In Victory, Papis Doesn't Forget His Roots

By MARTIN HENDERSON

March 31, 2000 12 AM PT

Cal Wells III made a point of being at the podium Sunday, after everyone left to weigh in on Max Papis’ emotional first victory in the CART Championship Series at the Grand Prix of Miami.

In some ways, Papis’ victory for Bobby Rahal’s team was a victory for Wells too.

“I saw him standing there,” Papis said of Wells, who hired Papis to drive in 1996 for what is now PPI Motorsports in Rancho Santa Margarita. “I went over, I hugged him and I told him, ‘Thanks [for] that day in Michigan when you believed in me and you made me sit in your car and you helped me with this year,’ and said, ‘You’re a part of this.’ ”

Papis, formerly of Newport Beach, left Wells’ team before last season to drive for Rahal, leaving behind Toyota’s developmental engine program for a proven Ford racing package.

“We’ve had some great drivers come through our doors at PPI and he’s no exception,” Wells said. “Although we couldn’t provide him equipment that allowed him to prove his skill, Bobby Rahal has. It was so fantastic to have him prove himself and validate himself to the racing world, to the people that didn’t believe that when he was with Toyota.”

Among those who didn’t believe in Papis was Toyota management in Japan, Wells said, “and I guess he [showed them].”

But Papis’ victory also was a testament to Wells’ decision in 1996 to hire him after Jeff Krosnoff was killed during a race in Toronto.

“Obviously, we were pressed for time when Jeff was killed, and we had to do something within two weeks,” Wells said. “Max obviously turned out to be a fantastic find.

“When he was driving for me, that particular Toyota [engine] wasn’t ready [to compete up front]. I think he took a lot of hits that were unfair.”

Papis, 30, is one of the series’ most emotional drivers and Sunday’s race was packed with emotion. It was the first race since the death of driver Greg Moore, Papis’ close friend, and it was Papis’ first victory in what is essentially a hometown race for the current Miami Beach resident.

Yet, Papis said the moment that stands out wasn’t crossing the finish line, driving with arms raised down pit lane, celebrating on the podium, or the realization that after 60 CART races, he finally had his first victory. It was in those few seconds when he passed Paul Tracy 10 laps from the finish.

“I remember that I would have never been able to do that four years ago, without all those miles I’ve done with PPI, without all those [miles] testing, all those [miles] running in the back of the field, I would have never been able to really have the confidence to do what I did,” Papis said.

“That moment for me was just much more than overtaking for the lead. You know, it showed to me that now I have the confidence to do certain things on the ovals that I can do on street and road courses, and this, for me, meant a lot.

“I never would have expected to win my first race on an oval four years ago. Now I made it, and I’m pretty proud of it.”

CHAMP CAR

PPI’s driver, Cristiano da Matta, started 23rd but finished 12th to earn one point in the champ car series for Wells’ team. Oriol Servia, making his debut for Wells, was 19th.

NASCAR

Wells’ first-year Winston Cup entry wasn’t even in the race over the weekend.

Driver Scott Pruett failed to qualify for Sunday’s race in Bristol, Tenn.

Having secured one of the series’ premier sponsors, Tide, but having failed to qualify for the starting grid for the second consecutive race and third time in six races, Wells said Tide hasn’t dropped the hammer on him.

“They can’t even come close to putting the pressure on me that I’m putting on myself,” Wells said. “I probably won’t be saying that in October if we keep [messing up].”

And, Wells says, it’s not all Pruett’s fault.

“He’s in the car five out of seven days through May,” he said. “At Bristol, we had a top 10 qualifying car and he just rode it off [into the wall] during qualifying. In Darlington, his car was a pig. And Rockingham, I don’t even count it; he had never even been in the state.

“Realistically, he’s been thrown into an element that’s tough, and it’s going to take a day or two.”

ATLANTICS

Alex Gurney had a tough debut driving for the All American Racers team owned by his father, Dan Gurney. Alex, of Newport Beach, didn’t finish either of the two races over the weekend in Homestead.

Gurney qualified fourth in the first of two 50-lap races and eighth in the second. But in the first race, Gurney was hit from behind and then tagged in front of his car on the first lap, so he finished last. In the second race, he was running ninth but exited after 30 laps with electrical problems; he finished 22nd out of 24 drivers.

“It’s not the way we wanted to start out, but the encouraging thing is we showed some speed qualifying fourth and running quick laps in practice,” he said. “It hurts that on a double weekend, we couldn’t score any points. I think we’ll be strong at every race this year, and try to make up for it from here on out.”

The team tested in Sebring, Fla., on Tuesday, and was the quickest of five cars. “We think we have a really good setup for Long Beach,” Gurney said of the next race, April 15.

Having much more success on opening weekend was Englishman Dan Wheldon, who made his debut for Wells’ PPI Atlantic team. Wheldon won the season opener and then, starting from the pole in the second race, finished second after early contact caused an understeer problem. He and teammate Andrew Bordin, who finished second last year, are trying to win a second consecutive series title for PPI. Bordin took seventh and fourth.

IRWINDALE

Irwindale Speedway sold out on Saturday’s opening night, and Bob DeFazio could have turned people away. Instead, DeFazio, the track’s general manager and CEO, had a novel idea.

“We have a party deck on top of the administration building that we use for corporate parties,” said DeFazio, a Balboa Island resident. “I said, ‘Don’t buy a ticket, go up on the party deck.’ ”

About 200 took him up on it.

The sellout of more than 7,000, DeFazio said, “definitely exceeded our expectations; it wasn’t a premier race, it was a standard weekly show. I was real surprised. Pleasantly surprised.”

DeFazio said surveys conducted on opening night revealed about 20% of Irwindale’s fan base comes from Orange County. “It’s a straight drive up the 605 freeway,” he said. “It’s not that bad. I do it every day.”

If you have an item or idea for O.C. Motorsports Notebook, you can fax us at (714)966-5663 or e-mail us at martin.henderson@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Orange County Speedway

Schedule

April 8--Spring Classic; 29--Season opener.

May 6--Speedway and sidecar; 13--Mother’s Day Skirt Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 20--Olympic of Speedway (speedway, sidecars).

June 3--Harley Blowout (speedway, sidecars, Harley races); 10--Jack Milne Cup (speedway, sidecars); 17--Father’s Day (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 24--Championship 25-lap Classic (speedway).

July 8--Fan Appreciation Night w/Razzo (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 14--Friday sidecar, quad, midget championship; 15--Fair Derby (speedway); 16--Youth Motorized Olympics (Jr. speedway series), Vintage Dirt Track races.

Aug. 5--Demolition Derby (speedway, sidecars); 12--Kids Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 19--Harley-Davidson Night (speedway, sidecars, Harley races and show); 26--Dan Nay Night (championship speedway, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway).

Sept. 9--Freestyle Motorcycle Jumping (speedway); 16--Skirt Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 23--North vs. South (speedway, sidecars), 30--Sidecar State Championship (speedway, sidecars).

Oct. 7--Farewell (speedway, sidecars); 14--Coors Light U.S. National Championship (speedway).

Irwindale Speedway

Through March 26

Super Late Model

1. Greg Voigt, Goleta50

2. Ben Walker, North Hills48

3. Dan Holtz, Bakersfield46

4. Terry Henry, Bakersfield44

5. Craig Rayburn, Simi Valley42

6. Charles Utts, Camarillo40

7. Brandon Loverock, Santa Fe Springs38

8. Sean Woodside, Saugus36

9. John Borneman III, Ramona34

10. Brian Kelley, Arleta32

Super Stock

1. T.K. Karvasek, North Hills50

2. Jeff Green, Long Beach48

3. Yagel Berkovitz, Burbank46

4. Steve Gilmore, Granada Hills44

5. Kevin Wood, Saugus42

6. Doug McComb, Thousand Oaks40

7. Don Rogers, Simi Valley38

8. Greg Benner, Whittier36

9. Mike Price, San Pedro34

10. Tom Siebuhr, Canyon Country32

Grand American

1. Dean Kuhn, Oceanside50

2. Robert Rice, Hawthorne48

3. Bruce Gallion, Lancaster46

4. David Andrews, Frazier Park44

5. Henry Ford Jr., Alta Loma42

6. Tom Topping, Los Angeles40

7. Rob Chaney, Ventura38

8. Steve Luecht, Chula Vista36

9. Rip Michels, Mission Hills34

10. Dennis Schlakbaum, La Habra32

Schedule

April 1--USAC Midgets, Sprint Cars, SRL Super Modifieds, & NASCAR Super Late Models; 8--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, Figure 8s, American Race Trucks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds; 15--NASCAR Super Late Models, Super Stocks, Grand American Modifieds, Legends Cars, Spec Trucks; 22--NASCAR Late Models Twin 40s, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, T.Q. Midgets, Figure 8s; 29-- NASCAR Southwest Series, Super Late Models, Spec Trucks.

May 6--NASCAR Super Late Models, Late Models, Speed Trucks, Mini Stockars, Mini Stocks; 13--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds, T.Q. Midgets, Figure 8s; 20--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Legends Cars, Mini Stocks, Speed Trucks; 27-- NASCAR Super Late Model Twin 50s, Super Stock, Mini Stockars, Figure 8s.

June 3--NASCAR Late Models Twin 40s, Super Stock, Grand American Modifieds, Formula Mazda, Figure 8s; 10--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Spec Trucks, Legends Cars; 17--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, Speed Trucks, Mini Stocks, Figure 8s; 24--NASCAR Home Depot Winston West 250, Super Late Models.

July 1--NASCAR Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Super Stocks, Legends Cars, Figure 8s, and Fireworks Show; 8--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Spec Trucks, T.Q. Midgets, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds; 15--NASCAR Late Models Twin 40s, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Legends Cars, Mini Stock cars, Figure 8s; 22--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Speed Trucks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds; 29--NASCAR Home Depot Southwest Series, Late Models, Super Stocks.

Perris Auto Speedway

Through March 26

SCRA Sprint Cars

1. Richard Griffin, Silver City, N.M.330

2. J.J. Yeley, Phoenix265

3. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda252

4. Mike English, Norwalk246

5. Tony Jones, Corona239

6. Brad Noffsinger, Concord, NC239

7. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix227

8. Steve Ostling, Corona212

9. Rodney Argo, Hawthorne202