Off-Road Racing at Anaheim Stadium : Gordon Makes Impressive Debut With Main Event Win

Robby Gordon, a 20-year-old driver from Orange, made an impressive debut for Toyota by racing his mini-pickup truck to consecutive heat victories and then winning the main event Saturday night before 64,948 fans at Mickey Thompson’s Off-Road Championship Gran Prix in Anaheim Stadium.

Gordon, the sport’s rookie of the year in 1988, had been hired by Team Toyota to replace Steve Millen, the leading driver in the class last year. Millen is now road racing with the International Motor Sports Assn.

Gordon won the main event by making a brilliant move to pass teammate Ivan Stewart on the sixth lap of the 12-lap race. Stewart finished second, and Walker Evans of Riverside in a Jeep finished third.

Gordon didn’t waste any time establishing himself with his new team, winning the opening 8-lap heat by passing veterans Dan Esslinger of Temple City and Stewart to take the lead after only 3 laps.

Gordon followed with another impressive win in the second heat, which included a spectacular crash by Stewart on the first lap and Danny Thompson’s wild drive for 4 laps with his hood impairing his vision.

Asked how he could see with his fiberglass hood flapping into his front windshield, Thompson deadpanned, “I couldn’t. The biggest problem was trying to steer the truck with the netting stuck in the steering wheel.”

While Thompson and Stewart delighted the crowd with their driving antics, Gordon casually took his time before making his move to win another heat race.

The crashes weren’t limited to the mini-pickup truck class. Tim Lewis of Cathedral City, driving an UltraStock Porsche, went out of control near the right-field bullpen and somehow landed with his rear wheels hanging on a 10-foot protective fence.

It took a tow truck and a skip-loader nearly 10 minutes to free Lewis. But the mishaps had just begun.

Joey Moore of Colton, driving a Chevrolet Camaro, flipped his car on the restart of the UltraStock heat race and it caught fire.

Finally, Jeff Elrod of Campbell, Calif., won the heat race by attrition, with only 3 of the original 9 starters running at the finish following 3 crashes and the fire.

Perhaps Greg George’s rollover in the 1600cc buggy heat race best captured the mood of the evening. When officials finally rolled George’s car upright, it appropriately read, “Pick our Part” on the side panels.