IN SIGHT Juan Pablo Montoya sits in the new Williams BMW, a car he'll drive in '04 before leaving teammate Ralf Schumacher for Team McLaren. FOCUS: BILL ELLIOTT Since we've been running our offseason driver spotlights, no driver in any series has generated the number of user comments we've received for Bill Elliott. His popularity is well-documented, and it seems fans remain more interested in Elliott, even in a mostly retired state, than they do in any other driver. At NASCAR's awards banquet in Manhattan, where Elliott announced he would run a very limited schedule in '04 and focus on tutoring young Kasey Kahne, it was clear Elliott was unsure what to expect next. "I'm going in a different direction," he said wistfully. "We'll see what happens. I'm just glad to have made it, to come this far." For three decades, Elliott has been a fixture in NASCAR racing. He says he'll probably run several Busch Series and Craftsman Truck series races next year, but his fans are divided about what to make of his planned 12-15 drives in Nextel Cup. We've seen a roughly equal mix of fans who believe he'll win one or more of those Cup races next year and fans who believe a part-time schedule will make it difficult to win again and wish he had retired fully. Some also have expressed concern for Elliott's safety, not wanting to see him injured in his partial-season farewell. We're not entirely sure what to make of Elliott's part-time plan, either, but one thing is certain: Everyone still has an eye on Awesome Bill from Dawsonville. They both got their starts in go-karting, racking up titles and turning heads at a time when most kids are focused on learning their multiplication tables. Now in their mid-20's, Bruno Junqueira and Sam Hornish Jr. have something else in common: They are favorites to win titles in their respective open-wheel series in 2004. Both are blessed with the acknowledged top teams in their series, Junqueira with Newman/Haas in Champ Cars and Hornish with Team Penske in the IRL, and '04 should find both reveling often on the victor's podium. If not for a mishap in Miami that saw him tag Adrian Fernandez, Junqueira might have been able to keep Paul Tracy from winning his first CART title last season. Junqueira, who is from Brazil but recently moved from Indianapolis to Miami, won't have to worry about a Miami mishap next year -- Open Wheel Racing Series did not buy the Miami contract when it scooped up most of CART's assets in a buyout that still must pass through bankruptcy court. The former South American F3 and international F3000 champ showed last year why the Williams BMW team used him as an F1 test driver, and why Chip Ganassi originally brought him to Champ Cars three years ago. He had two victories and 12 top fives last year to finish second overall to Tracy. As for Hornish, expect the switch from Panther Racing to Team Penske to make the two-time IRL champ tougher than ever to compete against. If not for running with a clearly underpowered engine for the first half of last season, Hornish probably would have made it three straight series titles. Get used to seeing the newly clean-shaven star from Defiance, Ohio, putting Penske's famous red-and-white machines (teammate Helio Castroneves will be strong again) ahead of the IRL pack. And look out for the very real possibility that Junqueira and Hornish, while entrenched on opposite sides of the open-wheel battle in America, could square off against each other next May at Indy. After all, Junqueira has tested an IRL chassis for Newman-Haas, and "Junky" finished fifth as a rookie at Indy in 2001. At Gas and Go, the idea of Newman-Haas and Penske battling again at Indy in May keeps us warm in these cold times. MAILBAG

I'm disappointed to hear that the IRL is slowing the cars down. I'm sorry but the sport is racing! This means going as fast as you can as long as you can! Is it dangerous? Yes, but that's the danger of the job!! I do not want to see any one get hurt but come on you are paid millions of dollars to do a job! Nascar needs to get rid of the restrictor plates and let them race! If I'm paying out the rear end to see a race I want to see speed!!! It's always been about who can get to the finish line the quickest! If you are afraid of the speed, then get out of the business. Darrin Cook Thorntown, Ind. Darrin, you raise a point that always remains a hot topic among race fans. But we all know the cycle: Sanctioning bodies periodically slow the cars down for safety reasons, and then engineers and mechanics burn the midnight oil to make the cars faster again given the new set of rules. This is all that's happening. But more to the point, the IRL needed to respond to a disturbing trend of cars getting airborne, and slowing the cars is one step they've announced toward that end. We expect to hear more soon on the aerodynamic issue. It's not wise, in our opinion, to fault a series for striving to protect fans and drivers from harm. You may disagree about the chosen method, but the fact is that you will still see speed out on the track. With any luck, fans in the stands and those racers who still are risking a lot for their handsome paychecks will be safer next season. Got your own questions about what's happening in the pits? Ask away, and we'll answer a question or two in the next Gas&Go. Name: E-mail address: City, state: Your comment: OVERHEARD Eddie Cheever On Alex Barron and Ed Carpenter: "Not only are we expanding to a two-car team, we're doing it with two of the best American open-wheel drivers out there." Bill Elliott On his partial '04 race schedule: "I'll be around. (Other drivers) won't even know anything's changed. They'll get sick of me just like they get sick of me now." Juan Montoya On his lame-duck status: "I'm 100 percent committed as a Williams driver. We have a realistic chance of winning championships, and neither they nor I want to throw it away."

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