FAST TIMES : New League Introduces Team Standings and City Rivalries to Auto Racing

Add another entry to the athletic alphabet: ACRL.

That’s the American City Racing League, of which San Diego is a charter member and leading contender.

Created by Wayne Sartori, a Sacramento businessman and race promoter, the ACRL has introduced team standings and city rivalries to auto racing.

“With a team of cars, this is an opportunity to show a different concept in auto racing,” said Margie Smith-Haas, who owns the San Diego franchise with her husband, Paul Haas. “It’s not just an individual competing, but it’s city against city, just like in football. It gives fans the chance to root for their city.”

Naturally, there is some incentive to the ACRL besides winning one for the home team. The first-year league will award $360,000 in prize money throughout the season for individuals and teams. The money comes from fees paid by franchise owners--$3,000 to $6,000 per car--as well as ticket sales, race tracks and series sponsors Ford and Firestone.

Each of the 13 teams in the ACRL can enter up to three cars per race, with points awarded according to the finish of each.

“It’s essential in the team standings that all three cars finish,” Smith-Haas said.

San Diego has been the most consistent entry in the season’s first four races. With Haas, Smith-Haas, Dick Gamble, Peter Zarcades and Lance Mears alternating in the team’s three red, white and blue cars, San Diego is first with 772 points. San Francisco is 61 points behind in second.

San Diego led the league after two races but struggled May 28 at Sears Point in Sonoma and fell to second. It regained first last week in Portland by winning the team title with Gamble third, Haas sixth and Mears ninth.

ACRL races are held in conjunction with CART, NASCAR, International Motor Sports Association or Trans-Am events, and six remain in the season. The next will be Saturday in Spokane, Wash., and the finale will be Nov. 20 in Las Vegas.

Other teams in the league are from Oakland, Phoenix, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Jose, Sacramento, Reno, Las Vegas, Honolulu and Portland, Ore.

“I think the chances of us winning the whole series are excellent,” Smith-Haas said.

All compete in the Sports-2000 class, low-slung cars built specifically for racing. Though the Ford 2-liter engine supplies just 140 horsepower, Haas said the cars are surprisingly quick.

“They’re very light and handle well,” he said. “They are very fast going through corners.”

But, he added, there is little that can be modified on the cars, and it is driving that makes the biggest difference.

San Diego has a strong lineup of drivers.

Smith-Haas, 37, has been racing for 15 years and was the only woman to compete at the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1984 and ’85.

Her husband also is a 15-year driving veteran in a variety of classes. He handles much of the team’s engineering and started Doric Scientific, an electronics business, with Zarcades in 1967.

Both the Haases have been slowed by injuries this year, though neither was hurt on the track. Smith-Haas was involved in an auto accident in her personal car and recently underwent neck surgery that will keep her out of racing until August. Haas, 52, injured his head in a skiing mishap last winter and is just now back to full strength.

Zarcades, at 55, is the senior member of the team. A native of Greece, he has been racing on and off since 1964 in the Sports Car Club of America.

Gamble, 39, began racing 17 years ago and is a past winner of the SCCA driver of the year award.

Mears, a cousin of Indy 500 winner Rick Mears, is 25 and will drive on a part-time basis this season.

Despite the impressive early results, San Diego had to overcome adversity in the first three races.

In the opener April 17 at Firebird Lake near Phoenix, Zarcades hit oil and crashed during a practice session. The pit crew worked all night to get the car ready, and Zarcades ended up ninth. Gamble took eighth and Smith-Haas was 15th to give San Diego 187 points.

“You can’t say enough about the dedication this crew has to the team,” Smith-Haas said.

At Riverside on May 14, the San Diego entries qualified well, but Haas struggled to a 22nd-place finish when his fuel pump faltered. Zarcades took second and Gamble was fourth, so San Diego maintained its league lead with 404 points.

There were more problems May 28 at Sears Point when Mears’ car caught fire in practice. Once again, the crew put the car back together, but it wasn’t quite right, and Mears ended up a disappointing 31st. Gamble finished 11th, and Haas was two places back as San Diego was held to 137 points and fell behind San Francisco.

Smith-Haas said the team concept leads to some strategy, but she added: “I have not seen intentional blocking, and I don’t anticipate that. The passing car has to earn a pass, but I don’t think intentional blocking would be tolerated.”

San Diego receives financial support from two corporate sponsors, Chapparone Collision Centers and Car Color Supply.

“Without sponsorship, it’s rough,” Smith-Haas said. “Racing is not a cheap sport. We’ve gotten through the first few races with our feet on the ground, but we need more sponsors.”

Team members are optimistic the ACRL will continue. Haas said that next year Ford Motorsport plans to get involved, and it’s likely another division of teams from the Midwest will be added.

All of which makes it possible that, unlike the USFL, WIFL and other recent additions to the athletic alphabet, the ACRL might survive.