MOTOR RACING : Ascot Park to Open Final Year With Sprint Championships

The good news at the start of a new racing decade is that Ascot Park, the busiest weekly race track in the country, is programmed to remain open throughout the year.

The bad news is that 1990 will be the last for the old track that has been operating near the Gardena city limits since 1957.

Ascot will open its 33rd season the weekend of Feb. 23-24 with the Midwinter Sprint Car championships, featuring the nomadic World of Outlaws and their winged sprinters. The Outlaws lost several of their most impressive talents last year to the newly formed United Sprint Assn., but Ascot stuck with the older organization.

After a year, the USA folded its hand, so the Outlaws will return to Ascot with Steve Kinser, a nine-time champion, who rejoined the Outlaws. He had been one of the leaders in the unsuccessful revolt.

The California Racing Assn., which makes Ascot its headquarters for the wingless sprint cars, will open its final Ascot season March 17.

As has been the case for as long as Ascot has been open, promoter Cary Agajanian and his staff will have nightly fares of motorcycle racing--flat track, motocross and speedway--as well as stock car, sprint car, midget and jalopy racing.

Looking ahead to the day when Ascot’s dirt oval will be unavailable, the CRA will open its season Feb. 11 with a pavement race at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield. Defending champion Ron Shuman of Tempe, Ariz., was the first entry. Once again, he will be driving the legendary Tamale Wagon for the Morales Racing Team, headed by Andy Morales, whose late father, Alex, started the team 30 years ago.

The 1990 motor racing season will get under way locally Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium with the fourth annual Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix, opening event of a 10-race stadium series.

Main interest in the series revolves around the Grand National sports truck class, in which defending champion Robby Gordon has switched from Toyota to Ford. Gordon will be replaced on the Toyota team by Jeff Huber, who won the 1987 title driving a Mazda.

Another addition to the truck lineup is Roger Mears Jr., son of the 1985 champion, who will drive a second Nissan as a teammate of his father. Young Mears was rookie of the year last season, driving in the Super 1600 class.

A new course has been laid down inside the Anaheim Stadium that features seven turns and five jumps. Competitors in the six classes will also encounter the split-lane concept introduced to stadium racing at the Coliseum last June in which drivers can choose between an easier but longer course and a rougher, shorter one around the tight circuit.

A week later, Jan. 27, motocross will be the main event at Anaheim Stadium where the Coors Extra Gold Super Challenge will be the curtain-raiser for the Camel Supercross season.

Crowds of more than 60,000 are expected for both Anaheim events.

INDY CARS--A. J. Foyt and Eddie Cheever, a former Formula One driver who is embarking on a CART career with car owner Chip Ganassi, have been added to the list of drivers who will have Ilmor Chevrolet Indy V-8 engines this season.

FORMULA ONE--The first day of practice and qualifying for the Phoenix Grand Prix on March 9 will be free to the public. A Trans-Am championship race on March 10 has been added to the street racing schedule, with the Grand Prix on March 11.

MOTOCROSS--The G.F.I. Winter Series will continue Sunday at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale. . . . The CRC will hold its monthly pro and amateur programs Sunday at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino.

DRAG RACING--Weekly racing at Los Angeles County Raceway, near Palmdale, will start Sunday with the first of nine Firestone ET series races.

HALL OF FAME--Twenty inaugural members have been inducted into the International Motosports Hall of Fame, which will be housed in a $500,000 Unocal Museum adjacent to the Talladega (Ala.) Speedway. The list: Buck Baker, Jack Brabham, Sir Malcolm Campbell, Jim Clark, Mark Donohue, Juan Manuel Fangio, William H. G. France, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill, Tony Hulman, Junior Johnson, Parnelli Jones, Sterling Moss, Barney Oldfield, Lee Petty, Glenn (Fireball) Roberts, Jackie Stewart, Mickey Thompson, Bobby Unser and Smokey Yunick. Only retired drivers were eligible, which accounts for the absence of A. J. Foyt, Richard Petty and Don Garlits.

STOCK CARS--Three-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip has been named driver of the decade by the Sporting News. Waltrip won NASCAR’s top prize in 1981, 1982 and 1985, and also won the Daytona 500 in 1989. . . . Dan Press, 1989 NASCAR Southwest Tour champion from Frazier Park, collected $7,550 in postseason awards to bring his season money winning to a record $46,135 for the All-American Challenge Series.

NECROLOGY--Mike Leon, the oldest active driver in off-road racing and owner of Mike’s Sky Ranch resort in Baja California, and his wife were killed in a traffic accident last week en route to Tijuana. Leon, who would have been 70 on March 1, drove in the Baja 1000 last November. Mike’s Sky Ranch is a familiar checkpoint and overnight stop for off-road racers about 100 miles southeast of Ensenada.

MOTOR RACING EVENTS IN 1990 A partial list of major 1990 motor racing events and track openings scheduled in the Pacific Southwest:

INDY CARS

April 8--Autoworks 200, CART oval race, Phoenix International Raceway; April 22--Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, CART street race, Long Beach; May 5-6--Budweiser/Machinists American IndyCar series, road race, Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond; Oct. 13-14--American IndyCar series, road race, Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond; Oct. 21--Champion 300, CART road race, Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey.

STOCK CARS

April 22--Pacific Coast Region championships, pro stock opener, NASCAR, Ascot Park; May 5--Miller 100, NASCAR Southwest Tour, Saugus Speedway; May 20--Spears Manufacturing 400, NASCAR Winston West, Mesa Marin Raceway, Bakersfield; June 10--Banquet Frozen Foods 300, Winston Cup road race, NASCAR, Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma; June 16--Winston 200, NASCAR Winston West, Saugus Speedway; June 23--Budweiser 100, NASCAR Southwest Tour, Orange Show Speedway, San Bernardino; Sept. 1--Coors 100, NASCAR Southwest Tour, Orange Show Speedway, San Bernardino; Sept. 8--Miller 100, NASCAR Southwest Tour, Saugus Speedway; Oct. 14--Spears Manufacturing 400, NASCAR Winston West, Mesa Marin Raceway, Bakersfield; Nov. 4--Autoworks 500, Winston Cup oval race, NASCAR, Phoenix International Raceway.

DRAG RACING

Feb. 4--Chief Auto Parts Winternationals, National Hod Rod Assn., Pomona Fairplex; Feb. 18--Arizona Nationals, NHRA, Firebird Raceway, Chandler, Ariz.; July 29--Motorcraft Ford California Nationals, NHRA, Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.; Oct. 28--Winston Finals, NHRA, Pomona Fairplex; Nov. 9-10--Bakersfield U.S. Fuel & Gas championships, NHRA, Bakersfield Raceway, Famoso.

SPRINT CARS & MIDGETS

Feb. 11--California Racing Assn. opening race, non-winged sprint cars, Mesa Marin Raceway, Bakersfield; Feb. 16-17--Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout, World of Outlaws (WOO) winged sprint cars, Bakersfield Speedway, Oildale; Feb. 23-24--Midwinter Championships, WOO winged sprint cars, Ascot Park; March 17--CRA non-winged sprint cars, track opener, Ascot Park; April 7--ESPN Thunder Series, United States Auto Club midgets, season opener, Ascot Park; May 26--Salute to Indy, CRA non-winged sprint cars, Ascot Park; July 3--Firecracker 50, CRA non-winged sprint cars, Ascot Park; Aug. 31-Sept. 1--WOO winged sprint cars, Santa Maria Speedway; Sept. 1--Labor Day Sweepstakes, CRA non-winged sprint cars, Ascot Park; Sept. 19--WOO winged sprint cars, Bakersfield Speedway, Oildale; Sept. 21-22--Fall Championships, WOO winged sprint cars, Ascot Park; Oct. 26-27--Pacific Coast Nationals, CRA non-winged sprint cars and USAC midgets, Ascot Park; Nov. 17--Don Peabody Classic, CRA non-winged sprint cars, Ascot Park; Nov. 22--50th Turkey Night Grand Prix, USAC midgets national championship, Ascot Park.

SPORTS AND RALLY CARS

April 8--Cal Club Nationals, Sports Car Club of America, Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond; April 21--Camel GTO-GTU, International Motor Sports Assn., Long Beach; April 28-29--Rim of the World Rally, SCCA pro rally, Lancaster; May 6--Trans-Am, SCCA, Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma; May 27-28--Cal Club Nationals, SCCA, Willow Springs Raceway; Sept. 2-3--Cal Club Nationals, SCCA, Willow Springs Raceway; Oct. 14--Camel Grand Prix of Southern California, IMSA, Del Mar.

OFF-ROAD RACING

Jan. 26--Parker 400, SCORE International, Parker, Ariz.; March 3--Mint 400, High Desert Racing Assn., Las Vegas; April 21--San Felipe 250, SCORE, San Felipe, Baja California; June 9--Baja Internacional, SCORE, Ensenada, Baja California; July 7--Fireworks 250, HDRA, Barstow; Aug. 25--Nevada 500, HDRA, Pahrump, Nev.; Oct. 13--Gold Coast 300, HDRA, Las Vegas.; Nov. 10-11--Presidente Baja 1000, SCORE, Ensenada.

MOTOCROSS

Jan. 27--Camel Supercross, American Motorcyclist Assn., Anaheim Stadium; Jan. 28--Golden State Nationals, Continental Motosports Club, Carlsbad Raceway; Feb. 10--Camel Supercross, AMA, Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego; March 24--Camel Supercross, AMA, Rose Bowl, Pasadena; April 13--Weekly season night opener, CMC, Ascot Park; June 23--Camel Supercross, AMA, Coliseum; Aug. 26--U. S. Grand Prix, world 500cc championship, Glen Helen Park, San Bernardino.

MOTORCYCLES

March 3--Spring Classic, speedway bikes, Long Beach Veterans Stadium. Also March 9 at Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa; March 30--Speedway weekly season opener, Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa; April 8--U. S. International Grand Prix, world road racing championship, Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey; April 22--Observed trials, world championships, Globe, Ariz.; April 29--National endurance series, Western Eastern Racing Assn., road racing, Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond; May 12--Spring Classic, AMA Camel Pro Series, national half-mile, Ascot Park; June 9--American Final, speedway, Long Beach Veterans Stadium; June 10--National endurance series, WERA, road racing, Firebird Raceway, Chandler, Ariz.; Sept. 16--National road racing championship, AMA, Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond.; Sept. 23--National endurance series, WERA, road racing, Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond.; Sept. 29--AMA Camel Pro Series, national half-mile, Ascot Park; Oct. 6--U.S. Speedway Finals, Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa.