MOTORSPORTS

HEEL BITERS

To stay in front, top teams need to watch their backs.

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In order to have an occasional crack at the Goliaths, the Davids of the racing world need to stay within slingshot range. That can be a tall order when the best teams outspend underdogs by a wide margin. But here's how three upstarts are giving themselves a fighting chance to close the gap.

FORMULA ONE | BMW/SAUBER
Even before driver Robert Kubica scored his upset victory in Montreal, it was obvious that the Beemers were the only outsider team that could even see the Ferraris and McLarens at the finish. Kubica needed an unlikely Pit Road accident to set up his first career victory, and he knows that in a fair fight his car can't keep up. "You need to have pace and performance, which are not easy to have," says the Polish up-and-comer. But BMW Sauber technical director Willy Rampf says the success is no accident: "In the past year, we've increased our head count and budget, which has enabled us to increase our wind tunnel operations to three shifts, six days a week. We're getting closer to the front-runners."

INDY RACING LEAGUE | NEWMAN/HAAS/LANIGAN RACING
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing won four straight Champ Car crowns, but the IRL merger has left even the top newcomers a lap down to vets Ganassi, Penske and Andretti Green. "It was sweet to be the first transitioning team to win," says Graham Rahal, who did so on the St. Petersburg street course. "But it's going to be difficult even next year. IRL teams have had this car for five years; we've had it for four months." The key is testing, and no one will benefit more from seat time than Rahal and NHLR teammate Justin Wilson, a duo who began the year with fewer oval laps than any other team. Says GM Brad Lisles,"It'll probably take us two or three years to build that knowledge base."

NASCAR | RED BULL RACING
NASCAR's Big Three of Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs account for 80% of the Cup wins since the start of 2007, and they've claimed the past eight championships. But Brian Vickers, who left Hendrick to drive a Toyota this season for Red Bull, has three top-five finishes so far. He credits his fledgling team's abbreviated learning curve to new GM Jay Frye, a Rick Hendrick disciple. "Jay's mentality is, If it's broke, then fix it," Vickers says. That meant throwing out Red Bull's F1 business model and giving more responsibility to the team's competition director, technical director and chief fabricator. "Those top teams have consistency; they operate like a machine," Frye says. "We need to get to that point." Of course, having Red Bull's cash to build a better slingshot doesn't hurt either.

REALITY CHECK

WHEN THE NHRA WAS BORN, in 1951, "Dedicated to Safety" wasn't just its clever slogan but a credo to remind hot-rodders that they had a safe place to nail the throttle. Now, though, following the death of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, whose machine broke apart at Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., on June 21, the NHRA faces questions about the safety of its own tracks.

Considering that Top Fuel and Funny Cars routinely rocket through the quarter at 330 mph in about four seconds, it's not so surprising that four drivers—two in each series—have lost their lives at NHRA venues since 1996. Thing is, many tracks were built when race cars ran at half that speed. And residential and commercial development, along with noise regulations and town bylaws, have limited renovation.

"At the speed he was going, I don't know if anything would have saved his life," says Funny Car vet Tim Wilkerson. "But there needs to be standards. And this place is below them." Top Fuel's Bob Vandergriff Jr. is also critical of the E-town facility: "The only dangerous thing the Englishtown shutdown area was missing was a lake full of sharks."

Of course, it's unfair to blame only the facilities, as the shutdown area is just one element of the crash being investigated by the NHRA—including engine failure, parachute materials, brakes and even the speed of the nitro-fueled dragster. "If changes are needed to make the sport safer, we implement them once we're sure they will achieve our goals," says Graham Light, VP of racing operations for the NHRA.

Still, it all boils down to one question: Has the world's fastest motorsport become too fast for its own good?

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