A Pair of California Drivers Move to the Head of Their Class : Kendall, Pruett Started Careers in Go-Karts

When the checkered flag falls Sunday afternoon in the Times/Ford Grand Prix of Endurance after six hours of racing at Riverside International Raceway, the winner will reap most of the accolades and the biggest portion of the $164,000 prize money.

But three other teams will be winners, too.

That’s because the sanctioning International Motor Sports Assn. has divided the field into four classes. The top two classes are the GTP or prototype machines, the Porsches, Ford Probes, Jaguars and Nissans, with engines that may be turbocharged, and the Camel Light division, also prototype machines but with engines that may not be turbocharged.

The other two classes are for GTO and GTU machines. Both classes are for out-and-out racing cars, but they must resemble production cars--Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, Mazdas, Fieros. The main difference is the size of engines. The O in the GTO designation means that the cars are powered by engines measuring over three liters, and the U in GTU refers to engines under three liters of displacement.

Since these cars resemble passenger cars, the automobile manufacturers are heavily involved.

Heading into Sunday’s fifth race of the IMSA season, the standings leaders in these two categories are a pair of young Californians who began their racing careers in go-karts.

Atop the GTO standings is Scott Pruett, 26, of Roseville, and leading the GTU division is Tom Kendall, 19, of La Canada.

Pruett is in his first full season with Jack Roush’s Ford Mustang team that has dominated the GTO ranks in recent years.

And what a season it has been so far.

Had it not been for a last-lap accident with Willy T. Ribbs at Miami and a long pit stop in the final half-hour of the 24 Hours of Daytona, Pruett could be 4 for 4 this season. He was the GTO class winner in the 12 Hours of Sebring and at a sprint event at Road Atlanta.

“The thing with Willy T. was bad, but losing at Daytona was the real disappointment,” Pruett said.

“We led our class from the start, and with only 30 minutes left we had an eight-lap lead, only to run into a transmission problem that cost us the victory. We did manage to finish second in class and fifth overall, but it is really tough to lose after leading for so long.”

Part of the we Pruett spoke of is the man he will share the Mustang with in Sunday’s race--Bruce Jenner, the Olympic decathlon champion whom Pruett largely credits for his development.

“Bruce told me in 1984 at the Long Beach Grand Prix that Ford was looking for young drivers,” said Pruett, who started go-kart racing when he was 7 and has won 13 national championships in his 17-year career. “I thought he was just telling me that to be nice, but he called me a couple of days later and gave me the names and addresses where I should send my portfolio.

“I didn’t hear anything right away, but Bruce kept telling (the Ford people) to keep an eye on me.”

Jenner’s prodding finally paid off. Pruett was offered a ride in a Roush Mustang last August at the IMSA race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., with Jenner. The pair had a big lead when they were forced to stop to replace a broken water-pump belt.

They fought back from 13th place and finished third, and Pruett made such a good impression that he was offered a ride in the Brooks Racing Thunderbird. Teaming with Darrin Brassfield, he scored his IMSA win at Pocono, Pa., and this season he replaced 1985 GTO champion John Jones as Jenner’s teammate on the Roush Mustang team.

For Pruett, who had struggled through most of the 1985 season in a GTU car, it was a dream come true.

“The first time I drove one of Jack’s cars, it was heaven,” Pruett said. “These race cars do everything that a race car is supposed to do. The cars and our crew are so good that it can’t help but make us drivers look good. The crew will do whatever they have to to make the car perform, and to a driver that is everything.

“Not only are they good, but our crew gets along well and that is a big plus. Sometimes egos get in the way, but not here. It is just a great feeling to know that every time you get into the car, it is capable of running with the leaders.”

Although he is very confident, he knows that the road to the championship won’t be an easy one. Pruett currently holds a 55-43 edge over Jenner, with Jack Baldwin third with 32

“The success Ford has enjoyed in the past years has forced the other factories to step up their efforts, and the result is certain to be closer racing in the GTO class,” said Pruett, who cites a “comfortable feeling” he has with the Ford people and hopes it will lead to a GTP car with them next season. “It may be tougher on us, but it certainly will make for better racing for the fans.”

It is not hard to understand why Tom Kendall is comfortable in endurance racing. He pushes himself through an endurance test every week.

Not only does he plan a full schedule of GTU racing in his CCR Mazda RX-7, besides competition in two other series, but the young driver also makes time for a full load of courses at UCLA, where he is a sophomore majoring in economics and business.

“One thing is for sure, I don’t have a lot of time left over,” Kendall said. “From now until school is out in June, I won’t be getting a lot of sleep, but then things will get a little better with summer vacation.”

The car that he and Bob Reed, a two-time SCCA champion from Bakersfield, will share is the one that Jack Baldwin and Jeff Kline drove to the GTU championship in the Times race last year, when Kendall and older brother Bart finished second.

Despite his tender years, Kendall is an accomplished endurance driver. He ran the full SCCA-Playboy showroom stock series last season, winning 24-hour races at St. Louis and at Mid-Ohio Raceway in Lexington, Ohio.

Kendall, though leading the standings, has yet to post a class win in 1986. He has put together four fine finishes, however, for his 11-point lead over fellow Mazda driver Amos Johnson, 55-44.

Teamed with John Hogdal, Kendall finished second in both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. In solo runs, he was fourth at Miami and had another second at Atlanta.

He also finished third in the Russell Mazda pro race at the Long Beach Grand Prix when a half spin cost him a sure second place.

Kendall began his career in go-karts when he was 15. When he got his driver’s license, he took the Jim Russell British School of Motor Racing course at Riverside, so he is well acquainted with the course.

After that, he competed in the open-wheel Mazda pro series. In that series last year, he led the standings until the final race. Because of his expanded racing schedule, Kendall will be able to compete in only seven of those events this year.

This weekend also will be sort of a family reunion for Kendall. While he will be competing in the GTU class, his dad, Chuck, and brother Bart will be driving a Lola-Mazda in the Camel Light division of the same race.