Motor Racing / Shav Glick : Pook’s ‘Folly’ Has 13th Running This Weekend

Thirteen years ago, Chris Pook, a travel agent from England, had this crazy idea about running race cars through the streets of Long Beach to generate some excitement in the seaside city the home folks called Iowa West. He suggested the idea to the Long Beach Convention & Tourist Bureau.

“Predictably, they thought I was nuts,” Pook recalled.

But he persisted, and with the help of Dan Gurney, former driver and car builder, Pook set about to make his dream come true, to change the image along the Long Beach shoreline from Iowa to Monte Carlo.

Although he and the Long Beach Grand Prix committee had to maneuver around one roadblock after another, the idea reached fruition when Vern Schuppan of Australia fired up his Gurney Eagle Sept. 26, 1975, and became the first to thunder down Ocean Boulevard in a race car.

The first event was for Formula 5000 cars and when it was won by Brian Redman of England, Pook smiled for the first time in a week. He had promoted the race as a vehicle to further the international image the city sought when it acquired the Queen Mary and cemented it alongside Pier J. When an Englishman won, followed by an Australian, it was as international as he had promised.

Formula One cars, with exotic names like Ferrari, Lotus, Brabham, Renault and Lola, ran in the next eight races, most of which turned out to be rather boring follow-the-leader parades.

Faced with overwhelming financial demands from the Formula One Constructors Assn., Pook switched to Indy cars in 1984 despite criticism from the racing world that the American drivers would not attract the interest previously generated by foreigners such as Nikki Lauda of Austria, Carlos Reutemann of Switzerland, Nelson Piquet of Brazil and Patrick Tambay of France.

“We owe a lot to Formula One, but there are two vital facets to remember,” Pook said at the time. “It costs about one-fourth as much to put on an Indy car race, and equally important is the rebirth of the Indy car series.”

Attendance did fall off, from 75,000 in 1983 to 56,000 for the Indy car inaugural, but within two years the crowd figure was back up to 77,500 for last year’s race--and the spectators were rewarded with the most exciting race of the entire series. Second generation drivers Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. battled nose-to-tail for most of the 95 laps before Andretti crossed the finish line a few seconds ahead of Unser.

This week, the 12th renewal of the race--the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach--will be held over the 11-turn, 1.67-mile course that twists and winds along picturesque Shoreline Park and Village, circles the Convention Center and Sports Arena, and weaves through the garage of the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Twenty-six car-driver combinations have entered the $700,000 race, first of 15 on the $15.5-million Indy car schedule. Two qualifying sessions, one at 2 p.m. Friday and the other at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, will determine the 24-car field for Sunday’s 158.6-mile race.

National champion Bobby Rahal, in the No. 1 Truesports Lola, and defending Long Beach winner Michael Andretti, in the No. 18 Kraco March, head the entry list. Both Rahal and Andretti will be powered by British-built Ford-Cosworths, but this year the established Cosworths are being challenged by the Ilmor Chevrolet developed in England by Roger Penske.

Five drivers will have Chevy engines--Penske’s pair of Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan in new Penske PC-16s, Mario Andretti in a Lola and Pat Patrick drivers Emerson Fittipaldi and Kevin Cogan in Marches.

For the first time that Indy cars have raced at Long Beach, and for the first time in more than 20 years of Indy car racing, there are no Eagles entered from Gurney’s All-American Racers shop in Santa Ana. John Morton and Michael Chandler drove Eagles in the ’84 race, Tom Sneva and Ed Pimm in ’85 and Jan Lammers last year.

Gurney, who will drive in Saturday’s pro-celebrity race, is limiting his 1987 effort to Toyota GTOs in the International Motor Sports Assn. series. Willy T. Ribbs and Chris Cord will drive Gurney Toyotas in the Times Grand Prix of Endurance at Riverside International Raceway April 26.

The pro-celebrity race is one of three supporting attractions this weekend at Long Beach. Also on Saturday will be a 60-lap Bendix Trans-Am race featuring high-profile machines such as Mercury Merkurs and Capris, Nissan 300 ZX Turbos, Chevy Camaros and Corvettes and Pontiac Trans-Ams.

On Sunday, before the Indy car main event, there will be a 37-lap race for Bosch-Volkswagen Super Vees--at 190 horsepower, scaled down models of Indy cars.

SPRINT CARS--Bubby Jones, former California Racing Assn. champion and the winner of 76 CRA main events, announced plans to retire in a victory circle interview last week at Ascot Park--but Wednesday changed his mind. Car owner Bruce Bromme said that Jones will drive in Saturday night’s Salute to Long Beach main event at Ascot. World of Outlaws veteran Ron Shuman will take advantage of a rare night off in the Outlaws’ schedule to race the CRA regulars Saturday night.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Mike Faria, 30, of Colton, was named Speedway magazine’s Rider of the Year after winning 54 races last season, including track championships at Ascot Park and the Ventura County Fairgrounds. . . . Faria, who won the Spring Classic preseason special at San Bernardino, will be on hand when the weekly seasons open Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Tuesday night at Ventura, Wednesday night at Inland Motorcycle Speedway in San Bernardino and Thursday night at Ascot Park’s South Bay Stadium. Speedway USA in Victorville will open Sunday April 12 with the High Desert Invitational.

STOCK CARS--Cajon Speedway in El Cajon will open its season Saturday night with the second race of the NASCAR Southwest tour for Grand American sedans. Rick Carelli of Denver won last week’s season opener at Saugus Speedway. Series champion Ron Esau, the hometown favorite at Cajon, dropped out of the Saugus race with ignition problems. . . . Saugus will open its 29th consecutive season of weekly racing Saturday night with modified, sportsman, street stock and Figure 8 races. Hobby stocks, foreign stocks and jalopies will race Friday night at Saugus.

MOTORCYCLES--The opening round of the Formula USA road racing series will be held this weekend at Willow Springs International Raceway, near Rosamond. Defending champion Earl Roloff will be on a Yamaha. . . . Bubba Shobert, two-time American Motorcyclist Assn. Grand National champion, has entered the 10th annual Half-Mile Spring Classic April 11 at Ascot Park. Shobert, who won a record nine national races last year, is still looking for his first win at Ascot. The race will start at noon. . . . Ascot Park has canceled the TT steeplechase scheduled for May 9.

MOTOCROSS--More than 400 riders are expected Friday night at Ascot Park when the Continental Motosport Club opens its weekly season. The CMC is the oldest night motocross event in the country.

POWERBOATS--Bob Nordskog, 73, will be after his sixth win in the annual Rum Run race from Long Beach to Catalina and back when approximately 30 boats take off Saturday at 10 a.m. from the stern of the Queen Mary. The Rum Run was started in 1968 to commemorate the days of rum running along the Pacific Coast during Prohibition. This is the second of six races for boats of the Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Assn., of which Nordskog is president.

OFF-ROAD RACING--For the first time in the history of SCORE International, a car will start first instead of a motorcycle Saturday in the Great Mojave 250 in Lucerne Valley. Leading off will be Bob and Rob Gordon, the father-son team from Orange, in their two-seat Chenowth Porsche. The Gordons were overall winners in the year’s first two races, the SCORE Parker 400 and the High Desert Racing Assn.’s Gold Coast 300. Cars and trucks will take off at 6 a.m. with motorcycles not starting until noon in an effort to improve safety conditions on the course.

MIDGETS--Fresh from a successful invasion of New Zealand in which he won 8 of 13 races, former United States Auto Club champion Ron (Sleepy) Tripp is making his presence felt in the USAC Western States series. After arriving home last Wednesday, Tripp took a third at Ascot Friday night and won at Ventura Saturday night. Tripp will be back at Ascot for Sunday night’s doubleheader that also features three-quarter midgets. . . . The TQs will run Friday night at Ventura.