Off-Road Gran Prix : King of Hill Roger Mears Tries to Keep On Truckin’

Anyone who has played king of the hill knows that some days it’s harder to stay on top than it is to get there.

Roger Mears has been king of the hill at Mickey Thompson’s Off-Road Gran Prix for nearly a year, and every time he brings his ultra-sophisticated Nissan truck home first on the twisting course laid out inside the L.A. County Fairgrounds race track, it only makes the opposition try harder. The last time the Bakersfield veteran lost there was last April.

It’s galling enough for Mears’ rivals that he has won three straight main events for the Grand National Sport Trucks, but in his last two outings he has also swept the board--setting fast time, winning the trophy dash and his heat.

Tonight, in the second event of the Thompson series in Pomona, Mears will again face the challenge of Toyota teammates Ivan Stewart and Rod Millen, plus Glenn Harris in a Mazda, John Baker in a Mitsubishi and Jeff Huber in a Ford.

Millen came within inches of beating Mears in a heat last January, and the transplanted New Zealander believes he has the answer to turning the tables on the versatile Mears.

“We’ve made crucial changes in the suspension to improve traction coming off the slower corners,” Millen said. “I believe that adjustment will give us the necessary edge.”

The task will be a difficult one since Mears’ truck is the sport’s state-of-the-art machine for short courses. It is rumored to have cost close to $200,000 and reflects the thinking of sports car designer Trevor Harris and off-road buggy builder Lynn Chenowth. They contributed to the design of the machine put together by Don Devendorf of Electramotive Engineering of El Segundo, and crew chief John House, who spent 12 years building off-road vehicles for Mickey Thompson before joining the Electramotive team.

Mears, however, has been preoccupied with the building of his own desert racing Nissan pickup, which he hopes to drive in the Mint 400 in Las Vegas May 4, and in High Desert Racing Assn. and SCORE International competition after that. Mears is putting the finishing touches on the truck at his home in Bakersfield with the help of his father, Bill, and his brother, Rick, the defending Indianapolis 500 winner who is living with Roger while recuperating from leg injuries suffered in an accident last August near Montreal.

“I’ve driven in some of the world’s toughest races, but this project is the toughest,” Roger said. “I really didn’t realize all of the details involved in running a team. I’ve always just jumped into the car or truck and driven.”

He has been rather intimidated by Roger Penske, too. The other day, Rick and Roger were working in the garage when a huge shipment arrived from Penske’s shop in Pennsylvania. It was a complete race car for Rick to use in practicing shifting and pedals manipulation as part of his physical rehabilitation.

“It’s hard to get Rick and some of the other guys to concentrate on my truck when that Indy car is sitting there,” Roger said with a grin.

Roger, who has driven in two Indy 500s with less than competitive equipment, said he has put his Indy-car hopes behind him while trying to develop his own off-road racing team.

“I’m getting tired of being an also-ran,” he said. “Winning races in off-road has conditioned my mind to winning in anything I drive. I’m past the stage where I’ll just jump into any car.”

The trucks won’t be the only show tonight. There will be 17 races, with six different classes, starting at 7 p.m.