Criticism Of Texas Track Cools

Talk around the Winston Cup garage area two weeks ago at Darlington was that drivers weren’t too thrilled about the new 1.5-mile tri-oval at Texas Motor Speedway, where they will race for the first time Sunday.

Chat with the drivers now, though, and the word is different about the new track with compound bankings and a double dogleg on the front stretch, similar to the one at sister track Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I don’t think the track has any problems as much as it’s just a little tight racing off Turn 4 and tight getting into Turn 1,” said Dale Earnhardt, who supposedly was one of the least pleased after recent tests at the new track.

“It’s a great facility,” he added. “It’s no more unsafe than any other race track. Everybody runs a risk of a safety factor when you go racing. I’ve never said it’s unsafe. It’s a great race track. It’s just going to be a one-groove race track.”

Revs up

The season-opening Formula One victory by McLaren’s David Coulthard in Australia last month gave Mercedes-Benz a big boost, and not just in F1.

Mercedes, which furnishes engines for several CART Indy-car teams, used some of the knowledge gained in the Melbourne victory to help prepare its competitors for this Sunday’s Sunbelt IndyCarnival Australia in Surfers Paradise.

“There is no substitute for confidence in competition,” said Hal Whiteford, vice president of operations for Mercedes-Benz of North America. “David Coulthard and the McLaren-Mercedes team have revalidated our past successes and reminded us of our reasons for confidence.”

The result has been a new electronic engine calibration created through a cooperative effort by technicians from Mercedes and Ilmor Engineering, improving the Indy engine’s torque and drivability.

Video star

Kenny Irwin Jr.’s Ford F-150 is a co-star in country singer Alan Jackson’s latest music video.

Jackson and his band filmed it last week at Concord, N.C., Motorsports Park for his latest release, “Who’s Cheatin’ Who,” which is set to debut Monday.

NASCAR Winston Cup stars Rusty Wallace and Ernie Irvan are also featured in the video, which has Jackson’s band members costumed in Raybestos pit crew uniforms and Jackson driving Irwin’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry.

Fast start

Alain Prost, one of the great Formula One racers, is off to a fast start as a team owner.

French driver Olivier Panis has given the Prost Mugen Honda team finishes in the points in each of the first two races, coming in third in the season opener in Australia and adding a fifth-place finish on Sunday in Brazil.

Prost, who bought the team during the off-season, said he felt “unbelievable pressure” the first time his cars pulled out of the garage.

“I’m already involved in everything,” he said. “It’s a little bit tiring because I want to be everywhere, but I think it’s the way I should do it, especially at the beginning.”’

Visiting dignitaries

Terry Labonte, the 1996 Winston Cup Series champion, and Randy LaJoie, the 1996 Busch Grand National champion, visited the Texas state capitol on Tuesday, touting the inaugural Interstate Batteries 500 Sunday in Fort Worth.

“Our sport is expanding into new markets and it’s great that NASCAR has targeted Dallas-Fort Worth,” said Labonte, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas. “The Texas Motor Speedway is a first-class facility. I’m pretty proud to be from Texas. Everything is big in Texas and they built a big, beautiful race track out there.”

Lawmakers passed a resolution honoring LaJoie and Labonte, who won his second Winston Cup championship last year.

The Busch Series will feature the Coca-Cola 300 on Saturday.