Rick Mears, Ivan Stewart to Race Tonight

Nissan’s Rick Mears and Toyota’s Ivan Stewart will race for the 1985 championship in the sport truck division at the National Orange Show Stadium in San Bernardino in tonight’s finale of the five-race Off-Road Championship Gran Prix.

After four races, they are tied with 182 points each. Mears has won twice, Stewart once.

Another close battle is expected in the unlimited single-seater class, with Marty Tripes, Frank Arciero Jr. and Bob Gordon all having a shot at the championship. Tripes wasn’t expected to be able to compete, having been suspended after a run-in with an official at Riverside last month. His suspension was lifted this week.

Championships will also be determined in four other classes--Volkswagen Super 1600, Ultrastocks, Odyssey and three- and four-wheel ATVs--on the asphalt-and-dirt course. Racing will begin at 7 o’clock.