‘Pit Bull’ Tackles Pitfalls, Pit Stops

John deVries, self-styled “pit bull of the Indy Racing League,” was beginning to discuss his childhood days in Newport Beach with a reporter when the phone rang in his California Speedway garage.

“It’s Spree,” said the bald 36-year-old IRL driver. “He calls after every practice session, wanting to know how we did. He’s really into racing.”

Spree is Latrell Sprewell, the New York Knick forward, whose Sprewell Motorsports is part owner of the Pit Bull-Rhino Racing team for whom DeVries drives.

DeVries’ top speed of 215.673 mph in his No. 37 Dallara-Chevrolet during the first round of practice for Sunday’s Yamaha Indy 400 was 27th fastest of 32 cars that appeared on the two-mile oval Friday.

DeVries, who dabbled in karts as a teenager in Huntington Beach and did not begin racing until he was past 30 and living in Australia, may be one of the least experienced drivers planning to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He first sat in an IRL car on Jan. 31, passed his driver’s test in February and drove his first race March 2 at Homestead, Fla.

“Sounds kind of gutsy, doesn’t it?” he said with a grin. “Well, I’m a gutsy guy. I told Spree and [team manager] Cecil Hsu that if they put the right car under me, I could put the car where it needed to be.”

Television viewers who watched the IRL race in Phoenix last Sunday may remember DeVries as the driver whose car careened out of control in the second turn and slid through a fence opening into the spectator area, where it slammed into an infield wall.

“Thank God I didn’t hit anyone,” said the 5-foot-8, 200-pound De- Vries.

Todd and Teri Brayton of the racing Brayton family of Coldwater, Mich., bought Tri-Star Motorsports’ equipment last year, and with engines built by Lee Brayton, Todd’s father, decided to join the IRL and get back to Indy.

A Brayton-built engine powered Eddie Cheever’s winning car in the 1998 Indianapolis 500.

Scott Brayton, Todd’s brother, drove in 14 Indy races and was on the pole for the 1996 Indy race but was killed while practicing at the speedway.

The merger of DeVries, Sprewell and the Braytons came about through Hsu, who works with Sprewell at the basketball player’s automotive specialty shop in San Gabriel.

“I had been in Australia for four years, racing in Formula Ford and Formula Holden series, when I came back in ’99 and started looking for a ride,” DeVries said. “I was a stockholder in Hip Hop Beverage Co. [makers of Pit Bull energy drink] and when I heard the Braytons were building a new team, an acquaintance arranged for me to test for them.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I told my mother I wanted to drive in the Indy 500 and whatever I put my mind to, I accomplish. So when an opportunity to test an Indy car came, I was ready, even though I had never even sat in one before. I took my rookie test at California Speedway in a terrible wind, but I worked my way up to 217 [mph] and passed with no problems.”

DeVries is a late bloomer because when he was younger, he was busy building a Subway sandwich shop empire. He opened his first shop in Corona when he was 19 and before leaving for Australia in 1994, he had Subways through the Coachella Valley.

“I went to Australia to develop some Subway business and for recreation I started racing,” he said. “When I wasn’t racing, I did a lot of test driving.”

In 1998, he won the Silver Star championship in the Formula Holden series, in which one of his competitors was Scott Dixon, the New Zealander who is driving this year in CART. DeVries still owns several restaurants in Australia, a cosmetic company and an ATM business.

Sprewell is the latest in a number of professional athletes who have become involved in racing.

“One of Latrell’s dreams is to be involved with motorsports at its highest level,” said Hsu. “By fielding a vehicle to compete in the Indy 500, he fulfills that dream.

“He also feels that his presence in the IRL--he plans to be at every race once the NBA season is over--could also spark interest in other players in the NBA, which might start a snowball effect with the IRL emerging as the victors.”

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Today’s Schedule

at California Speedway, Fontana

7 a.m.--Gates open

9 a.m.--IRL practice

10:15 a.m.--Ferrari Challenge race

11 a.m.--IRL qualifying

12:30 p.m.--Rolex Series

4:30 p.m.--IRL practice