Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Hectic day at the Beach awaits Hearn

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- As a youngster growing up in Southern California, it was Richie Hearn's lifelong dream to one day drive in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Now that Hearn has made three starts in Long Beach, the Henderson resident is glad the CART FedEx Championship Series visits the oceanside street course only once a year.

"It's a pretty hectic weekend for me," Hearn said as he reviewed his schedule. "Even (Sunday), I've got suite appearances ... it'll be nice on Sunday night when everybody's gone and I'm just hanging out."

A native of nearby Glendale, Calif., Hearn will have to divide his time this week between personal appearances and the multitude of family, friends and acquaintances who all want a piece of the 28-year-old. All this while preparing for the 25th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday (1 p.m., ABC).

"Long Beach actually used to be quite enjoyable for me, when I was racing in the (Toyota) Atlantic series because it's low key, but still there's some fame there," said Hearn, who won in Long Beach in the Toyota Atlantic Series in 1994. "But the last couple of years have just been crazy, it really has.

"More and more people keep coming out of the woodwork thinking that they know me and I just can't go anywhere because there are so many people here. It's great to see that there is that much enthusiasm for this event but for a driver, it makes it hard just to think."

Which helps explain, in part, Hearn's decision to move to Henderson following his victory in the inaugural Indy Racing League Las Vegas 500K at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the fall of 1996.

"Las Vegas is actually kind of nice that way," Hearn said of his ability to move around relatively anonymously in his adopted hometown. "You have just enough popularity to make you feel good, but not too much to where you can't be a normal person."

Hearn, who comes into Long Beach off a 10th-place finish in last weekend's Firestone Firehawk 500 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, tries to approach the Grand Prix of Long Beach as just another race. But because he drives a Toyota-powered car for Della Penna Motorsports that is sponsored by Budweiser, Hearn admits that isn't possible.

"I don't try any harder here than I do anywhere else," Hearn explained. "For me, really, it's just another race in the series. But for the sponsors, Budweiser and Toyota, it's a big event. For CART, in general, it's probably the highest profile race we have and it's very exciting to be a part of it."

Making matters more difficult for Hearn is the fact that Long Beach is the first street circuit CART visits after opening the season with a pair of oval races in Miami and Japan.

"I don't know if anybody is ready for it, really," Hearn said of the switch to the street course. "Long Beach is usually a pretty crazy event because of that. People have tested on a road course, but until you actually go out there and run, you really don't know how your car is going to do.

"Some of the drivers get a little over-excited at the race because at the ovals, you've got to pretty subdued and be really in control and at the road courses, you can let it all out. Some of the drivers get a little crazy and you get a lot of accidents."

Hearn, now 16th in points after two races, said it is important for him to qualify well for Sunday's race after a pair of disappointing qualifying efforts in Miami and Japan. Hearn qualified 19th at Miami (and finished 23rd after exiting the race early with a damaged car) and 23rd in Japan.

"Our qualifying the last nine months has been really bad and I don't know what the deal is," he said. "We just can't seem to get a good car for qualifying -- we can get a good car for the race but we can't seem to get all the speed out of the car for qualifying lately."

As far as the race goes, Hearn said winning the Grand Prix of Long Beach would be a dream come true, but he has more realistic goals.

"I'd just like to finish in the top 10 again and get some points," said Hearn, whose best finish here was a 10th place in 1996. "If we keep doing the little things like that, we can build on that for every race."

* NASCAR: Las Vegas Motor Speedway general manager Chris Powell was caught off guard this week by a published report in the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal that NASCAR was considering moving LVMS' Winston Cup race date to the fall next year.

"Nobody from NASCAR has said a word about it to us," Powell said of the rumored date change. "We should know our (2000) race date in the next couple of months ... and I expect it to be on or about the same date as 1999."

NASCAR officials did not return phone calls Thursday seeking comment. ...

Ernie Irvan, who was critically injured in a practice-lap accident at Michigan Speedway in 1994, will make his 300th career Winston Cup start Sunday in the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

* CART: Las Vegas resident Paul Tracy has fond memories of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, but realizes he has his work cut out for him this weekend on the revamped street course.

The 1.85-mile course for the 25th running of the Grand Prix has been extended to include four new turns around the new Aquarium of the Pacific and extend the Shoreline Drive straightaway.

"I made my first Champ Car start at Long Beach in '91 and I got my first win there in '93, so naturally it's one of my favorite races," Tracy said.

"With the changes to the track and the fact we can't test there, it will be a real challenge for drivers to find the fast line and teams to find the proper setup. Those that do will start up front, which is extremely important on a tight street circuit. For those that don't, it will be a long day trying to catch up."

Tracy, who is coming off an 11th-place finish in Japan, started ninth last year in Long Beach but finished 23rd after he was involved in an incident with Christian Fittipaldi 19 laps into the race. ...

For the second consecutive race, Tarso Marques will sub for the injured Al Unser Jr. in the Marlboro Penske/Mercedes this weekend. Marques made his CART debut last weekend in Japan and finished 14th.

* IRL: Greg Ray posted the fastest lap during this week's three-day open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for next month's 83rd Indianapolis 500.

On the final day of testing, Ray turned an unofficial lap of 227.072 mph -- nearly 4 miles per hour faster than Billy Boat's 1998 pole speed of 223.503.

"We ran two different cars and three different suspensions, and we did pretty good," Ray said. "We still have not put the car anywhere near qualifying trim."

Sam Schmidt of Henderson completed his testing in slightly more adverse conditions last weekend. Despite strong winds, Schmidt turned a fast lap of 221.478 mph in the Treadway Racing G-Force/Aurora.

* BACKMARKERS: The $15,000 Texas Station National, a 30-lap race that will kick off the six-race Western States Dwarf Car Association season, will be held Saturday night at 7 at the 1/3-mile dirt oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Qualifying for Saturday night's main event will begin at 7 tonight. Tickets for tonight's qualifying and Saturday's main event are priced at $10 for adults and $5 for children. Adult tickets can be purchased at a $2 discount at the Texas Station Winners Center. ...

Regional NHRA drag racing resumes at the LVMS drag strip Saturday night. Gates open at 3 p.m., with first-round eliminations slated for 8:30.

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