas resident Paul Tracy is looking forward to Sunday's season-ending Marlboro 500 at California Speedway in Fontana -- and not only because of the $1 million bonus to be paid to the race winner.

This summer, Tracy finished ninth after leading for 22 laps in the U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway -- a track he said is very similar to California's 2-mile oval.

"We need to do well at Fontana to finish this season on a high note for Team KOOL Green," Tracy said. "Of course, with a million-dollar prize for winning the race, I'm sure there are a lot of guys who are thinking the same way.

"I'm confident we can do well at Fontana because we had a good test session there earlier in the season. We also were a serious contender at Michigan, which is almost an identical track. We led some laps there, so I think we should expect to be on the pace this weekend.

"It's no secret that I like running on the super speedways like Michigan and Fontana. For me, there's nothing like the experience of racing wheel-to-wheel at 230 mph."

IRL

Former national motocross champion Jeff Ward, who finished sixth in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League standings this season, failed in his attempt to qualify for last weekend's NASCAR Winston Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Ward's fastest lap in qualifying was 123.916 mph in a Chevrolet owned by Bill Strauser of Walla Walla, Wash. Ken Schrader took the pole with a speed of 131.234.

"It was tough," Ward said of his first foray into Winston Cup. "It just got to the point where it was either I'd push the envelope and bang it up or just stay where I was at. I stayed where I was at.

"We came here and tested and ran decent. We came out here to run, get some track time and maybe learn something from a few of these guys -- which I have. I learned a lot and when I get behind the wheel of the car next time, I'll be that much further ahead."

Backmarkers

Seven-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force will run a Selena-themed car in the Matco Tools Super National this weekend at Houston Raceway Park.

Selena, the Tejano-music superstar who was murdered in 1995 by her fan club president, was raised in Texas.

Also helping Force remember the slain singer is Force's teammate, Tony Pedregon, who said he was a fan of Selena's.

"I admire her for being so close to her family and involving them in her career," said Pedregon, who competes against his brothers, Cruz and Frank. "I can relate to that."

Force earlier this season competed in two races with a car that paid tribute to his hero, Elvis Presley.

Las Vegas off-road racer Troy Herbst had his disqualification at the Las Vegas Primm 300 overturned by SCORE's Competition Review Board and, as a result, regained the overall points lead going into next month's season finale.

The CRB disqualified Herbst after a fellow competitor filed a protest when Herbst for receiving helicopter assistance during the race -- a violation of SCORE rules. The CRB agreed to a review the video tape of the incident and an interview with Herbst, who wasn't present at the original meeting.

Earlier this month, the CRB modified its original decision, allowing the Herbst entry to be the last official finisher in Class 1. The revised eighth-place finish gave Herbst 42 points, enough to assume the overall points lead heading into the Baja 1000.

archive