Motor Racing : Off-Road Merger Is a Success in First Year

The merged off-road groups of SCORE International and the High Desert Racing Assn. will conclude a highly successful eight-race season Saturday with their jointly-organized Frontier 250.

A record entry of 250 cars and cycles, including the cream of off-road racing, will compete in the fifth annual race on a 60-mile course laid out near Sloan, Nev., south of Las Vegas. Last year, there were only 148 entries, so the merger of the sport’s two most important organizations is being credited with the increase.

SCORE, headed by Sal Fish and Mickey Thompson, has headquarters in Westlake Village. HDRA, headed by Walt Lott, is based in Las Vegas. Next year’s schedule, starting with the Parker 400 Feb. 1, will also be a joint venture.

A familiar name trying a different sport will be Ken (Snake) Stabler, the former quarterback of the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers, who will co-drive with K.J. Howe, veteran off-road racer and former race director of the Mint 400.

Stabler is reportedly planning to put together his own off-road team next season and wants to get a feel of the dust and dirt, the bumps and the broken machinery.

Nevada Gov. Richard Bryan, who rode with heavy-metal champion Rod Hall of Reno in last year’s Frontier 250, will flag off the race at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Hall, winner of his class in every event this year in his four-wheel drive Dodge pickup, has already clinched the series championship but is now battling Steve Kelley of Rolling Hills for overall truck supremacy. Kelley is the two-wheel drive leader, closely followed by Michael Nesmith, TV personality and former member of the rock group, the Monkees.

Hall has dominated the series despite taking time out to make three trips to Australia, where he won all three races he entered.

“Racing in Australia is different from here,” Hall said. “In the desert, you have to contend with rocks, ruts and deep silt. Over there, they have a different kind of terrain, with lots of trees on the course, but it can be devastating on a vehicle. The racing surface is harder, and you get a lot of vibration because you go so much faster for so long.”

In Australia, Hall drove the 1979 Dodge pickup that he had retired from desert racing. Among those he defeated were factory drivers in Russian-built Ladas.

The father-son combination of Corky and Mark McMillin of Bonita are leading in their respective divisions, two-seat and single-seat unlimited cars. Rob Tolleson of Palmdale is the top 1,600cc driver and leader in all categories for the overall non-production championship.

Among the other class leaders entered are Gene Hightower of Blythe in short-wheelbase four-wheel drive, 1984 overall champion Malcolm Vinge of San Diego in unlimited Baja Bugs, Mike Lesle of Lake Elsinore in 1,600cc Baja Bugs, recent Baja 1,000 overall winner Steve Sourapas of La Jolla in the 1,650cc division and defending champion Spencer Low of La Verne in stock mini-trucks.

Championship trophies and checks will be awarded at a banquet Jan. 11 at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel.

SPORTS CARS--The final points competition of 1985 for California Sports Car Club drivers will be run Sunday at Willow Springs, where seven 25-car races will determine class champions. The fields will be determined in qualifying Saturday, with the first final set for Sunday at noon. Following the lead of many celebrity drivers who got their starts in Cal Club events, Riptide’s Perry King will compete.

MOTOCROSS--The Continental Motosport Club’s annual four-stroke national championship, scheduled last Sunday at Carlsbad, was postponed to Dec. 22 because of a conflict with the Barstow-to-Las Vegas desert race. Also set for Dec. 22 at Carlsbad is the U.S. Women’s Challenge and the side-car nationals. . . . The 10th annual Golden State Nationals eight-race season will open Jan. 4-5 at Quail Canyon, near Gorman.

MOTORCYCLES--Robbie Knievel, son of Evel Knievel, successfully cleared 13 buses on his 250cc desert bike during the US Motor Spectacular last Saturday night before 25,908 at the Coliseum. . . . The Motorcycle Drag Racing Assn. will hold its final competition of the season this weekend at the L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale. Qualifying is set for Saturday, eliminations for Sunday.

SPEED RECORDS--Lyn St. James became the first woman driver to exceed 200 m.p.h. on a closed course when she ran 204.233 in a prototype Ford Probe at Talladega, Ala. Four days later, St. James teamed with Canadian Johnny Jones to win the GTO division of the Eastern Three-Hour Camel GT at Daytona Beach, Fla., driving a Mustang. They were ninth overall in the mini-enduro, which was won by IMSA champion Al Holbert and Al Unser Jr. in Holbert’s Porsche 962. It was the 40th victory of Holbert’s IMSA career, moving him within one of the all-time record set by the late Peter Gregg. Hurley Haywood and Brian Redman were second in a Jaguar, followed by Pete Halsmer and John Morton in another Porsche 962.