MOTORSPORTS: Racing and Rivalries, Special Report
16 August 1999
Valvoline racers respond: Do you have a special rival?
MARK MARTIN (Valvoline Ford Taurus, NASCAR Winston Cup Series): "Ernie
(Irvan) and I are real good friends. When he was in a situation where he
was winning races all the time in the 28 car and the 4 car, we had very
intense races, that were real good in terms of sportsmanship.
"For the most part, it's straight-up business. I've had that over the
years with different drivers, with (Dale) Earnhardt, but you have to have
two people running well often and they have to be the right mix of
personalities for that to happen."
GIL de FERRAN (Valvoline/Cummins Honda-Reynard, CART FedEx
Championship Series): "I consciously try not to focus my attention on one
person. It's counterproductive. At the end of the day, you have to beat
everybody. It's better not to focus on just one person. Having said that,
there's always a little bit of pride within the Brazilian drivers group to
see who's going to come out on top." (Other Brazilian drivers in CART
include: Christian Fittipaldi, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castro-Neves, Mauricio
Gugelmin, Cristiano da Matta and Roberto Moreno.)
JOE AMATO (Valvoline-backed Tenneco Automotive dragster, five-time
NHRA Winston Top Fuel champion): "We're good friends with Kenny (Bernstein)
on-and-off the track. When you go to the starting line, we both want to get
the bragging rights. When we play golf, we play for money, so we have fun
there, too. He's the master. He has every new club, so I go use his clubs
and try out the new technology, because he has it before it's even on the
market. He's a good guy, and you like to race someone like that in the
final because he's your friend, so one of you is going to win." (Amato beat
Bernstein in the finals at Firebird earlier this season.)
BRIAN SIMO (Valvoline Ford Mustang, SCCA BF Goodrich Trans-Am Series):
"It would be Paul Gentilozzi (1998 Trans-Am champion). When I was coming
into Trans-Am, the names were Tommy Kendall and Dorsey Schroeder and Ron
Fellows and Boris Said. There were a host of people who were very quick and
extremely talented. Paul was in that class. A lot of those folks have since
moved on and now it's kind of Paul and I are the ones left standing. I
think that's probably the biggest rivalry in the (Trans-Am) paddock. We're
the ones who, generally, command the pace of the races and what goes on on
a race weekend. It raises the level of play for me. When he goes and clicks
off a fast lap, I feel compelled to do the same thing.
"That can be a downfall, too, because we get to racing each other and
sometimes that creates more grief than you need. We can't forget we're
racing for a championship and we've both left a lot of points on the
table." (The duo have finished 1-2 twice this season: Simo beat Gentilozzi
at Detroit earlier this month; Paul topped Brian at Mid-Ohio last June.)
MATT HINES (Eagle One Suzuki, two-time NHRA Winston Pro Stock
Motorcycle champion): "The biggest thing right now is the rivalry between
me and Angelle (Seeling). It was really intense towards the end of last
season (finished 1-2 in points with Hines the champion) and it's the same
now. We're both really young (27 and 29, respectively) and we're both
really fast. All I hear from the fans is, 'Angelle this, Angelle that.
Don't let that girl beat you!' I try not to let it get to my head, stay
focused, and get that win light every time. It's really intense." (Hines
and Seeling met in the finals seven times last season, with Matt winning
five. Seeling has won both of their final-round meetings this year.)
NASCAR: Martin's 'Road' Well Traveled
When Mark Martin sustained wrist, rib and knee injuries in a practice
accident last month at Daytona, he admitted Watkins Glen and Bristol would
represent the biggest physical challenges for him. Martin passed a major
competitive milestone last Sunday on the Glen road course, finishing 10th
in the Valvoline Ford Taurus.
Martin remains second in the Winston Cup standings going into this
Sunday's Pepsi 400 at Michigan. Next will be the Goody's 500 on Bristol's
high-banked short oval, Aug. 28.
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF AMERICA UPDATE: Mark Martin's performance in
the Valvoline Ford, along with contributions from Valvoline and NASCAR fans
has brought the current total raised for Big Brothers Big Sisters to
$127,524. Valvoline is donating $5,000 for every Winston Cup race Martin
wins this season, $2,500 for each pole, and $20 for every lap he leads in
this "Caring Hands" program. The 11th of 15 planned trackside fund-raisers,
where fans can put their handprints on a canvas wall, receive a
commemorative button, and make donations, will be in Michigan.
NHRA: Amato's Top Fuel Chase Is Top-Notch
One of the best battles for a major racing championship in recent
memory is being fought a quarter-mile at a time.
Joe Amato, driver of the Valvoline-backed Tenneco Automotive dragster,
has four wins going into this weekend's (Aug. 22) event in Brainerd, Minn.
Two triumphs in the last three Nationals have vaulted him to third in the
NHRA Winston Top Fuel standings. He's just 45 points behind leader Mike
Dunn and only 28 in back of Kenny Bernstein. In turn, Amato's a scant four
points ahead of Tony Schumacher, and 19 in front of fifth-ranked Doug
Kalitta.
"I can't remember anything like this," said Amato, who has finished in
the top-10 in points since starting in Top Fuel in 1982. "There's been some
great battles over the years, but I don't think there's been one like
this."
CART: De Ferran Always Racing to Succeed
A recent headline in the Detroit News called Gil de Ferran "the
'thinking man's' racer." How does the Valvoline/Cummins Honda-Reynard
driver describe himself?
"I'm a very ambitious person," answers de Ferran, who has two CART
poles and a win at Portland this season. "I want to be the best in the
world at this job. I want to be the guy who is the fastest over a single
lap. I want to be the guy who is best over 200 miles, the best over 500
miles, the best on a mile oval, the best on a superspeedway, the best in
traffic, the best on a road course, the best in the wet, the best in every
situation. I acknowledge that I am not the best at this point in my career.
I've been working on that throughout my career, on what I perceive are some
deficiencies in my driving, my style, my attitude, whatever. I might die
frustrated or I might not.
"If, today, Michael Schumacher is considered to be the best, then I
want to beat him. If I'm at a test, I want to be the guy who can best set
up his car. If I'm in a qualifying session, I want to be fastest. The
pressure you are under, the constant assessment, the instant assessment, I
like that. To see the result is challenging, it's exciting. It's pressure,
but it's exciting. And because you want to be the best, you want to be
measured all the time. I like having the curtains open and having to
perform. Hopefully, my greatest achievement is still around the corner."
SCCA: Simo Says Racing Is Business, and Vice Versa
As co-founder and president of sportswear and gear company No Fear,
Brian Simo knows how to be successful in the marketplace. As winner of
three SCCA BF Goodrich Trans-Am races this year, including Detroit earlier
this month in the Valvoline Ford Mustang, Simo also knows what it takes to
get the job done on the track. How do the worlds of business and racing
compare?
"Every analogy you can use in racing applies 100 percent in business,"
says Simo. "We have the privilege of working with some brilliant people. We
run a performance business. Racing is a business season condensed into a
weekend. You face deadlines, a bottom line, and an end result.
"Racing brings together things other athletes don't have to deal with.
I think you've got to be a pretty savvy businessman. You've got to be able
to know how to put your deal together, how to make your relationships work,
as well as the things that are going to make you fast."
Simo, the Trans-Am runner-up the last two years, has five poles in
eight events this season. He's currently fourth in points, just 11 behind
leader Chris Neville, leading into the Aug. 29 Johnson Controls 100 in
Grand Rapids, Mich.