Fittipaldi

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Christian Fittipaldi could be a trendsetter.

The Brazilian driver, a star in the struggling CART Champ car series, will make his first Winston Cup start Sunday in the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Fittipaldi comes from an open-wheel heritage, the son of former Formula One driver Wilson Fittipaldi and the nephew of F1 champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi.

He began the transition last year, racing in a NASCAR Busch Series event in Homestead, Fla., where he crashed and finished 39th after driving just over halfway.

This year, getting into stock cars only sporadically as he ran the full CART season, Fittipaldi finished 35th and 43rd in his only Busch starts.

Despite his lack of experience in cars with roofs, Petty Enterprises hired Fittipaldi, planning to run him in a combination of ARCA, Busch and Winston Cup races in 2003. Driver changes in Petty's No. 44 Dodge prompted team boss Kyle Petty to give Fittipaldi an unexpected shot at a Cup race during an off weekend between the last two CART races of the season.

The 31-year-old driver responded by qualifying 17th Friday, ahead of a number of drivers with a lot more experience.

"I'm happy to qualify this way for my first race,'' Fittipaldi said. "Jumping from one car to another isn't helping a lot.''

Some success here by Fittipaldi could herald the beginning of a steady flow of open-wheel drivers to the Winston Cup garages.

Max Papis and Jimmy Vasser, both without open-wheel rides for 2003, have been making the rounds, sounding out NASCAR team owners.

Papis, an Italian driver who lost his CART ride early this season when his team ran out of money, said he is scheduled for a test drive with an unnamed team after the season is over.

"I'm happy for Christian,'' Papis said. "He did a very good job in qualifying, especially with so little time in the car. If he does well (on Sunday), he could open the door for a lot of us."

Driving force
Golfer Rich Beem joined driver Ken Schrader in the infield of Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday to share some driving tips.

Schrader took Beem around the 1-mile oval for three laps in a pace car. Beem, the reigning PGA champion, then helped Schrader with his swing as the two hit some golf balls from inside Turn 3 onto the adjoining hillside.

"I have no golfing skills,'' said Schrader, who got only one ball over the track as Beem's drives soared far up the hill. "So, I think I'll stop and watch now.''

Beem doesn't have any illusions about being a race driver, either.

"We got out there in the pace car and Kenny was telling me how (fast) the race car would be going on the track,'' Beem said. "We were doing about 65 (mph) and I was like, 'OK, I think that's fast enough for me.'

"My nickname would be crash. I'd crash in the first turn so I wouldn't have to drive the whole race.''

Schrader, who shares a sponsorship from Masterfoods USA with the golfer, said he has gained a new appreciation for professional golfers after being with Beem.

"I really don't know how he does it out there,'' Schrader said. "It's just him and the golf ball. At least if something happens in a race, we have about 50 different things we can blame it on.''

Hope springs eternal
Pole-winner Ryan Newman is an optimist. Trailing series leader Tony Stewart by 225 points with two races remaining, he still feels as though he's racing for a championship.

Newman, driving a Ford for Penske Racing South, is fourth in the season standings. A more realistic goal might be passing fellow rookie Jimmie Johnson for third place -- even catching second-place Mark Martin, who is 138 points ahead.

"I'm a math kind of guy,'' said Newman, who received an engineering degree from Purdue University. "As long as there's mathematically a chance, we're still in it.

"Nothing is impossible. When the checkered flag waves (next week) at Homestead, we'll sit down and talk about all that stuff. But, to me, we'll just keep doing the things we've been doing.''

Spark plugs
Newman has been the highest qualifying rookie in nine of the last 11 races where the lineup was not determined by points because of rain. Sunday will be Newman's 25th top-10 start in 35 races this season. ... Owner-driver Brett Bodine failed to qualify for three races this season, including Sunday, and has not had a finish better than 13th, which came in April in Talladega. ... The Winston Cup point fund of $14 million is spread over the top 25 in the final standings, with $3.75 million to the champion, $1.44 million to the runner-up and $1.05 million for third place. The 25th-place finisher receives $100,000.