His Road to Recovery Goes Through Long Beach

For Bruno Junqueira, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 9 not only marks the first race of the season, it’s the first test of his racing skills since he was seriously hurt in a crash last May.

Junqueira, 29, in recent years had been the second-best driver in the Champ Car World Series and one of its most consistent performers, taking the runner-up spot in the points standings in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

He was leading the points race early last year when he and Newman-Haas Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais crossed over to the Indy Racing League to compete in the Indianapolis 500.

After qualifying 12th and leading two laps in the race, Junqueira was trying to pass the lapped car of A.J. Foyt IV when they collided. Junqueira suffered a concussion, broke two vertebrae and needed four hours of surgery to repair the damage.

The Brazil native, who now lives in Miami, was done racing for the year. Bourdais went on to win his second consecutive Champ Car title while Junqueira recuperated.

Junqueira, who has no memory of the crash, said the time off served him well.

“I really worked hard to get back, not just back in the car, but back in my life, back in good shape to live,” he said before taking practice laps at the California Speedway in Fontana earlier this week.

“I had a lot of time to think about my life,” he said. “I thought about how much I like racing, but also about all the important aspects of life as well. I kind of became a better person.”

Junqueira, who has eight career victories in 78 starts, said he also worked on keeping his spirit up despite being away from race cars.

“I never gave up,” he said. “I was never sad about the accident. That’s part of life, part of racing.”

French-born Bourdais, who also lives in Florida, said he spent many hours talking to Junqueira after the crash, not only as a teammate but “as a friend and companion.”

“I was trying to give him some comfort and say he’s going to be all right,” said Bourdais, 27, who won the Long Beach race last year.

“The most important thing was that he knew his seat was still his” when he was ready to return, Bourdais said.

Did owners Paul Newman and Carl Haas need to tell him that?

“No, we knew,” Bourdais said. “They’re not like that. That was his car.

“We know we cannot achieve probably as much success without the team, but they know they would probably not achieve as much success without us,” Bourdais said. “It’s a balanced relationship where everybody respects the other.”

Junqueira’s road back begins at Long Beach, where he will try for the sixth time to win Champ Car’s season opener on the 1.97-mile, 11-turn course that runs through the streets of downtown Long Beach. He was third last year, second in 2004 and third in 2003.

“For sure Long Beach is going to be an unknown for me, because of my one year without racing,” he said. “But Long Beach is a track where I’ve always done well. It’s a track I love.”

But Junqueira said winning the race, or this year’s Champ Car title for that matter, isn’t his only goal.

“I’m not thinking like that,” he said. “The most important thing for me this year is to enjoy myself and enjoy racing. I know if I give my best, I can get great results.”

Last Laps

* Legendary drivers Phil Hill and Dan Gurney will be inducted Thursday into the new Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, in front of the Long Beach Convention Center.

* Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif., takes a 15-point lead over Ventura’s Cory Kruseman in the USAC/CRA points standings when racing continues Saturday night at the Perris Auto Speedway in Riverside County.

* Late models will be featured during Irwindale Speedway’s program Saturday night. The program also includes the season openers for the West Coast pro trucks and U.S. Auto Club Ford Focus midgets, along with a pure stocks race and a demolition derby.

* NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Joe Nemechek will make his 400th career Cup start Sunday at the Virginia 500 in Martinsville, Va.

In his first Cup race in Loudon, N.H., in 1993, Nemechek finished 36th and won $9,650. Last week in Bristol, Tenn., he finished 28th and earned $109,255.

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Times correspondent Steven Herbert contributed to this report.