MOTOR RACING : Off-Road’s Ironman Well on His Way Toward Ambitious Goal

Ivan Stewart’s nickname is Ironman. He earned it by driving solo in the Baja 1,000, the Mint 400 and other long-distance off-road desert races.

Now he may embellish it through another accomplishment. His goal for 1990 is winning the championships in both the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Gran Prix series in stadiums and the High Desert Racing Assn./SCORE series in the desert.

No one has done that.

But Ironman Stewart is well on his way. In three stadium races, he has won at Anaheim and Seattle and finished second at San Diego. And he has won both desert races runs: the Parker 400 and the Nissan, formerly the Mint, 400.

All have been in state-of-the-art Toyota trucks, built specifically for racing by team owner Cal Wells III in his Precision Preparation shops in Westminster.

“In 17 years of racing, this is the best start I’ve ever had,” said Stewart, 44, who left the construction business eight years ago to drive. “I can’t let down now, though, because there’s a long way to go in both series. But the way the trucks have been running, I can’t help but feel confident.”

Although he drives trucks in both, Stewart said the difference between racing in stadiums and across the desert is immense.

“Speed is the obvious difference,” he said.

“In the stadiums, where we’re cornering and turning all the time, we never hit more than 60 m.p.h. and usually we’re crammed together going closer to 40. Out in the desert, you’re running by yourself most of the time, and the radar gun has caught us at 118 going down those dirt roads in Mexico.

“The stadiums are great fun because all the spectators are there, and the sponsors like the exposure and it draws a lot of media, but I still love the desert best. You can be more competitive in the desert with less effort.

“Stadium racing is a lot more work. You’ve got to be on top of things because there’s hardly a second where some other guy isn’t banging on you. Wheel-to-wheel racing at 45 is tougher mentally than barreling along at 100.”

Either way, Stewart drives his big one-seater trucks alone. Many teams use two or three drivers in longer races, but the Ironman believes in the one-driver philosophy.

“What happened in the Mint--I mean the Nissan--is a good example,” he said.

“I drove all four (100-mile) laps and Butch Arciero and Bob Gordon drove two laps each in their buggy (that finished second overall). Their idea was to have a fresh driver for the last 200 miles, but I felt I had the advantage because after two laps I knew the course and could go all out, while Gordon, who finished up for them, had to feel his way through his first lap and that was enough to let me get the lead.

“My strategy was to drive conservatively for two laps and not use up the equipment. I wanted a fresh truck for the third lap to really race hard. The plan worked perfectly. I got out in front and when the guys closest behind me had their troubles, I was able to cruise the last lap, too.

“The race was almost a carbon copy of 1989, except that last year I passed Butch (Arciero) to win, and this year it was Gordon I passed. I won and they finished second both times.”

Gordon is the father of Robby Gordon, Stewart’s Toyota teammate last year, who won the stadium championship and is now driving a Mercury Cougar on the International Motor Sports Assn. Camel GTO circuit.

A chance meeting in a sushi bar near his former home in El Cajon with the founders of a video game, “Super Off Road,” has led to Stewart’s becoming so involved in the design of the game that its name has been changed to the “Ivan Stewart Super Off Road,” complete with a picture of the Ironman on its cover.

Last year, the game was ranked No. 1 among video arcade games by RePlay Magazine, an industry publication. Later this year, it will be incorporated into the Nintendo collection of games played on television.

“The guys had just seen a race in San Diego and were sitting there in my favorite sushi bar when one of them asked me, ‘Are you Ivan Stewart?’ and it all went from there,” Stewart said. “The exposure has been great for me, and for the sport, too. I never dreamed I’d end up on TV on something like Nintendo when I took a year’s leave of absence back in ’82 to see what it would be like to turn my hobby of racing into a profession.”

STOCK CARS--Saugus Speedway will open its 50th season of racing Saturday night with hobby stocks, jalopies and mini-stocks. The NASCAR sportsman and street stock season will open a week later . . . Cajon Speedway in El Cajon will hold the Bud 100, opening race of the NASCAR Southwest Tour series, on Saturday night . . . Also opening the season this week will be the Ventura Raceway on Friday night and the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino on Saturday night.

INDY CARS--Raul Boesel, third-place finisher in last year’s Indianapolis 500, has been named to replace injured Scott Pruett on the Budweiser Truesports team. Boesel, 33, is expected to be ready for the Indy car opener April 8 in Phoenix. Pruett, who crashed while testing his Lola-Judd at West Palm Beach, Fla., is not expected to resume driving until next year . . . Willy T. Ribbs, who had hoped to become the first black driver in the Indy 500, has canceled plans for this year because he doesn’t have a new car to drive on oval tracks. Ribbs will drive in the Indy car road races, starting with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 22.

SPRINT CARS--In 1988, Jerry Meyer finished third in the California Racing Assn. standings and last year he was second. The obvious progression would be No. 1 in 1990, and the Chino driver took a step in that direction when he won last week’s main event at Ascot Park, moving into second place behind John Redican. Meyer and Redican, along with former champion Brad Noffsinger and defending champion Ron Shuman, will go at it for 30 laps again Saturday night at Ascot.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Weekly racing at Southland ovals begins this week at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa Friday night. Speedway USA in Victorville will open its gates Sunday night, April 8, followed by Ascot on May 3 and Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino on May 16.

MIDGETS--Veterans Sleepy Tripp and Johnny Parsons will resume their battle for the United States Auto Club’s western regional championship Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale. Tripp leads by 19 points as the midgets resume action after five weeks off. Three-quarter midgets also will be part of the doubleheader.