Brazilians eager for home fans

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2000

Helio Castro-Neves can't wait to hear the roar Brazilian fans reserve for their native sons. It may just help him win Sunday's Rio 200.

"In soccer here, they say the fans are an extra player when they start cheering and help the team to win the games," said Castro-Neves, who was born in Sao Paulo. "I hope they are going to be the extra driver as well."

Fan loyalties likely will be divided, however. Nine Brazilian drivers are entered in the CART race at Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway. The others: Tony Kanaan, Christian Fittipaldi, Roberto Moreno, Mauricio Gugelmin, Luiz Garcia Jr., Gaulter Salles, Christian de Matta and Gil de Ferran, who was born in Paris but is a Brazilian national.

Kanaan, from Salvador Bahia, knows how loud the fans can get. He said of his qualifying run for the 1998 race, "I could actually hear the roar of the crowd building as I was making my way around the track. Even though hundreds of horsepower were screaming away behind me, somehow the roar of the crowd got through. It was very exciting."

It was exciting for Christian Fittipaldi, who earned his first pole for last year's race. "Brazilian fans are pretty fanatic about racing," the Sao Paulo native said. "Scoring my first pole here was a huge excitement."

Kanaan can't wait for it to get started. "Wouldn't it be great if we could bring home our first podium finish, even our first win, down here?" he said. "It would be the kick in the pants we've all been working so hard for."

FIRST IN LINE: Mark Martin enters Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 500 at Fontana, Calif., on top of the Winston Cup standings, 24 points ahead of Bobby Labonte.

"This year we had an advantage since we came out of the Daytona 500 with a top-five finish," said Martin, who was fifth. "The previous three years we had to dig ourselves out of a hole after Daytona."

Martin has run well on California Speedway's 2-mile oval. He battled Jeff Gordon in the 1997 inaugural race before running out of gas. He won in '98 and blew an engine last season with 54 laps remaining in a Gordon victory.

MORE WINSTON CUP: NASCAR is expected to announce soon that new tracks in the Kansas City and the Chicago areas will get races next season. With no tracks expected to lose races, the 2001 schedule will have 36 events.

Counting the Bud Shootout and The Winston all-star race 2001 will have 38 weekends of racing over 41 weeks. It will be the longest Winston Cup season since 1971, when 48 races were run.

MAYFIELD INVESTIGATION: NASCAR is investigating the No. 12 Ford Jeremy Mayfield drove at Talladega on April16. NASCAR acknowledged the inquiry to the Charlotte Observer but would not comment on its results or possible penalties. The Observer said the investigation is believed to involve possible fuel irregularities.

FOYT CONTINUES SHAKEUP: A.J. Foyt fired general manager Waddell Wilson and replaced him with Tommy LaMance. Foyt also announced the hiring of engine builder David Evans, his third hire from Hedrick Motorsports in less than a month, following driver Rick Mast and crew chief Phillipe Lopez. Hedrick Motorsports will not run the No. 41 Chevrolet this week to regroup.

ODDS AND ENDS: Melling Racing has given up the No. 9 used by Stacey Compton so Bill Elliott can use it next season when he drives for Ray Evernham. Go to http://www.mellingracing.com to guess the team's new number. A drawing of correct guesses will award two prizes: a driving school trip and an honorary pit crew membership for the August race in Michigan.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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