BIG NAMES MAKING INDY A BIG DEAL AGAIN.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

This year's edition of the Indianapolis 500 is looking like the auto racing version of the Hokey Pokey.

Jimmy Vasser is in;

Tony Stewart is out;

Tony Kanaan is in;

And you shake 'em all about.

Vasser and Kanaan, both drivers on the Championship Auto Racing Teams circuit, will try to make the field of 33 in May for the rival Indy Racing League's jewel race.

Stewart, a NASCAR Winston Cup title contender and former Indy Racing League champ, has decided to focus on his stock-car season rather than attempt to race the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, as he did in 1999 and 2001.

As more and more quality drivers add their names to the entrants' list, the more important this race becomes. Not so long ago, the list of drivers not competing was more interesting than the list of those who were. This year, Stewart's name is one of only a handful of drivers who should be at this race but won't.

``Running Indy again is something I've put a lot of thought into, but when it came right down to it, the long-term goal of winning the Winston Cup championship won out,'' said Stewart, who drives the No. 20 Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing and had offers from car owners Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske to race in the Indy 500.

Another driver who isn't racing at Indy but probably should be is CART driver/owner Adrian Fernandez. Given Fernandez's record on ovals in CART and his connections in the sport, he could have found a seat at Indianapolis.

Instead, Fernandez, who was the CART runner-up two years ago and a Marlboro 500 winner at California Speedway, has decided to focus on his two-car team, the series' next race at Long Beach and work on entering the field for Indy in 2003.

``Having Fernandez Racing so young and getting it into a huge project like that, it's just stupid,'' Fernandez said. ``My sponsor would be like, 'What the hell are you thinking?' Right now, it's so expensive.''

Although Stewart and Fernandez have their reasons for not wanting to compete at Indy, the field of drivers, especially those from CART, have found more and more reasons to be a part of the greatest spectacle in motor sports.

Kanaan, who drives for Mo Nunn Racing in CART, will join his IRL counterpart and 2001 rookie of the year Felipe Giaffone as a two-driver team at Indy. Kanaan, who is looking for his first win for Mo Nunn Racing, is the latest CART driver to enter the Indy fray. Others include Kenny Brack, Dario Franchiti and Paul Tracy.

``I owe them a lot of things since I joined the team. I still owe them a victory,'' Kanaan said in reference to his owner, Morris Nunn, and his sponsor, Hollywood cigarettes. ``I can't think of a better place to do that than my first Indy 500. It's a race I've had my eye on since I was born.''

--Fittipaldi likes NASCAR: It's hardly a secret that Christian Fittipaldi, one of the drivers for Newman-Haas Racing who will be competing in next weekend's Long Beach Grand Prix, has an interest in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Division.

The Brazilian driver raced in the Busch series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway at the end of last season. After the CART season opener last month in Monterrey, Mexico, Fittipaldi caught a flight to Tennessee to test a Busch car at Bristol Motor Speedway.

But Fittipaldi, who finished third in the Monterrey Grand Prix, isn't about to leave CART for NASCAR - at least not any time soon.

``Instead of going by what everyone says - NASCAR is this, NASCAR is that - I wanted to try and take a peek over there,'' Fittipaldi said. ``As I said before, all my efforts are on like the CART series and trying to do a great job this year. But at the same time, I wanted to try and understand that form of motor racing, understand how everything works, see eventually if there's a good opportunity for me in the future, if I really like what I am experiencing this year, maybe it could be a way to go.

``But right now, if you ask me, 'Is Christian next year going to be racing NASCAR?' No, I don't think so. Christian is not going to be racing NASCAR. I really enjoy the types of cars that I race. I get a big thrill when I'm driving them. I'm using my Busch races as more of a learning curve for me and really understand how the sport is over there instead of taking a dive with no experience.''

THIS WEEKEND'S RACES

NASCAR

WINSTON CUP

Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Site: Fort Worth, Texas 

Schedule: Today, qualifying, (Fox Sports Net, 1 p.m.); Sunday, race (Fox, 10:30 a.m.)

Track: Texas Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns)

Race distance: 500 miles, 334 laps

Last race: Kurt Busch took the lead after tapping the rear end of Jimmy Spencer's Dodge with 55 laps to go and held on to win the Food City 500 at Bristol on March 24. It was Busch's first victory in 48 career Winston Cup starts.

Fast facts: This is the sixth year of the event. ... Dale Earnhardt earned his first victory as a car owner when Dale Jr. won in 2000. Earnhardt Jr. enters the race with three consecutive top-four finishes. ... Jeff Gordon has not recorded a top-five finish since winning at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 30. The drought spans 14 races. ... Terry Labonte owns the track record for fastest winning speed with 144.26 mph in 1999.

Next race: Virginia 500, April 14, Martinsville, Va.

On the net: www.nascar.com

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL

O'Reilly 300

Site: Fort Worth, Texas

Schedule: Saturday, race (Fox, 11 a.m.)

Track: Texas Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns)

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION 

SummitRacing.com Nationals

Site: Las Vegas

Schedule: Today, qualifying, 2 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying (ESPN2, 5 p.m., tape); Sunday, eliminations, (ESPN2, 7 p.m., tape)

Track: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway 

On the net: www.nhra.com

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THIS WEEKEND'S RACES (see text)