Motor Racing / Pat Ray : More Season Openers Are Set at Southland Tracks

The 1987 racing season will continue to open this weekend with two more series getting under way at Southland tracks.

On Saturday night, the supermodifieds of the United States Auto Club will be at Mesa Marin Speedway outside Bakersfield for the first of a dozen USAC events this season on the banked half-mile paved oval.

Closer to home, Ascot Park will hold the opening race in the Curb Motorsports Winston Racing Series for NASCAR pro stock cars Sunday night.

Besides the pro stocks, the bomber, Figure 8 and oval stocks will be in competition on the quarter-mile track, along with a new division, hobby stocks. Hobby stocks are for those who drive only for fun and trophies.

Ascot Park also will experiment with a new 6 p.m. starting time for the Sunday programs.

Saturday night’s sprint car series at Ascot could almost be added to the list of openers. Last week’s scheduled opening of the Parnelli Jones Firestone/California Racing Assn. series at Ascot was brought to a sudden halt by rain just as the cars were lining up for the main event.

The downpour forced CRA officials to pay off drivers in the feature on their starting positions. Thus, Danny Lewis of Rialto, who had the pole position, “won” his first main event and collected $2,000.

SUPERMODIFIEDS--Billy Vukovich, the grandson of the two-time Indy 500 winner and son of a veteran Indy competitor who was second in the 1973 500, has a seven-point lead over Dave Bliss going into Saturday night’s program at Mesa Marin. Vukovich was the winner of the supermodified portion of the Copper State championships at Phoenix in February. Set to challenge Vukovich and his Spirit of Madera machine in the second race of the $250,000 series are Wally Pankratz of Yorba Linda, Paul Durant of Fresno, Ken Nichols of San Carlos and the father-son team of Art and Bob Bigioni of Soledad. Utah’s Dave Fitzgerald is currently tied with Bob Bigioni for the No. 3 spot in the standings with Indy 500 veteran Gary Bettenhausen fifth. A 35-lap main event headlines the program.

STOCK CARS--Ron Meyer of Anaheim, the most successful of the drivers in the Ascot Winston pro stock series, will be seeking his second straight Ascot championship this year and will be pitted against 1985 champion Don Wright of Simi Valley, Marcus Mallett of Carson, Jerry Johnson of Harbor City and Tom Colgan of Ontario in Sunday night’s opener. Meyer also finished fourth in the Pacific Coast region of the national Winston series. He had 12 wins, 18 top-5 finishes and 21 top-10 finishes in 28 Winston events. Mike Kirby of Gardena in Figure 8 and Steve Smith of Long Beach in the bomber class also will be on hand to begin defense of their championships. . . . Saugus Speedway will hold a 150-lap factory stock enduro Saturday night, along with a destruction derby. The enduro is open to any stock American sedan, 1960 or newer with a minimum 108-inch wheelbase with all cars subject to an $800 claiming price to discourage any modifications. The last enduro attracted a starting field of 111.

SPRINT CARS--Probably the biggest loser when last Saturday night’s main event at Ascot wasn’t run was defending CRA champion Brad Noffsinger, who had to settle for eighth place, his starting spot in the main. Earlier, Noffsinger set fast time in his Jack Gardner Shrike machine, won the trophy dash from last starting spot and finished second in his heat. The most disappointed driver had to be rookie Bob Ward of Santa Ana. He finished second in the consolation race and fourth in the semi-feature to earn a starting spot in the feature in only his fourth ride in a sprint car. Mike Sweeney continues to lead the CRA standings with 312 points to 299 for Bubby Jones. Noffsinger is third with 289.

MOTORCYCLES--Saugus Speedway’s paved oval will be covered with tons of dirt this week in preparation for Friday night’s Grand Slam motocross and Stuntman’s races. Action will get under way at 6. . . . Starting time for Ascot’s 10th annual Spring Classic in the American Motorcyclist Assn. Grand National series has been moved to noon from 8 p.m. on April 11. The move was made to accommodate ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” which will show the event live in the East. Defending champion is Randy Goss of Hartland, Mich., the only five-time winner of national half-mile events at Ascot.

SPORTS CARS--Pete Halsmer and Scott Pruett in a Mustang GTX from Roush Racing will challenge eight Porsche 962s in the feature GTP class in Saturday’s 35th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring, the oldest road race in the country. This year’s race will be run on a revamped course. The new layout eliminates the old airport runways and the famous esses in favor of sweeping new turns and straights plus a carrousel turn. At 4.11 miles a lap, it is still the longest course in the country. The season-opening race in the Firestone Firehawk Endurance Championship will be held on Friday. Defending Grand Sport champion Tom Kendell of La Canada-Flintridge will be paired with Jack Baldwin in a Camaro.

DRAG RACING--Mark Oswald hopes to become only the second funny car driver to reach 270 m.p.h. in the NHRA Gatornationals starting today at Gainesville, Fla. Oswald is basing his optimism on modifications made after tests in the Lockheed-Georgia wind tunnel at Marietta, Ga., on his Thunderbird. “We ran 268.65 at the Winternationals,” Oswald said. “Then we went to the wind tunnel and found out that the rear spoiler was completely ineffective. We’ve spent two weeks redesigning and re-building the rear of the car and are very anxious to see what we can do.” In the top-fuel class, Joe Amato, the 1984 world champion, will drive his new dragster featuring an enclosed canopy, slicker body design with ground effects, new front wing and improved chassis flexibility.