Motor Racing : Noffsinger Will Drive in Ascot Sprint Race

Brad Noffsinger, the 1986-87 California Racing Assn. sprint car champion who gave up the high-powered dirt track cars for a chance to compete on the NASCAR Winston Cup stock car circuit this year, will make an unscheduled appearance in a sprint car Saturday night at Ascot Park.

“I hadn’t planned on jumping back into a sprinter,” Noffsinger said from his new home in Kannapolis, N.C. “But when Jimmy Gardner, the fellow who owns the sprint cars I drove the past two seasons, found out I was coming back to Huntington Beach to pick up my family, he put the pressure on me to drive.

“Originally, I was just going to watch Saturday night. But I can’t stand watching races, so I finally relented. Now, I will have to admit that I am looking forward to it,” he said.

Although he has been a stock car racer for only three weeks and has competed in just two races--at Atlanta and Darlington, S.C.--Noffsinger has nothing but praise for his new surroundings.

“It was kind of tough at first,” he said. “My crew didn’t know me and I didn’t know them. But in the three weeks, they have done everything in their power to help me.

“As for the drivers, about the only one I really knew was Ken Schrader, whom I had raced sprint cars against. He has probably helped me more than anybody, but almost all the drivers are more than willing to give advice.”

Noffsinger, 27, also was impressed with NASCAR’s program for rookie drivers.

“Dick Beatty, Bobby Hillin, Buddy Baker and the rest of the drivers really do a great job for us newcomers,” he said. “They hold detailed discussions with what to expect and warning of what not to do. Then they show films that also help.

“Of course, it also helps (the veterans), as we are going to be a lot slower than they are for some time so they impress upon you that you have to give them plenty of room on the track.”

The numbers and the quality of the fields have also impressed Noffsinger.

“At my first race at Atlanta, there were 68 cars and we qualified 25th which is a credit to the crew,” he said. “The car (a Buick) is one of the better race cars I have ever driven. It does what I want it to do. We finished the race, which was what we wanted to do. For the first time, it was great.”

His second time out--at Darlington--was a different story. After barely making the field he lasted only 64 laps when the engine expired.

“The engine problem was just one of those things,” he said. “Our engines are good, but this one had a bum part that did us in. Like I said, I don’t like watching races, so I was glad when the crew wanted to head home early.”

Although the learning process has just begun, Noffsinger was not bothered by the speeds.

“At Atlanta, we ran 170 m.p.h. but it wasn’t a problem because the track is very smooth. Darlington is a different matter. Although I didn’t last too long, it is as hard as everyone says it is. The biggest problem is that it has only one groove.

“Our next race is at Bristol (Tenn.) and that may be the toughest one yet. It is only a half-mile and they say it is rough so it may be interesting.”

Although Noffsinger thinks he has the car to run with the leaders now, he believes that it may take two to three years to become really competitive.

“The problem is that you run 500 miles in one day and then it is off to test at another track,” he said. “Therefore, it takes quite a while before you become really acquainted with all of the tracks on the circuit.

“However, I am lucky because the team has the schedule and funding to do a reasonable amount of testing, which is great experience for me. I am thrilled to death that Mike Curb was willing to take a chance with a virtual stranger to this kind of racing.”

SPRINT CARS--Mike Sweeney and Ron Shuman will continue their battle for the Parnelli Jones series lead Saturday night. Sweeney, who was runner-up to Noffsinger the last two seasons, holds a 24-point lead over Shuman. Sweeney won last week’s Ascot race, with Shuman finishing second. Sweeney’s win for car owner Alex Morales was his 123rd, and he is just seven behind career leader Bruce Bromme.

STOCK CARS--Saugus Speedway will open its 30th consecutive racing season Saturday night and the races will be part of the first all-NASCAR season with modifieds featured in a 40-lap main event on the third-mile flat oval. Also competing will be NASCAR sportsman cars and street stocks in both oval and Figure 8 events. On Friday night Saugus features hobby, foreign and jalopy stock car racing. . . . Dennis Andrews of Redlands will open defense of his sportsman class championship when Orange Show Speedway opens its 1988 season Saturday night. Also featured on the program will be street, pony and bomber stocks.

Cajon Speedway will hold its annual open house and practice session Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Racing will open April 9 with a NASCAR Southwest Tour event. The season opener for the sportsman, street, bomber and pony cars is April 16. . . . The 1988 stock car season gets under way at Ventura Raceway Friday night with the first of 27 weekly events for hobby and mini-stock machines on the fifth-mile oval. . . . The Curb Motorsports Winston racing series for pro stocks will be featured Sunday night at Ascot Park. Also on the program will be bombers, Figure 8s, hobby and mini-stock machines.

OFF-ROAD--Two courses--one for cars and trucks, the other for motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles--will be featured in the fourth annual SCORE Great Mojave 250 Friday and Saturday at Lucerne Valley. The twin courses were the idea of SCORE International President Sal Fish, who hopes to improve safety conditions and shorten the race weekend so racers and course workers can enjoy Easter Sunday with their families. The change in format also changes the start-finish line to Anderson Dry Lake near Camp Rock Road. Overall 1987 HDRA-SCORE desert series champion Rob McCachren of Las Vegas is the race’s defending champion. Also entered is Bob Gordon of Orange, winner of the recent SCORE Parker 400.

MOTORCYCLES--Speedway racing begins its 20th season at the Orange County Fairgrounds at 8 p.m. Friday. The season opener at Ascot is scheduled for April 7, and a fifth-mile track at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino is scheduled to begin operation May 18. Bobby Schwartz of Costa Mesa, 1986 national champion, won 10 scratch main events at Costa Mesa last season and returns for 1988, but his top rival, Mike Faria of Colton, has signed with Belle Vue of the British Speedway League. Faria won six scratch main events at Costa Mesa. Schwartz recently won the 2-race Spring Classic series at Long Beach and Costa Mesa. U.S. champion Brad Oxley of San Clemente, Steve Lucero of Riverside, English transplant Phil Collins of Manchester and Bruce Penhall’s protege, Greg Hancock of Costa Mesa, are other top riders campaigning in Southern California this season.