Friday, May 30, 2003 | 10:41 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
The World of Outlaws is in a world of hurt but it does not appear that Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith is going to be riding to the rescue.
The popular winged sprint-car series is in a financial crisis, according to sources, and the only way out for WoO founder and president Ted Johnson may be to sell.
World of Outlaws Inc. is being sued for more than $500,000 by a Charlotte, N.C.-based television production company and published reports have indicated that the organization is more than $1.5 million in debt. WoO had some of its assets seized, including a souvenir rig and pace truck, last Saturday night in conjunction with the lawsuit.
Smith, whose holdings include Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has been mentioned as a potential buyer for the struggling series, which races at three dirt tracks he owns. But Smith was very low-key about his interest in the series when reached Thursday at his Charlotte office.
"No, I think we have plenty of other things going on," Smith said when asked if he was interested in buying the World of Outlaws Series. "I don't know what Ted is doing or not doing, I really don't -- I'm not keeping up with it."
Smith acknowledged that he had conversations with Johnson "a couple of years ago" about purchasing the series but would not say whether he would contact Johnson in the near future.
"I always wish Ted the very best," Smith said. "I think he's got a good thing going there. I think he runs too many races but other than that, everything's fine.
"We always do well with (the Outlaws) in Las Vegas -- it's a super deal there."
WoO runs a two, two-night shows at the dirt track at LVMS, one in the spring during the NASCAR Winston Cup weekend and one in the fall to conclude the season.
LVMS general manager Chris Powell said Thursday that he expected the Outlaws to return to Las Vegas the last weekend in October.
Whether or not the series is under different ownership by then is anyone's guess.
"The latest update from the doctor is that we're in a holding pattern," Bernstein said. "He looked at my spine and the area of concern is the ligament that attaches to the back of the spine that keeps it straight. If the ligament is still intact we sit tight and the bones will heal back and we continue to wear the brace for another 10 to 12 weeks.
"If the ligament is not intact, we do surgery; that's a 50-50 shot. Monday he will do more tests. He actually measures the degree of separation from the curvature of the spine. If the spine is falling, then we do surgery. I would assume he would move quickly to do surgery, maybe next week."
Bernstein, who was injured when his Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster crashed May 18 in Englishtown, N.J., said he expects to miss the remainder of the season. His father, drag-racing legend Kenny Bernstein, came out of retirement and is driving the racecar in his absence.
"It will take six months for a full recovery," he said. "That's all the way into November. It looks most likely that it will be the 2004 season for me to be back racing. I don't want to chance getting back in too early; I might as well take the whole season to heal.
"I'm very disappointed to have the season start out so well and then it's over in the blink of an eye. It's a very tough way to go but it could be a lot worse. I'm very lucky, definitely. The doctor said this is a severe break. Most of the time when he sees an injury like this, the patient is paralyzed."
Bernstein had won three of the first seven Top Fuel events of the season prior to being injured.
In each of the past two races, however, Force red-lighted in the second round. It marked the first time in his career that he fouled out in back-to-back races and only the fifth and sixth foul starts in 25 years.
Force, who is winless in nine races this season, said his struggles have been due to a new engine-chassis combination and the new LED lights the NHRA is using in the Christmas tree.
"I had to change my driving because of this new combination and the starting system," Force said. "I never worried about red lighting until they put the new lights in. My reaction times got so much better that, bottom line, I had to change my routine.
"Last week, I went up there thinking about what I had to do and you can't do that; it has to be automatic. We'll get there, I just feel bad for my guys. They finally got me a good hot rod and then I screwed it up for us at Englishtown and Topeka."
Force heads into this weekend's Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill. ranked eighth in Funny Car points and trails teammate Tony Pedregon by 399 points.
Tracy had built a 26-point lead in the championship after winning the first three races of the season but now is tied for the lead with Bruno Junqueira after disappointing finishes (17th and 12th) in the two races in Europe.
Tracy is the defending champion of the Milwaukee race and has three victories on the quaint 1-mile oval.
"I'm looking forward to defending my Milwaukee championship this year," Tracy said. "One of my incentives is to get win number four there and that would be the most wins that I have at any track in the series.
"The lead that Team Player's built in the standings after the first three races is a thing of the past and now we just have to regroup and try to start another winning streak. I've been in the sport long enough to know that you're going to have highs and lows during the course of a long season. The important thing is to go into every race with the feeling that you can win it, and going to a track where I've had quite a bit of success simply adds to the feeling of confidence."
Busch, a Las Vegas native, will make his second of seven Busch Series starts this season on Aug. 2 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. In the meantime, he will compete in the ARCA events at Michigan International Speedway (June 14) and Pocono Raceway (July 26).
Cofer leads Chuck Trickle by one point, 278-277, while Scott Gafforini is 18 points out of the lead in third place.
The NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at The Bullring continues Saturday night with Super Late Models, Late Models, Chargers, Thunder Roadsters, Legends Cars, Bandolero Cars and Bullring Bombers on the 3/8-mile paved oval. Spectator gates open at 6 p.m. and qualifying begins at 6:30.
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