MOTOR RACING : Brabham, Robinson in Title Showdown

Nissan teammates Geoff Brabham and Chip Robinson will decide the International Motor Sports Assn.’s GTP championship Sunday in the Camel Grand Prix of Southern California at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Brabham, the defending champion from Noblesville, Ind., and Robinson, of Oldwick, N.J., who won the 1987 title in a Porsche, will drive identical Electramotive Engineering prototypes in the two-hour race around the 1.6-mile course on the fairgrounds parking lot.

Nissan announced Wednesday that it has acquired Don Devendorf’s Electramotive Engineering firm in El Segundo and will establish Nissan Performance Technology, Inc., as a wholly owned subsidiary designed for its motorsports program. Devendorf, who has been associated with Nissan since 1973, when he first raced a Datsun, will be president of the new firm, located in a 54,000 square-foot facility in Vista.

“We will have everything we need to develop a winning race car under the same roof,” said Devendorf, a chief scientist with Hughes Aircraft as well as founder of Electramotive Engineering. “We will have our wind tunnel, dyno and complete electronic technology.”

Robinson leads Brabham, 189 points to 185, but if either wins Sunday, he will be the champion and collect the $150,000 bonus at the Camel GT champions dinner Monday night at the Sheraton Harbor Island East Hotel in San Diego.

The winner of the race, in which GTP and Camel Lights cars race together, will receive $180,000, a record IMSA purse for one race.

Scott Schubot of West Palm Beach, Fla., leads the Camel Lights standings with 203 points, 14 ahead of Charles Morgan of Conway, Ark. Both drive V-6 Buick Spices. Schubot needs to finish sixth or better to win the $50,000 bonus.

The GTO and GTU cars will have their own one-hour race Saturday.

Pete Halsmer of Anaheim leads his Mercury Cougar teammate, Wally Dallenbach Jr. of Basalt, Colo., 188-180, with Hans Stuck of West Germany retaining an outside chance to win with 170 points. Stuck, who missed several early-season races with his Audi 90 Quattro Turbo, has won the last three races. A victory at Del Mar is worth 30 points, but to win the title, Stuck would need to have Halsmer and Dallenbach drop out.

The effects of Tuesday’s earthquake caused officials of the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group to cancel the season-ending stadium off-road Gran Prix scheduled Oct. 28 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

“The kind of equipment we need to bring in dirt and construct our track is going to be badly needed for emergency and cleanup purposes, and that certainly takes priority over our event,” group President Bill Marcel said Wednesday in announcing the decision.

This ended the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Gran Prix season after nine events.

Robby Gordon, 20, won the Grand National sport truck championship in a Toyota, finishing 65 points ahead of Walker Evans in a Jeep Comanche. Gordon’s teammate, Ivan Stewart, was third to give Toyota its seventh consecutive manufacturers championship.

Gordon, who won four main events, will drive for Ford next season.

Other 1989 champions: Super 1600--Mitch Mustard, Arvada, Colo.; UltraStock--Lloyd Castle, Bellflower, in a Nissan; 4-wheel ATV--Marty Hart, El Cajon, on a Honda; UltraCross--Jim Holley, North Hollywood; Superlite--Rennie Awana, Cerritos.

STOCK CARS--All Dan Press needs to win the NASCAR Southwest Tour championship is to finish seventh or better Saturday night at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield in the $37,841 October Classic 200. The Frazier Park veteran has a 214-point lead with 360 points remaining, including the season finale Nov. 4 at Phoenix. Former champions Roman Calczynski, Mike Chase and Ron Esau, plus Jim Thirkettle, a multiple Mesa Marin modified stock car champion, are entered in the 100-mile race on the banked half-mile oval.

Cajon Speedway will close its season Saturday night with the Western States 100, final event of a three-race series for sportsman car drivers. . . . Ascot Park will hold a 150-lap Figure 8 enduro for factory stock cars Saturday night, followed by a demolition derby.

SPRINT CARS--The tight battle for the California Racing Assn. championship among defending champion Ron Shuman, Rip Williams and Jerry Meyer will continue this weekend in Arizona Friday night at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. The next weekend, the Parnelli Jones Firestone-sponsored series will return to Ascot Park for the Pacific Coast Nationals. Shuman holds a nine-point edge over Williams, with Meyer, who led until last week, another two points behind.

MIDGETS--The Jolly Rancher Candies Western States series for three-quarter midgets will end Saturday night with a 50-lap main event at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale. Gary Howard of Anaheim clinched the championship with a third-place finish last week at Ventura. Kara Hendrick of Chino finished second but trails Howard by 67 points in the United States Auto Club’s TQ series.

DRAG RACING--The National Hot Rod Assn. will present the Firestone/Center Line bracket points championships this weekend at Bakersfield Raceway, 20 miles north of Bakersfield. Time trials Saturday for more than 400 cars will be followed by eliminations in four bracket categories Sunday.

SPORTS CARS--Southern California drivers failed to bring home any gold medals in the Sports Car Club of America’s national championship runoffs at Road Atlanta last week, but Larry Moulton of Sandy, Utah, upheld the reputation of the Cal Club by winning wire-to-wire in F Production in a Turner Ford. Mark Edwards of Los Angeles finished second in Formula Vee, and Beaver Theodosakis of San Diego was second in Showroom Stock GT in a Camaro. Mike Berg, 19, of Downey, finished third in Formula Ford after the favorite, Danny Hill Jr. of Lawndale, crashed in the first turn of the first lap.

MOTORCYCLES--Round 10 of the American Road Racing Assn.’s Miller Formula One Grand Prix will be held Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway. . . . National speedway champion Bobby Schwartz, a former resident of Santa Barbara, has entered the Coors Santa Barbara Speedway Challenge Nov. 4 at Earl Warren Showgrounds.

MOTOCROSS--Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino is bidding for next year’s United States 500cc Grand Prix on the world championship circuit with former world champion Roger DeCoster as promoter. It has been held the past three years at Hollister, Calif., after 14 years at Carlsbad. . . . The Continental Motosport Club’s weekly night series will continue Friday at Ascot Park. . . . The Saddleback Motocross Club will hold races Sunday at Glen Helen Park.