FONTANA NOTEBOOK: CART PICKS UP ONE, FOR NOW.

Byline: Louis Brewster Staff Writer

FONTANA - One's staying, many to follow?

Adrian Fernandez, sidelined for Sunday's CART FedEx Championship Series Toyota 500 at California Speedway with two thoracic fractures, announced he has committed to the open-wheel series for the next two years. It was the first official announcement by a team for the 2003 season.

And, according to Chris Pook, CART's CEO and president, that won't be the last announcement. He had previously stated there would be 18 cars in the series next year, perhaps 20, with a maximum of 22.

Pook said there will be announcements within the next two weeks involving a U.S. and European one-car team.

``We have a lot of activity going on behind the scenes,'' Pook said. ``We are totally confident of the number. There is no sense of urgency. You have to take it a step at a time and build it properly.''

Pook also took the opportunity to address recent reports of his conversation with Formula One boss Bernie Eccelstone. Pook and CART have been fighting rumors that Eccelstone wants to take control of CART and turn it into a developmental series.

``One more time: He's a good friend; he's in the open-wheel motor racing business, we're in the open-wheel motoring racing business,'' Pook said. ``I want drivers to go up to Formula One, and if he has old drivers that want to come back down here, we're delighted to take them. It would be silly for two guys in the same business not to talk.

``But what we talk about is our business.''

Fernandez, who said he'll run a one-car operation but will explore the possibility of a second, said he made the announcement to clear the air. Reports he was switching to the Indy Racing League, he said, were hurting ticket sales for the Nov. 19 race in Mexico City, his hometown.

``I am not going to say that everything is perfect at the moment,'' said Fernandez, winner of the 1999 race at Fontana. ``But the series is on the mend and on the upswing. I think CART has a combination that will be successful for many years.''

--Fast practice: Alex Tagliani, who put his Player's/Forsythe Racing Reynard on the pole last year, posted the fastest speed after two practice sessions. The field will get one more practice before qualifying for the pole at 11:30 a.m. today.

Tagliani ran 233.726 mph in the afternoon session, edging the 232.988 registered by Jimmy Vasser. Tony Kanaan had the third-fastest run of the day, 232.891 in the morning session.

``There was a tow involved in my lap for sure,'' Tagliani said. ``We were working with the downforce throughout the session and were pretty trimmed. I think the times were representative of how we'll do in the race.''

Vasser said his team had ``piles of junk'' after a first-lap crash in Australia but credited his crew for getting the Ford Lola ready.

``I wasn't happy with the car this morning, but it got better in the afternoon,'' the 1998 Fontana winner said. ``Team Rahal has a good record on superspeedways over the years and they were ready to go today.''

Kanaan said his Mo Nunn Racing team was looking to Sunday's race rather than qualifying.

``It's obviously a long race,'' Kanaan said. ``I'm not too worried about qualifying or anything like that. We're just working on having a good race car. The car has a little too much understeer in traffic, but there are ways to work that out and that's what we'll be working on."

--Pit champions: For the second consecutive year, Team Rahal walked off with top honors in the Craftsman Pit Crew Challenge. Vasser's Shell crew, on top of the standings all year, posted a time of 35.042 seconds to beat four other teams and win $50,000, plus bragging rights.

``The stop was pretty flawless and we were happy for that,'' crew chief Bharat Naran said. ``We have a good group of guys that really work hard at it. They really want to be the best and that makes for a good team.''

The Newman-Haas team for driver Cristiano da Matta was second in 35.282, followed by teammate Christian Fittipaldi (35.920), Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Bruno Junqueira (36.459) and Tagliani (37.475).

``We didn't add fuel, and that's our strongest asset,'' Vasser said. ``We would have been way out in front if we would have added fuel.''

--New schedule: Although the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule has been leaked in bits and pieces by various tracks the past month, the official version was released Friday with some major changes.

While the CTS stop at Fontana was the season finale for three years, the 2003 race will be the 19th in the 25-race season, sandwiched between New Hampshire (Sept. 13) and Las Vegas (Sept. 27). The trucks will run Sept. 20 next year, the companion race to the Indy Racing League's 400-mile event.

Two tracks that were part of the inaugural CTS season in 1995 are back on the schedule. The series will return to Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield on March 23 and Aug. 20 to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Lowe's Motor Speedway (near Charlotte, N.C.) will join the series next year and a second race has been added at Martinsville, Va.

Nearly half of the truck races will be run in conjunction with either NASCAR Winston Cup and/or Busch Grand National, and all races will be televised on SpeedChannel.

--Closing it out: Brendan Gaughan is putting the education he received at Georgetown University to good use these days trying to secure sponsorships for 2003. The Orleans Racing team is hunting for a primary sponsor after losing NAPA.

``I went to college for a lot of reasons," said Gaughan, who played on the 1984 national championship basketball team. ``I think I'm good in the corporate board room, I think I'm good talking with sponsors. I enjoy doing those kind of things. But do I want to do it full-time? No.''

Gaughan, who said race sponsor American Racing Wheels would step up its program with his team next year, said it's easy getting out the door.

``The hard part is closing the deal,'' Gaughan said. ``Am I a good closer? Well, I'm no (Dennis) Eckersley.''

But judging from the number of decals on his Chevrolet truck, he hasn't blown too many opportunities.

--Starr test: David Starr, whose victory in the CTS race in Las Vegas two weeks ago was the first in 66 starts, will test an Indy Racing League car in two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway for fellow Texan A.J. Foyt.

``A.J.'s a good friend of mine,'' said Starr, driver of the Spears Chevrolet. ``It's not that I'm interested in being in CART or the IRL. But I saw the last couple of IRL races where they were side-by-side, three to four rows deep, going 225 mph. That's pretty big.

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CART driver Adrian Fernandez announced Friday he will be staying with the racing series for the next two years, giving CART a huge boost against its recent struggles.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer