Off-Road Gran Prix : Mears Is Easy Winner in Feature at Pomona

Roger Mears won his third straight main event in the mini pickup truck class Saturday night to highlight action in the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona.

A sellout crowd estimated at 15,000 braved the cold and heavy fog and watched the 37-year-old from Bakersfield steal the show. Mears won the 12-lap main event with ease, but it was his battle with Rod Millen in a heat race that was the real main event of the program.

Millen, a road racer from New Zealand who now calls Irvine home, and Mears, a veteran Indy car driver who has won more off-road races than any other driver, put on quite a show in their eight-lap heat race.

Only four cars lined up for the race and Mears and Millen quickly sprinted to the lead on the half-mile course. What followed was one of the best two driver duels ever seen in the sport of off-road racing.

Millen led through four laps with Mears no more than a foot off his rear bumper. Mears bided his time and then made his move on the fifth lap, delighting the crowd by passing Millen on the hairpin turn coming off the back straightaway.

Mears kept the lead for two laps, then lost control on a sweeping turn just past the start-finish line and nearly flipped his red, white and blue Nissan. Millen regained the lead in his Toyota as Mears fought to keep control on the slick track and appeared to be headed for the win.

But Mears wasn’t finished. He charged down the back straightaway of the last lap, maneuvered masterfully through the hairpins and then edged past Millen 100 feet from the finish line as the crowd stood and cheered.

Jerry Whelchel took advantage when leader Bob Gordon got caught in slower traffic to win the Volkswagen Super 1600 race. Gordon led for 10 laps but then had to slow down and Whelchel passed him to gain the victory.

There was some consolation for Gordon in the unlimited single-seat main event. Gordon made sure he was far in the lead and easily won the 12-lap race.

Most of the first half of the program was routine as Kawasaki factory riders dominated the ATV racing with Honda factory riders deciding not to participate in the opening event of the five-race series.

“The American Honda Corporation voiced their displeasure because I combined the four-wheelers with the three-wheelers and they decided not to run tonight,” promoter Thompson said. “I think they were afraid of getting beat.”

But that wasn’t the case. Fred Conver, a privateer riding a Honda, represented the parent company well by winning the main event and another Honda privateer, Eddie Saunders, won the first heat race. Jim Putnam was second in the main event on a four-wheeler.

Pancho Weaver provided most of the excitement in the unlimited single-seat class when his car caught on fire at the conclusion of the eight-lap heat race. There were only 10 entries in the race and Marty Tripes went wire-to-wire in a very dull event.

Ron Carter and Brian Harber, both driving Funcos, won their heats respectively in the Volkswagen 1600cc class as the fog made viewing almost impossible from the main grandstand.