Driving in Two Series Keeps Halsmer on the Go

Pete Halsmer doesn’t have a split personality but at times he seems to be leading a double life.

Halsmer, 41, has a degree in industrial education from Purdue, but he drives race cars for a living. He maintains two homes, one in his native Lafayette, Ind., so he can be near Indianapolis, and one in Anaheim, so he can be near his racing team. He also drives in two major series, the International Motor Sports Assn.’s Camel GT series and the CART Indy car series.

Sunday, he and veteran driver John Morton of El Segundo will drive a turbocharged Porsche 962, outfitted with B.F. Goodrich tires, in the Times/Nissan Grand Prix of Endurance, a 600-kilometer race at Riverside International Raceway.

Normally, it would not be significant to mention what brand of tires were being used, but in this case, the tires are the reason the car is entered. Goodrich is sponsoring two cars--the other will be driven by Jim Busby and Rick Knoop of Laguna Beach--both of which will be using experimental street radial tires. Nearly all of the other cars will be running on Goodyear racing tires.

Next week, Halsmer will be at Indianapolis, preparing to drive a March 85C as a teammate of Josele Garza in the 500. He will also drive in at least three other Indy car races where there is no conflict with his IMSA schedule.

“This year my first priority is the Porsche,” said Halsmer, who will test the 962 today at Riverside in preparation for Friday’s qualifying. “Last year, the priority was Indy with Frank Arciero, but when he was not able to commit to a full season this year, I had an opportunity to join the Goodrich team that I could not turn down. It not only gave me an opportunity to drive a competitive car, but it also gave me the flexibility to put together an Indy car operation.”

Halsmer and Morton finished third in the Sebring 12-hour race and fourth in the Atlanta 500-kilometer event. With Jochen Maas sharing the driving, the Busby-Knoop entry finished third at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

“For a new car, with a new team, and using new tires, I would say we are doing quite well,” Halsmer said. “Al Holbert’s Porsche is definitely the one to beat. He is the North American racing representative for Porsche and has all the latest setups, but we would like nothing more than to blow his doors off at Riverside. We’ll test Thursday with a different rear tail and see if we can get an edge.

“Cars are becoming so sophisticated that racing isn’t just having the most powerful car anymore. The sport has become more of a game of who can get their car suited best to the track they are running. My background as an engineer helps in that fine-tuning of car to track to get the last ounce out of the car.”

Two years ago, Halsmer won the IMSA GTO class in the Daytona 24-hour race with Knoop and Robert Reed in a Mazda RX-7, and it was that ride that led to his joining the Goodrich team. He drove for Busby’s Lola-Mazda team last year at Miami. When the Goodrich people decided to field a full-time team, they went to Busby to put it together and he tabbed Halsmer.

Halsmer grew up in the shadows of the Indianapolis Speedway, but the brickyard has not been good to him. He qualified in 1980 but was bumped from the lineup by a faster car. In 1981, he qualified 24th but crashed in the third turn on the 123rd lap, finishing 24th. In 1982, his first Indy car season with Arciero after two successful Super Vee campaigns, Halsmer qualified in the back row but lasted only 38 laps before his gear box failed.

Also in 1982, Halsmer managed Arciero’s Super Vee team that won the Sports Car Club of America championship with Michael Andretti the driver.

Halsmer missed the last two 500s because of accidents during practice.

In 1983, he had lapped the speedway at better than 200 m.p.h. in practice and seemed assured of making the race. Then he crashed in the first turn five days before the time trials, and a partially collapsed lung kept him out of the race. Later that season, Halsmer narrowly missed winning at Cleveland, finishing second to Al Unser in his best Indy car performance.

Last year, another practice accident sidelined him at Indy, but his overall season performance earned him CART’s award as most improved driver.

“It goes without saying that I am anxious to get another chance to run at Indy,” Halsmer said. “First, though, I want to see John (Morton) and myself in front Sunday at Riverside. That’s my No. 1 priority right at the moment.”

SPRINT CARS--California Racing Assn. drivers will hold their regular Saturday night program at Ascot Park this week before heading East for two weeks of competition on the U. S. Auto Club circuit. Three-time Kraco-CRA champion Dean Thompson, driving in only his second race this season after having had bladder surgery, won the 101st main event of his career last week at Ascot and will be looking for No. 102 in Saturday night’s 30-lap feature. He is driving a new car, the California Gambler, for owner Bruce Bromme, who is tied with Alex Morales for wins by CRA owners with 109. . . . The third race of the Super Modified Racing Assn. season is set for Saturday night at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield with Art Cervantes the standings leader.

SPEEDWAY CYCLES--British Speedway League favorite Bobby (Boogaloo) Schwartz is back for a whirlwind one-week invasion of Southland ovals--tonight at Ascot Park, Friday night at Costa Mesa’s Orange County Fairgrounds and Sunday at the new California Speedway in Carlsbad. Schwartz will meet U.S. champion Kelly Moran in a best-of-three match race at Costa Mesa. Moran missed all of last week’s programs with the flu but says he is ready to go tonight and Friday night. San Bernardino’s Inland Speedway will be closed next Wednesday night because of the county fair but will be open again May 8. . . . Seven-time U.S. and six-time California state champion Mike Bast has been inducted into the Speedway Magazine Hall of Fame, joining world champions Jack Milne and Bruce Penhall and promoter Harry Oxley.

STOCK CARS--The 70th annual National Orange Show in San Bernardino will include a weekend of racing at the Orange Show Stadium. Sportsman and street stocks will run Saturday at 5 p.m., with a President’s cup 100-lap open competition main event Sunday at 5 p.m. Roman Calczynski will defend his championship against an entry list that includes Jim Thirkettle, Dan Press and Randy Becker. . . . The NASCAR Winston West season will open Sunday at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma with Jim Robinson of North Hollywood seeking his third straight championship in his Oldsmobile Cutlass. . . . The modifieds will take a week off at Saugus Speedway, where Saturday night’s program will feature sportsman and street stocks, Figure 8s and a destruction derby.

OTHER CYCLES--The Motorcycle Drag Racing Assn. will hold its Spring Nationals this weekend at the L.A. County Raceway, five miles east of Palmdale. Bob Correll will ride a jet-powered motorcycle in its debut. He hopes it will attain speeds of 250 m.p.h. The machine weighs 525 pounds, is 10 feet long and is propelled by a military helicopter engine that delivers 750 pounds of thrust. . . . CMC motocrossers will race Friday night at Ascot Park.

MIDGETS & KARTS--Ascot Park has a combined program Sunday night with full midgets of the U.S. Auto Club western regional series and three-quarter midgets of the National Midget Racing Assn. Rusty Rasmussen leads 1983 series champion Sleepy Tripp by one point after two races. . . . Professional karters will race Friday night at Saugus Speedway.

NEWSWORTHY--Willy T. Ribbs has entered the Indianapolis 500 in an attempt to become the first black driver to qualify for America’s No. 1 race. His car is co-owned by boxing promoter Don King and veteran Indy-car owner Sherman Armstrong. George Bignotti is the crew chief.