25 Years Ago: July 1999

Editor’s Note: Each month in recognition of SPEED SPORT’s 90th anniversary, the SPEED SPORT Insider will use the National Speed Sport News archives to look back at what happened in the racing world 25 years ago.

Tony Does Not Share Bruton’s Love of Fenders

Bruton Smith wields a lot of power in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, as four of his Speedway Motorsports Inc. race tracks host five of the 11 races on the IRL schedule. Smith is using that power to try to force the IRL to drastically change its open-wheel race cars by enclosing the wheels in the interest of safety and car identification purposes.

It was at one of Smith’s tracks — Charlotte Motor Speedway — that three fans were killed and eight injured when a loose wheel from a crash was hit by another race car and launched into the stands.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway President and IRL founder Tony George and IRL Executive Director Leo Mehl confirmed they met with Smith before the Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

However, George and Mehl said it is unlikely they will adopt Smith’s idea on fenders, even if it means the loss of race dates.

“My gut feeling is we’ll get this all worked out with Bruton, but we may lose one of his race dates,” Mehl said. “Bruton loves challenges. He wants to discuss that, so we’ll do that.

“We’re talking to Bruton. I’ll tell him tomorrow what our opinion is on this subject. This is motivated by the fact that he watches us race and it is pretty exciting. He just doesn’t understand why we aren’t filling up his stadiums. Then you add the issue of the disaster of Charlotte and he thinks that might help that situation.”

Mehl did describe Saturday’s meeting as “100-percent positive.

“We straightened a lot of things out and talked about where and when we are going to race next year,” Mehl said. “We just hadn’t had a chance to talk for a while, so everything is cool. I was happy with that.”

Other News

-Cleveland Goes IRL: Officials from International Management Group, the Indy Racing League and the city of Cleveland put a new face on the 18-year-old Grand Prix of Cleveland by announcing that the Indy Racing League will take over sanctioning of the Burke Lakefront Airport event in 2000.

Flemington’s Future: The end may be near for one of the nation’s most historic race tracks. Flemington (N.J.) Speedway promoter and majority stockholder, Paul Kuhl, reported the track’s owners have asked to have the half-mile square-shaped paved track rezoned from industrial to commercial. Flemington Speedway is located in a growing commercial development area along Route 31 in the Garden State.

-Winston Showdown: The showdown is set. Now who will lay claim to the title, Top Fuel or Funny Car drivers? The best and brightest of the National Hot Rod Ass’n Winston Drag Racing circuit will compete in the inaugural Winston Showdown July 8-10 at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway. The event marks the halfway point of the NHRA season and the 25th anniversary of the partnership between Winston and the NHRA.

Big Winners

-Kanaan Breaks Through: Max Papis and Tony Kanaan were two young lions in search of their first CART FedEx Championship victory in the U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway. Kanaan ended up in victory circle, while Papis’ only victory was of the moral kind. Papis dominated the second half of the race, but the Team Rahal car ran out of fuel on the 250^th and final lap. Kanaan zoomed past and held off a charging Juan Montoya by .032 seconds.

-Sammy’s King’s Royal: It may have been one of the most dominating performances in sprint car racing history as Sammy Swindell romped to his second King’s Royal victory in the 16th annual event at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. Swindell lapped all but the top six finishers and finished three quarters of a lap ahead of runner-up Steve Kinser.

-Millen Wins, Misses Mark:

Four-time defending champion Rod Millen believed he could eclipse the 10-minute barrier in the Pikes Peak Int’l Hill Climb. Millen won the overall and unlimited class title, but failed to break the 10-minute mark, completing the 12.42-mile run up the mountain in 10 minutes, 11.15 seconds in his winged, turbocharged Toyota Tacoma.

Jarrett Rules Daytona: Only three caution flags slowed the running of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona Int’l Speedway. Unfortunately, the final yellow flag caused the 41st annual event to end at a reduced pace, handing Winston Cup point leader Dale Jarrett an anti-climactic third victory of the season.

The Advertising Department

-Toyota Racing Development placed this full-page ad on the back cover of the July 7, 1999 issue of National Speed Sport News.

THIS ARTICLE IS REPOSTED FROM THE July 24 EDITION OF <a href=”https://speedsportinsider.com”>SPEED SPORT INSIDER</a>
<a href=”https://speedsportinsider.com”>SPEED SPORT Insider</a> is the ad-free premium extension of SPEEDSPORT.com. Insider is dedicated to the best and brightest in motorsports journalism – created by the best writers, photographers and reporters in the business. From veteran Hall of Fame writers like Bones Bourcier, Dave Argabright, Pat Sullivan, Keith Waltz, Ralph Sheheen and Editor in Chief Mike Kerchner, to behind the scenes SPEED SPORT reporters such as David Hoffman, Nathan Solomon and more.
<a href=”https://speedsportinsider.com/subscribe-or-manage-your-account/”>By subscribing to Insider,</a> you not only get exclusive access to this premium content, but you support the journalists that are vital to telling the stories that matter most. Subscriptions are just $5/mo or $44.95 for an entire year. <a href=”https://speedsportinsider.com/subscribe-or-manage-your-account/”> View plans and details.</a>
<a href=”https://speedsportinsider.memberful.com/checkout?plan=87510&coupon=INSIDER2024″>SPECIAL OFFER! Subscribe now with this link and save $5.00!</a>
<a href=”https://www.speedsport.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2023/06/13/INSIDER-LOGO-new.png”><img class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-429736″ src=”https://www.speedsport.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2023/06/13/INSIDER-LOGO-new-300×82.png” alt=”Insider Logo New” width=”300″ height=”82″ /></a>