Motor Racing : Familiar Name Challenges Established Outlaws

For 10 years, the World of Outlaws have traveled the country taking on all comers in winged sprint car racing. In that time, two drivers have dominated the series with Sammy Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., winning two championships while the other eight have gone to Steve Kinser of Bloomington, Ind.

Each year, sprint car fans have seen one or more young lions who were supposed be the long-sought challenger of the pair. Although some have won a few races, none was able to consistently defeat Kinser and Swindell, who are the only $1-million winners in sprint car racing history.

In the past couple of seasons, things have gone from bad to worse. Swindell divided his time between CART-Indy cars and NASCAR stocks and ran only a portion of the schedule and Doug Wolfgang, the No. 3 Outlaw winner of all-time, spent most of his time competing in Pennsylvania.

Needless to say, Kinser, 32, has had a field day.

Last year, his domination was nearly complete, winning a record 46 of the 69 feature races and taking home a record $375,290 to run his career total to $1,835,597, including a sweep of the triple crown events--U.S. Nationals at Knoxville, Iowa; the Western World at Phoenix and the Pacific Coast National at Ascot Park.

Although Kinser started the 1988 Outlaws season off with a win last Saturday at Tampa, it figures to be tougher this time around. Not only are Swindell and Wolfgang back full time, the youngster who finished second both at Tampa and at Ascot Park last November could just possibly be the needed challenger.

Who is he? Would you believe another Kinser. That’s right, he’s 24-year-old Mark Kinser of Oolitic, Ind., a cousin of Steve’s and the son of the man Steve drives for, Karl Kinser.

At Tampa, he was easily the hottest driver. In addition to leading his illustrious cousin for 27 of the 30 laps, he also won two of the three preliminary features in Jim Reid’s car out of Northern California. The other preliminary went to Swindell, who also finished third in the feature.

Mark was the World of Outlaws rookie of the year in 1984. Last year, driving three different cars, he finished sixth in the final standing and collected $112,620 despite missing several events late in the season with injuries.

All three, plus Bobby Allen and Ron Shuman, who were fast at Tampa but were shut out of the top 10, will be on hand a Ascot as well as this weekend’s two-day show at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.

MORE SPRINT CARS--The winners of a pair of early season events at opposite ends of the country also will be competing in the Midwinter program. They are Lealand McSpadden of Tempe, Ariz., who won the sprint car portion of Copper World Cup races at Phoenix International Raceway, and Rick Hood, who was victorious in the United States Auto Club dirt car opener at Tampa. Also entered are a pair of Northern Californians and Pennsylvanian Keith Kauffman, who will a drive Northern California cars. Jimmy Sills, who will skip the World of Outlaws this year to compete in the All-Star Circuit this year, will be at the wheel of the Clyde Lamar entry while Tim Green, who missed most of last year with injuries suffered in a super modified crash, will be reunited with owner Virgil Owens. Kauffman will again be at the wheel of a new Osborne chassis owned by the Chenin Bros.

OFF-ROAD RACING--Several San Diego area drivers who already figure in the 1988 point standings will be seeking to improve their positions Saturday night in Round 2 of Mickey Thompson’s Off-Road Gran Prix at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Heading that list is Ivan (Iron Man) Stewart of nearby Lakeside, whose last-lap effort to capture second place with his Toyota at Anaheim Stadium prevented a 1-2-3 sweep by the factory Mazda team in the sport truck division. Stewart edged out Jeff Huber on the final turn for second but was unable to catch the leading Mazda driven by Rod Millen, who is also the point leader. Stewart, seeking his first win before the hometown fans, will be joined by defending series champion Steve Millen (Rod’s brother) and Frank Arciero Jr. Other local favorites entered include Tommy Croft, Marty Coyne and Pancho Weaver in the Unlimited Super 1600 racing, Don Turk, Marty Hart and Mike Coe in ATV competition and defending champion Ron Pierce of El Cajon as well as John Shultz and Frank Chavez in the Stadium Super Lite (formerly called Odyssey) class. . . . Bob Gordon and Tim Crabtree, who finished third in the recent SCORE Parker 400, wound up winning the event after penalties for course infractions dropped the first two finishers, Jim and Mark Temple of Las Vegas and Steve and Tom Martin of Downey, to fifth and sixth places in the final standings.

STOCK CARS--Ruben Garcia and Ron Esau, a pair of Winston West rivals of Jim Robinson, have started a hospital fund for the North Hollywood driver who was seriously injured in Sunday’s Copper World stock car race at Phoenix. Donations to fund for Robinson, a three-time Winston West Series champion, can be made to the Jim Robinson Hospital Fund, 14941 E. Ramona, Blvd. Baldwin Park, 91706. . . . Ernie Irvan of Modesto is the first California driver to compete for the NASCAR Winston Cup rookie-of-the-year honors in several years. Irvan, who will drive a Chevrolet for D.K. Ulrich, begins his battle in today’s twin 125-mile qualifying races at Daytona. . . . Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark and ex-Dodger Jay Johnstone will compete in the April 16 Toyota Pro/Celebrity prelude to the CART Grand Prix of Long Beach race.

MOTORCYCLES--Factory Kawasaki rider Jeff Ward started off the 1988 Supercross season where he left off in 1987--in the winner’s circle. The Mission Viejo rider led all the way in winning the race in the Houston Astrodome for the fourth straight year. Ricky Johnson of El Cajon, on a Honda, finished second. The series continues this weekend with a pair of races at the Kingdome in Seattle. . . . Dan Ashcraft, winner of the first AMA National Championship Hare & Hound series, will try for a repeat this Sunday near Randsburg, Calif., in a program promoted by the Four Aces Motorcycle Club.

VINTAGE RACES--The Western Racing Assn. will present a program of open-wheel racing on the three-eights mile track at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond this Sunday. Drivers include Indy Veteran Cal Niday, 74, Roy Prosser, 72, as well as Dickie Ferguson, Rosie Rousell, Dickie Reese and Walt James. Racing starts at noon.

STOCK CARS--Chevrolet has announced a $1-million Sports Car Club of America challenge series for showroom stock 1988 Corvettes beginning this spring. Only 50 identical Corvettes will be permitted in the 10-event series that is expected to finds some of America’s top road racers competing. The prize fund will be $50,000 for each race and the remaining $500,000 to be split among the top 24 finishers in the series. Among the tracks mentioned for the 10 races include Riverside and Sears Point raceways. . . . Saugus Speedway will feature NASCAR modified and Sportsman division racing in 1988, its 30th consecutive year of operation. Other Saugus classes include street stocks, Figure 8, Mini stocks Hobby stocks, Factory stocks, Foreign stocks and Jalopies. Special events include two visits each by the USAC midgets and USAC Supermodifieds as well as two NASCAR Southwest Tour events. Racing starts March 4, but a practice session for all classes is scheduled Feb. 26.