Something Moore

By J.A. ADANDE

Oct. 25, 2000 12 AM PT

What set Greg Moore apart in the high-speed world of auto racing was his ability to slow down just enough to make a difference.

Even when he wasn’t zooming around at more than 200 mph, Moore lived his life in perpetual motion, constantly “running to another place,” said Patrick Carpentier, his former teammate with Player’s Forsythe Racing. “He was running to a dinner or a party or going to the next thing. He was always on the move.”

And yet he never missed an opportunity to make the day a little bit better or the mood a little lighter. It might have been a practical joke or an imitation of Inspector Clouseau from “The Pink Panther.” It could have been an additional comment while he signed an autograph.

There’s a reason why Moore’s death in a crash at the Marlboro 500 last Oct. 31 was felt so deeply, why an estimated 1,200 people attended his memorial service in Vancouver, Canada.

It wasn’t only the tragic loss of someone so young, 24, or so talented--he had already won five CART races. For people throughout auto racing, from fans to competitors, it was the loss of a friend.

“I think he had a talent for when he talked to somebody, he made them feel important,” said his father, Ric Moore.

After he died, the senior Moore said, “We got 10,000 letters and Internet things and whatever. People said they had only met him for 20 seconds.

“He was genuinely interested in people. He liked people and it came through, whether it was a multimillion-dollar sponsor or a 12-year-old kid.”

Said Neil Micklewright, the vice president of operations for Player’s Forsythe, “He was the kind of person who, it used to bother him if people were down or weren’t happy. He had a tendency to go out of his way to bring people up or be supportive.”

And he’d take the extra steps for a laugh. One time, Micklewright was being interviewed for a television special. He walked along as he gave a very serious reply to a question about Moore.

“It was long and convoluted,” Micklewright said. “I’d pretty much gotten all the way through it, only to find out he had been walking behind me the whole time, making faces and reindeer horns with his hands.”

Alex Timmermans, who was Moore’s engineer, can still recall Moore coming to him before last year’s Marlboro 500 and telling him to relax. The introductions were finished, the cars were in the grid. Timmermans was visibly nervous, feeling the pressure of the race, and Moore said a few reassuring words to calm him down.

It was to be Moore’s last race for the Player’s Forsythe team. He was scheduled to switch to Team Penske this season.

No one could have imagined that it would be his last race, period.

As he came out of Turn 2 on the 10th lap at California Speedway, Moore lost control of his car and slid sideways, across the backstretch apron and the infield grass. It was on its side when it hit the retaining wall on the inside of the track, cockpit-first, before bouncing off the wall and sliding upside down.

Speedway workers have made some changes to the track, paving the grassy area out of Turn 2 toward Turn 3, installing a tire barrier in front of the wall on the backstretch and raising the outside fence of the track.

“Every year we take a look at the safety of the track and the facility in general,” California Speedway President and General Manager Bill Miller said. “It’s an evolutionary process with the Speedway. As you move forward, you’re always looking how the facility is set up.”

Micklewright said, “I think [the changes] go a long way toward [helping] it. I think the accident in and of itself was maybe a little bit freakish. In this sport, with the speeds that the cars are running, there’s always an element of risk. All you can do is try to minimize it.”

Sooner or later it always gets back to the element of danger, which is an accepted part of the sport. Moore was well aware of every aspect of racing. He practically grew up with his hands on the steering wheel. His father was an amateur race driver and Greg used to watch him race and help out. He had a go-kart as a kid.

As a teenager, he won 13 times in the Indy Lights series before joining CART in 1996. He became the youngest driver to win a CART event when he finished first in Milwaukee at 22.

He was a gifted driver, with an “ability that only comes along very infrequently, at best,” Micklewright said. “An absolute natural.”

Moore also sought to hone his skills at Human Performance International. The physical fitness and mental skills program, based in Huntersville, N.C., is designed for everyone from athletes to astronauts. When Moore first met Dr. Jacques Dallaire, the president of HPI, “He kind of blew me off,” Dallaire said.

“As far as he was concerned, he had it covered. All he had to do was get in the car and step on the pedal. As he got into it, into the Indy Lights, he realized there was a lot more to it than that.

“That’s another hallmark of a champion,” said Dallaire, who has worked with hundreds of auto racers. “A champion knows there’s always more to be gained. If you sit back on your laurels, you’re going to get passed. They’re looking for a little bit extra. At that level, extra defines the difference between first place and seventh.”

In addition, “He was a very passionate young man,” Dallaire said. “He had a passion for it.”

And just about everything else.

“A guy that really lived his life,” Carpentier said. “He really enjoyed life, like I’ve rarely seen.

“His interest was having fun. He enjoyed partying with friends and traveling and seeing new things, playing with water boats, any kind of thing. Always happy to meet people, go to dinner. A guy with a tremendous amount of energy. That’s why he left his mark.”

A year later, Moore still has his mark on this race, the last stop of the season. And it figures to have some awkward, if not difficult moments.

“I’m not looking forward to it,” Micklewright said. “It’s going to be a somewhat uncomfortable weekend.”

Carpentier said, “I think the first few laps, you think about it. I’ll look at the track and think about it.”

There will be a remembrance of Moore at the prerace invocation, but, at the request of Moore’s family, there will be no other official ceremonies, a track spokesman said.

“People in the racing community have remembered Greg and they’ll always remember Greg,” Miller said. “He never will be [forgotten]. He touched a lot of people in many parts of the country. You always keep it in perspective and you continue moving forward. You never forget about people who have touched your lives.”

There are so many tributes to him that it would be nearly impossible to forget. Moore’s No. 99 was retired by CART. CART also has created the Greg Moore Legacy award, to be given to the driver “who best typifies Moore’s legacy of outstanding talent on track, as well as displaying a dynamic personality with fans, media and within the CART community.”

Among the initiatives of the Greg Moore Foundation (www.gregmoore.com) are a book, a planned documentary and charitable donations benefiting, among others, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Kidney Foundation of British Columbia and scholarships at schools in his hometown of Maple Ridge, Canada.

The web site shows pictures of people at fund-raisers in Moore’s name. They’re smiling, the way it should be.

“He would not be particularly enamored by people dwelling on his passing,” Dallaire said. “He was a guy who tended to celebrate life more than death. All the things he did, he was living. He would prefer [people] look at the things he accomplished and the enthusiasm he had for his job and his life and say, ‘Hey, that was good.’ ”

J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com

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Death Toll

Some recent driver deaths in major auto racing events:

NASCAR

Driver, Year: Site

Kenny Irwin, 2000: Loudon, N.H.

Tony Roper, 2000: Fort Worth

Adam Petty, 2000: Loudon, N.H.

John Nemechek, 1997: Homestead, Fla.

Rodney Orr, 1994: Daytona Beach, Fla.

Neil Bonnett, 1994: Daytona Beach, Fla.