Is It a Formula for Success?

Interest in Formula One racing has waned dramatically in the United States since the fiasco at Phoenix nearly a decade ago and the absence of an American driver since Michael Andretti’s sorry experience in 1993.

Remember Phoenix in 1991? Bernie Ecclestone brought his F1 troupe to the Valley of the Sun for the third year of a five-year contract that cost the citizens of Phoenix $8 million. When race officials announced that a crowd of 35,000 had watched the late Ayrton Senna run off with the race, Mark Armijo of the Arizona Republic wrote, “If 35,000 were here, half of them came disguised as empty seats.”

The last two years were canceled.

Things may change this year--at least Tony George hopes so--since F1 will return to the U.S. next year at his Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a course laid out in and around the famed 2.5-mile rectangular oval that has been the world’s most revered race site for more than 50 years.

Then, too, American race fans will be following closely the career change of Alex Zanardi, the effervescent little Italian who won the CART champ car championship the last two seasons, and endeared himself to the public with his “doughnut” spins to celebrate victories.

The 1999 season will open next weekend at Melbourne, Australia.

Zanardi will be in a Williams FW21 as a teammate of Ralf Schumacher, younger brother of Ferrari’s former world champion, Michael. Ralf Schumacher drove for Jordan last year. Zanardi also drove briefly for Jordan in F1 before leaving for the U.S. to drive for Chip Ganassi’s team.

Preseason testing indicates that neither Zanardi nor Schumacher will seriously challenge last year’s contenders, world champion Mika Hakkinen of McLaren and runner-up Michael Schumacher.

Nor will anyone else, unless it is their teammates, David Coulthard at McLaren and Eddie Irvine at Ferrari. Both are champing at the bit to move ahead of their No. 1 teammates.

“I let Michael past five times last year, and I’ll do it 10 times if I have to, but somewhere along the line, I’d like to win a race,” a frustrated Irvine told Tony Dodgins of On Track.

Hakkinen won the season opener at Australia last year and continued on to defeat Schumacher in the final race at Japan for his first title.

Jordan drivers Damon Hill, the 1996 champion when he was with Williams, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, may offer the stiffest challenge to the two favorites.

Jacques Villeneuve, who went from winning CART and the Indianapolis 500 to a Formula One championship, also with Williams, has switched again, this time to the newly formed British American Racing. Villeneuve, winless last season, has complained about new tire groove regulations designed to slow the cars.

“I’m sure we’ll wind up going the same speeds as last year, but last year wasn’t fast enough,” the French-Canadian said. “We get used to these speeds and it doesn’t feel special. You’re part of Formula One, that’s great, but it’s just not fast enough to make you feel you’re doing something very special.”

CHAMP CARS

Is money the way to instant credibility?

Apparently that is what CART officials envision after announcing a $10-million Hawaiian Super Prix for its FedEx series drivers in Honolulu on Nov. 13. The non-points race, to be run on a temporary course at the Barbers Point airport, will be shown only on pay-per-view TV.

With $5 million guaranteed the winner, CART hopes it will raise its series reputation to the level of rapidly growing NASCAR, which paid a record $2.17 million to Jeff Gordon for winning the Daytona 500, and ahead of its open-wheel rival, the Indy Racing League, which paid Eddie Cheever $1.43 million for winning the Indianapolis 500 last year.

Curiously, CART will be asking its fans to support pay-for-view TV when there is little support for its races shown free. The organization’s combined cable and network rating was 1.4 on ABC and ESPN.

The leading 12 drivers from CART’s 20-race series, which concludes Oct. 31 at California Speedway, will compete along with four invited drivers from the CART series.

Unannounced was where the $10 million was coming from.

SPRINT CARS

After a successful opening night last week with the winged cars of the World of Outlaws, Perris Auto Speedway will welcome the Sprint Car Racing Assn.’s wingless cars Saturday night for the first of 17 appearances on the half-mile dirt oval.

The SCRA season opened at Mazanita Speedway in Phoenix last weekend with Kevin Doty of Milan, Ill, and Cory Kruseman of Ventura winning main events on successive nights. Doty, who also finished third in the race won by Kruseman, leads defending SCRA champion Richard Griffin of Silver City, N.M., by 24 points.

Kruseman won the final race of 1998 at Perris, the Jack Kindoll Classic last Nov. 21.

The Outlaws, who won’t return to California until September, will be at Manzanita this weekend. When Johnny Herrera edged Mark Kinser in last week’s Perris race, it was the first time in eight races that Kinser had not won on that track.

LAST LAPS

Davy Jones, who has been out of racing for more than two years after suffering a racing injury, will return to the track in next month’s 12 Hours of Sebring. Jones, who crashed while driving an IRL car in January 1997, will join veterans John Morton and John Graham in a Porsche 911 team for the March 20 race.

For the record: Reader Don Webb points out that Billy Garrett, who died last week in Burbank, won United Racing Assn. midget car championships in 1954 and 1955, but did not drive at Gilmore Stadium. Gilmore was torn down in 1950, several years before Garrett began racing midgets. Billy’s father, Johnny, won at Gilmore in 1948 and 1949.

When NASCAR took back its TV rights from individual tracks, Wall Street analysts said the move could triple its television revenue. On the first day, International Speedway Corp. stock rose 3 3/4 to 43.