Motor Racing : Stock Cars to Make Last Stop at Riverside

Riverside International Raceway officials, faced with the final professional program of the road racing track’s 31 years, have put together what may be one of its finest two-day packages for this weekend.

Race-starved fans, who have already watched as Ontario Motor Speedway closed in 1980 and now face the loss of venerable old Riverside to a housing development, apparently want to be in on the final act. Track officials report that all 16,058 reserved grandstand seats have been sold, and a crowd of more than 75,000 is expected for Sunday’s finale.

NASCAR stock cars, which have run annually on the 2.62-mile, 9-turn course since 1963, will make their final appearance in Sunday’s $396,000 Budweiser 400 with such good ol’ boys as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte and Benny Parsons on hand.

Running with them will be West Coast drivers who compete for the Winston West championship, including defending champion Chad Little, Hershel McGriff, Ruben Garcia, Bill Schmitt and this season’s leader, Roy Smith of Canada. McGriff, 60, whose 14 wins at Riverside is the track record, will carry added responsibilities in the 400-kilometer race. He will be grand marshal of the race, too.

Only the defending race champion, Tim Richmond, will be missing. Richmond recently filed a $20-million suit against NASCAR, alleging defamation of character over stories released by the sanctioning body last February that indicated Richmond tested positive for drugs. It was later disclosed that the drugs were over-the-counter headache and cold remedies.

The main event Saturday will be the International Race of Champions, returning after an absence of nine years to the track where it started, with a cast of 12 drivers from Indy cars, stock cars and sports cars competing in similarly prepared Chevy Camaros.

Stock car drivers Elliott, Earnhardt and Labonte dominated the opening race last February on the oval track at Daytona Beach, Fla., but under IROC rules they will start at the rear of the field Saturday. The pole sitter will be Indy car driver Roberto Guerrero, who did not drive at Daytona because of a foot injury.

Supporting features will be the NASCAR Southwest Tour Motorcraft/Trak Auto 300 on Saturday and the third round of the $1-million Corvette Challenge series Sunday.

The Southwest Tour is a West Coast series featuring All-American Challenge stock cars with stops at Saugus, San Bernardino, El Cajon and Bakersfield as well as Riverside on its 19-race schedule.

Former Riverside winners in the race include Ron Esau of Lakeside, who won in 1982 when a lighter, more modified car was eligible, and Duke Hoenshell of Orange, the 1986 winner. Other favorites include standings leader Troy Beebe of Modesto, former Saugus Speedway champion Roman Calczysnki of Sepulveda and Jon Paques of Albuquerque, N.M., the track record-holder with a lap at 114.934 m.p.h.

The Corvette Challenge puts all competitors in 1988 models, with engines and drive trains sealed, the idea being to create a true driver’s series. At Dallas, in the season opener, the first 21 cars qualified within one second.

The entry is an intriguing one, combining such diverse talent as ice racing champions Tommy and Bobby Archer, second-generation drivers Jeff Andretti and Juan Manuel Fangio III, sports car veteran Doc Bundy, Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner, Riverside racing instructor Mark Wolocatiuk and women drivers Desire Wilson and Robin Dallenbach.

Bobby Carradine of Los Angeles is the leader after two rounds with 199 points. Carradine finished second to Mark Dinsmore of Greenfield, Ind., at Dallas, and third behind Tommy Archer and Bill Cooper of Novato, Calif., in the second race at Sears Point.

Qualifying for the pole and the first 25 positions in Sunday’s Budweiser 400 will start Friday at 1:30 p.m. The remainder of the 40-car field will be determined Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m.

Richmond holds the one-lap record of 118.247 m.p.h., set in November of 1986.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--The Nissan American Final, scheduled for Saturday night at Long Beach Veterans Stadium, will be the first qualifying round for the World Championships. Only 5 of the 20 riders entered will advance to the Overseas Final in Coventry, England, July 10. The entry includes top competitors from the British Speedway League, including Mike Faria of Colton, Sam Ermolenko of Cypress, Shawn and Kelly Moran of Glendora and Randy Green of Arlington, Tex., as well as Southern California-based riders such as national champion Brad Oxley of San Clemente, Bobby Schwartz of Costa Mesa, Steve Lucero of Riverside and Dubb Ferrell of Whittier. Faria, in his first season overseas, has been the hottest rider in Europe while campaigning for the Belle Vue team. Ermolenko won last year’s American Final en route to a third place finish in the World Final.

Victorville’s Speedway USA will be dark Saturday night because of the American Final, but all other local tracks will be open as usual. . . . The new Inland Empire Speedway in Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino will open next Wednesday night, according to American Raceways promoter John F. La Douceur.

STOCK CARS--Some Winston Cup drivers don’t find Sunday’s Budweiser 400 enough for their driving enthusiasm. Daytona 500 winner Bobby Allison will drive Saturday night at Saugus Speedway in a 40-lap Winston Racing Series sportsman car main event, and Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin will race the same night at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino in a 150-lap enduro. Elliott, who finished second in a similar race last year, will drive a Ford. Marlin will be in a Chevy.

A three-way fight among Marcus Mallett of Gardena, Ron Meyer of Garden Grove and Fred Estrada of Riverside is developing in the Curb Motorsports NASCAR Winston Racing Series. They will meet again Sunday night at Ascot Park in a 30-lap main event. . . . The fourth round of the Saugus vs. Cajon super-stock series will be held Saturday night at Cajon Speedway. Cajon track champion Mike Norris won the opener at his home track. . . . Hobby stocks and mini-stocks will race Friday night at Ventura Raceway.

SPRINT CARS--The Ron Shuman-Mike Sweeney bumping feud, which led to a $1,000 fine for Shuman and 30 days’ probation for both drivers, will have a cooling-off period this week. Shuman will be vacationing in Australia when the Parnelli Jones Firestone/California Racing Assn. series resumes Saturday night at Ascot Park. Shuman, winner of the last two main events, leaves with a 127-point lead over Stan Atherton, 1,908-1,781, followed by Sweeney with 1,758. . . . Northern California’s Chuck Gurney, who won the Tony Hulman Hundred for United States Auto Club dirt track cars at Indianapolis, will sub for Shuman in Ed Ulyate’s sprinter.

OFF-ROAD--The third race of a six-race Miller Off-Road Challenge will be held Sunday at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino. . . . The Jeep Cup, a time-speed-distance rally, will be held Sunday on 100 miles of four-wheel-drive trails near Placerville, Calif. It is the second of 10 similar events in the U.S. and Canada.

MIDGETS--The United States Auto Club’s Jolly Rancher Western States series will resume Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway with defending champion Sleepy Tripp holding a 197-point lead over Tommy Astone.

LAND SPEED--The SoCal Timing Assn. will hold its second meet of the season Sunday on its 1.3-mile straightaway course at El Mirage Dry Lake.

DRAG BOATS--The International Hot Boat Assn.’s Summer Nationals will be held Saturday and Sunday at Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas with more than 160 boats competing. It is Round 5 of the 10-race IHBA season.

MOTOCROSS--Rick Johnson, who has already clinched the 1988 Supercross championship, will compete in the Super Crown motocross June 18 in the Coliseum, but will skip the United States 500cc Grand Prix June 26 at Hollister Hills, Calif. Johnson elected to ride in the 250cc USGP at Unadilla, N.Y., July 24. International rules permit a rider to compete in only one GP class each year. Jeff Ward, who won the national 250cc championship last week, will compete in both the Coliseum and the USGP 500cc.

Cycle News reports that Rex Staten, one of the most exciting riders in the sport’s history, has been forced to retire because of a severely broken bone in his leg suffered in a crash at Las Vegas. Rocket Rex, from Fontana, will long be remembered for his banzai run at Carlsbad during an early USGP when he led world champion Roger DeCoster of Belgium off the line in a World Championship event when, at the time, American riders were not expected to challenge the European champions. . . . CMC racing is scheduled Friday night at Ascot Park.

ANTIQUE CARS--The Los Angeles Vintage Grand Prix, scheduled to be the last race on the road course at Riverside International Raceway, has been moved to July 16-17 from its originally announced dates of July 23-24. Bulldozers are scheduled to demolish the track July 18. . . . The Vintage Racing Assn. will hold a competition this weekend at Willow Springs Raceway for pre-1967 cars. The event will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.