MOTOR RACING : Bakersfield Track Offers Option for CRA

With the closing of Ascot Park and its dirt track not far off, the California Racing Assn. sprint car organization is contemplating a different look next season.

After 12 years of dirt racing, the CRA is planning a return to asphalt tracks, at least for a portion of its 1990 schedule.

An experimental non-points race on asphalt was held last Sunday at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, and another will be held on the same half-mile banked oval this Sunday.

“Our first race was great,” Frank Lewis, CRA president, said. “We had 27 cars and the CRA drivers did well against some veteran asphalt drivers. Mike Sweeney set a track qualifying record, and two other drivers who were in their first asphalt race--Keith Chrisco and Jerry Meyer--made the trophy dash.”

Rich Vogler of Indianapolis, one of the nation’s most versatile and experienced drivers, won the race. Vogler, who finished eighth in last May’s Indianapolis 500, drove a car prepared by Johnny Capels, a veteran Indy car builder and team manager.

Second was Ron Shuman, the Tempe, Ariz., veteran who won his second consecutive CRA championship this year. He was followed by Meyer. Sweeney was fifth.

“When Ascot closes, and that may come any time next year, we have to look elsewhere. And right now it appears we will be running on asphalt at Mesa Marin, Cajon Speedway in El Cajon and Madera Speedway up near Fresno,” Lewis said.

The last time the CRA raced on asphalt was in 1977, also at Mesa Marin. At the time, the organization was having problems with the management at Ascot Park, and Speedway 605, an asphalt oval in Irwindale that has since been razed, was the CRA’s home track.

“We would like to have them back at Mesa Marin on a regular basis,” said track owner Marion Collins. “They always put on a good show when they run on asphalt.”

CRA races are unique among sprint car shows because the cars are wingless--and if Lewis has his way they will remain clean of the 5-foot by 5-foot billboards that sit atop cars in other series.

“Wherever we run, on dirt or on asphalt, we will stick to racing without wings,” Lewis said. “In time, we may be forced to put wings on our cars if we can’t find enough competition when we go on the road, but for now we definitely plan to stick with what we have. We have a great Midwestern tour coming up next year against wingless competition.

“We had drivers from Washington, Idaho, Utah, and the Midwest who brought their asphalt cars out last week, and the CRA boys beat everybody but Vogler, and he’s the best.”

The United States Auto Club, which runs some races with wings and some without, is the only other group running wingless cars. However, the winged-car organizations such as the World of Outlaws, United Sprint Assn., All-Stars and Northern Auto Racing Club all run exclusively on dirt.

The cost of changing a car to run on asphalt instead of dirt is about $2,000, according to Lewis, who said he expects the CRA to open its 1990 season on an asphalt track. The dirt track opener at Ascot Park is scheduled for March 17.

Qualifying Sunday at Mesa Marin will start at noon, with the first race at 1 p.m. Mesa Marin is east of Bakersfield on Highway 178.

DRIVER OF YEAR--Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil, winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the CART/PPG Indy car championship, was a unanimous choice as American driver of the year by a panel of writers and broadcasters. Fittipaldi, 42, who also won the world Grand Prix championship in 1972 and 1974, is the first foreign driver to win the award.

MIDGETS--The 91 cars that filled the pits last Thursday at Ascot Park was a record for a Turkey Night Grand Prix and, according to the USAC news department, may be the most cars ever to appear at a single USAC event, including sprint, stock and Indy cars as well as midgets. Chuck Gurney of Livermore repeated as Turkey Night winner by leading all 100 laps.

Robby Flock of City of Industry, with an 11th place finish in the final race Saturday night in El Centro, held on to beat three-time champion Sleepy Tripp of Costa Mesa for USAC’s Jolly Rancher western states championship. Flock finished 16 points ahead of Tripp, who ran second behind Dave Strickland of Denver in the finale. Final standings:

1. Flock, 1,303 points; 2. Tripp, 1,287; 3. Wally Pankratz, Yorba Linda, 871; 4. Frank Pedregon, Gardena, 699; 5. Rusty Rasmussen, Fresno, 629; 6. Tommy White, Bakersfield, 571; 7. Frank Baldozier, Walnut, 569; 8. Tommy Astone, Fresno, 542; 9. Mario Bringetto Jr., Fresno, and Terry Farrar, Ojai, 522 each.

STOCK CARS--The Desert Valley Racing Assn. will race Saturday at the Imperial Raceway, near El Centro. . . . Ventura Raceway champions crowned in the Coors Silver Bullet series are Charles Utts, street stocks; Jeff Bosley, street stock Figure 8s; and Rock Ake, mini-stock oval and Figure 8s.

Dick Trickle, 47, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., became the oldest rookie of the year in Winston Cup history after beating out Hut Stricklin of Calera, Ala., and Larry Pearson of Spartanburg, S. C., son of stock racing legend David Pearson. Trickle received $20,000 at Wednesday night’s NASCAR banquet in New York and will receive $1,000 for each race in which he competes next season.

OFF-ROAD--Frank Vessels averaged 48.922 m.p.h. in a Chevy truck for 2,649 miles in the SCORE/High Desert Racing Assn. season to win the Toyota True Grit award for the best average speed for the series. Roger Mears averaged 45.494 m.p.h. in a Nissan pickup to win the mini-metal division.

Tom DeNault of San Clemente won the overall points championship of SCORE/HDRA, driving a Volkswagen-powered 1600cc vehicle to beat out Rich Richardson of Capistrano Beach, who drove a 100-inch wheelbase VW-powered car.

Other winners included David Ashley, Placentia, heavy metal division and short wheelbase 4-wheel-drive class; Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, mini-metal class and stock mini-pickups; Larry Roseseler, Irvine, motorcycles; and Dean Sundahl, Spring Valley, all-terrain vehicles. All will receive awards Saturday night at the SCORE/HDRA banquet in the Airport Marriott hotel.

GOLFERS, TOO--The all-powerful Penske Indy car team proved as effective at golf as they are at racing when the team of Roger Penske, Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan and Penske’s son Greg won the amateur portion of the Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities Invitational at Sherwood CC in Thousand Oaks.

MOTOCROSS--The Continental Motosport Club’s fall series, which had a race canceled last Sunday at Perris Raceway, will try again this Sunday at Barona Oaks, in Ramona. . . . The Double Cross RC will hold its annual Santa Cross Grand Prix on Sunday at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino.