Motor Racing / Vince Kowalick : Kendall Profits From Summertime Traveling

Summer vacation. Time for a hard-working college student to do a little traveling, maybe make a little extra money.

Maybe both.

Tom Kendall is doing a lot of both--at the same time. And, as Maxwell Smart liked to boast, loving it.

“It’s not a bad after-school or summer job,” Kendall said. “I’m young enough that the travel doesn’t bother me.”

Bother him? Detroit? Toronto? St. Petersburg? And $10,000 for a day’s pay?

Anyone looking for a summer job?

On Sunday, Kendall, 22, a UCLA senior who lives in La Canada, grabbed 10 grand for winning the Sports Car Club of America’s 66-lap Chevrolet Corvette Challenge Series race in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Kendall, who qualified first, started sixth in an inverted starting order but he weaved through traffic to assume a permanent lead on Lap 33.

“We really didn’t have any problems,” Kendall said. “Being a 66-lap race, I just had to bide my time and not let it run too hard too early. Fortunately, the car was quick all weekend.”

While several of his classmates might have pocketed a few tips while waiting tables over the weekend, Kendall collected a $1,000 bonus for being the fastest qualifier for the race, which served as a preliminary event for the Marlboro Grand Prix for Indy cars.

Kendall’s primary occupational endeavor, however, is the SCCA’s Trans-Am series, in which he is six points behind leader Dorsey Schroeder of St. Louis.

Employment this summer has led Kendall to Dallas, Detroit and Cleveland through six of 14 events. In the Corvette series, in which he competes part time, Kendall is third among points leaders, 160 points behind leader Bill Cooper of Novato, Calif. The 12-race series reached its halfway point Sunday.

With racing season in swing from March until October, Kendall, an economics major, finds study time in short supply during the spring and fall. But he maintains a 2.9 grade-point average and refuses to let education take a back seat to racing.

“Spring quarter is the toughest,” Kendall said. “Racing is real heavy and it’s a little hectic. I’m in class for two weeks and then I might not be there for two weeks. You never know, it’s so unpredictable.

“But I’ve never really given it a second thought. I’ve never thought about not going to college.”

Kendall made a pit stop at home Monday evening--just to “unload the dirty laundry and pick up some clean stuff”--then departed early Wednesday for Brainerd, Minn., for Sunday’s race at Brainerd International Raceway. The race features a total purse of $68,000 and another $10,000 first-place prize.

Up against the wall: The handwriting might not be on the wall for Sue Pittinato. But her car’s fenders recently have been.

Pittinato, a Street Stock driver from West Hills, slammed into the wall at both Ventura Raceway and Saugus Speedway in successive nights last weekend, causing serious front-end damage that twice needed to be repaired.

Pittinato also emerged with bruised feelings.

“I don’t think the first one was an accident,” she said. “I’ve heard about 10 different stories about what happened.”

Rumors permeated the pits at Ventura that Pittinato had been the victim of a deliberate “take-out” move by Jim Firsich of Port Hueneme, whose car apparently forced Pittinato’s into the wall during a turn.

Track officials, however, found no fault with Firsich.

“They talked to him afterward,” track manager Cliff Morgan said. “He gave them an explanation and, evidently, that satisfied them.”

Pittinato considered Saturday night’s crash, which also involved Lisa Owens of Chatsworth and Tom Eurton of Valencia, a mishap.

Fund-raising drive: Saugus Speedway is sponsoring a fund-raiser to benefit Jim Robinson, a North Hollywood stock car driver who has remained hospitalized with severe head injuries since crashing more than 17 months ago at Phoenix International Raceway.

Robinson, 43, a former Saugus Speedway and three-time NASCAR Winston West Series champion, remains confined either to a wheelchair or his bed at Woodruff Community Hospital in Long Beach and is unable to speak.

Robinson was in a coma for four months after the crash, which occurred during the stock car portion of the Copper World Classic on Feb. 7, 1988.

Robinson’s condition has improved, according to friends and family members, and he has been able to move his head, hands and right arm.

Donations are being accepted by Lyn Pherigo, the track’s publicity director.

Other donations are being accepted by the Jim Robinson Family Trust Fund, c/o American Pacific State Bank, 6530 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood, 91606.

Information: 805-251-8538.

On the road again: After a four-week layoff, the NASCAR All-American Challenge Series Southwest Tour resumes tonight with the Coors Light 100 at Placer County Speedway in Roseville, Calif.

Dan Press of Frazier Park, a former two-time Saugus Speedway Modified champion, remains the series’ points leader with five wins and seven top-five finishes. Press, with two wins in a row, needs one more victory to break the seasonal record of five that he shares with Mike Chase of Bakersfield.

Chase, with two wins and four top-five finishes, is in second place, 230 points behind Press.

Roman Calczynski of Sepulveda, the defending tour champion, is winless in 1989, but he has won the past two events at Roseville.

Motocross: Johnny O’Mara of Simi Valley finished eighth in the American Motorcycle Assn. 250cc Championship Motocross points standings after finishing 16th Sunday in the seventh and final AMA event at Kenworthy’s Motocross Park in Troy, Ohio.

O’Mara, who had been hampered this season by a foot injury, totaled 163 points, 143 points behind series champion Jeff Stanton of Sherwood, Mich.

Erik Kehoe of Granada Hills, O’Mara’s Team Suzuki teammate, finished 13th in the 125cc division. Kehoe is eighth in the points standings after seven of 14 events.