MOTOR RACING : Miller, Hamill Back Home for U.S. Nationals

Rick Miller and Billy Hamill, two Southern California speedway motorcycle riders who helped the United States win the World Team Cup in Czechoslovakia two weeks ago, have returned home to compete in the 22nd United States National Speedway championships Saturday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Miller, 29, and Hamill, 20, earned gold medals along with Kelly and Shawn Moran and Sam Ermolenko for their part in an upset victory over England and Denmark. It was the first U.S. win since 1982 when world champion Bruce Penhall captained the team.

Miller and Hamill are the only riders among the 16 in Saturday night’s meet who are competing in the British League this year. The others, headed by defending national champion Bobby (Boogaloo) Schwartz and state champion Mike Faria, have been riding locally.

“There is no doubt Billy and I will be at a disadvantage,” Miller said from his home in Reseda after a 15-hour flight from Sweden via London. “The other guys have ridden all year on the tiny Costa Mesa track and know just what power and gearing they need. The tracks in Europe are more than twice as long and riding on them is an entirely different game.”

No British League rider has won the U.S. title since 1984 when Kelly Moran beat out Schwartz.

Hamill, from Monrovia, is in his rookie year with Cradley Heath of the British League but despite a knee injury early in the season has been scoring well in the world’s strongest speedway league.

“Personally, I think my chances at Costa Mesa are as good as anybody’s,” Hamill said. “The experience in pressure situations I gained at the World Cup and in qualifying rounds for the World Finals should prove very valuable. In a meet like the nationals, you need to be in top form and you need luck on your side, but the more experience you have, the more luck you’re liable to have.”

Miller is in his eighth year with the Coventry Bees in the British League, and also rides weekly for Ornama in the Swedish League. He first went to England in 1982 at the suggestion of Penhall after a big year when he won the Ventura track championship, qualified fourth for the U.S. Nationals and won the U.S. Open in Oswego, N.Y.

In the off-seasons, he was twice high-point rider in the Australian winter tour and won the national championship of South Africa.

“This has been my busiest year, and my best one, too,” Miller said. “I made it to the World Finals for the first time (finishing sixth), was on the winning World Cup team and I’ve been doing some modeling in addition to my racing.”

In the World Finals at Bradford, England, Miller was one of only two riders to take a heat from Per Jonsson of Sweden, who won the championship in a runoff with Shawn Moran.

Miller was also instrumental in leading the U.S. into the World Cup when he scored 14 out of a possible 15 points in the semifinal round against favored Sweden. In the finals, after failing to score in the first two heats on the slick surface of the Czech track, Miller suggested that Hamill, the team’s reserve rider, take his place.

“I felt great but I knew it was the kind of a track where I had bad luck,” Miller said. “I still think I could have scored some points, but I also felt strongly about the team and decided we should make a switch.”

Hamill, a last-minute replacement for slumping Ronnie Correy, came through with two second place finishes to help the U.S. reach its winning total of 37 points to 34 for England and 30 for favored Denmark.

“I was really surprised to make the team in my first year and then I was surprised again when I got a chance to ride,” Hamill said. “But the thrill of scoring those four points is something I’ll never forget. We had a feeling on our team that we couldn’t lose. All the other riders were complaining about the track, which was slick and hard, but we decided we wouldn’t complain, just ride as hard as we could and it paid off.”

Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--Marcus Mallett, 30, of Gardena, became the first black driver in NASCAR history to win a track championship when he won the pro stock main event in the Winston Racing Series at Ascot Park. Mallett won 10 of 21 races at Ascot and was 12th in the Pacific Coast regional standings. Other Ascot champions: Mike Kirby, Figure 8; Dave Doll, bomber; Ron St. John, mini-stock. . . . Saugus Speedway’s season ends Saturday night with the Reid Rondell Stunt Foundation enduro. Saugus champions: Will Harper, sportsman; Craig Rayburn, street stock; James Kusch, hobby; Kerry Mulligan, jalopy; Garrett Yamada, mini-stock. . . . Street stocks go Friday at Ventura Raceway.

Roman Calczynski, 1988 Southwest Tour champion, will make his 1990 debut Saturday night at Cajon Speedway in the Coors 100, event No. 16 in the 18-race NASCAR All-American Challenge Series. Doug George, a three-time winner, holds a 69-point lead over M.K. Kanke with three events remaining. . . . Orange Show Speedway will run the Twin 50 Saturday night--second event in a four-track fall series for sportsman drivers. Orange Show champions: Roy Meyer, sportsman; Chuck Becker II, pony; Connie Fowler, woman bomber; and Mike Meyer, bomber.

SPRINT CARS--Brad Noffsinger’s California Racing Assn. lead is 18 points over defending champion Ron Shuman as the series returns to Ascot Park for a 30-lap feature Saturday night. Billy Felts’ victory last week at Cajon Speedway was his first in 15 years of racing with the CRA.

TQ MIDGETS--Jay Drake of Valencia will be out to extend his lead over Gary Schroeder of Burbank when the United States Auto Club’s three-quarter midget series comes to Ascot Park Sunday night. Also on the program will be outlaw mini-stocks of the California Dirt Series.

HYDROPLANES--Sponsors of the Circus Circus boat, which won the unlimited hydroplane championship a week earlier on Lake Mead, announced in Las Vegas that they are getting out of the sport because of unfavorable publicity surrounding their sponsorship. The casino cited stories in Las Vegas papers relating to the size of the racing team’s budget.

Chip Hanauer, 36, who drove Circus Circus to a fifth title, said, “I’m a bit stunned. We put together a great team and worked together very hard. I would very much like to see the team stay together, but we’ll need to act quickly for that to happen.”

The 1991 season will to start Nov. 11 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

DRAG BOATS--High winds Sunday caused International Hot Boat Assn. officials to cancel final eliminations in the Chief Fallnationals at Castaic Lake. Charlie Allen, president of the sponsoring Pacific Drag Boat Promotions, said all ticket stubs will be accepted for any IHBA drag boat race in California next year.

SPORTS CARS--Geoff Brabham needs one point in the final International Motor Sports Assn. race Nov. 11 in Del Mar to win his third consecutive Camel GT championship after a crash in the rain last Sunday at Tampa, Fla., cost him a possible victory. Brabham was leading when a squall hit and he lost control of his Nissan GTP-ZX Turbo and slammed into the wall. He finished fifth in a race won by James Weaver in a Porsche 962C.

DRAG RACING--The Bakersfield Fuel & Gas Championships, once known as the March Meet, has been postponed by National Hot Rod Assn. officials from Nov. 11 until April of next year. . . . Los Angeles County Raceway will hold the Jet Nationals Saturday night with eight jet dragsters entered. . . . The Nostalgia Drag Racing Assn. will hold the Eagle One Autumn Nationals, featuring cars from the ‘60s, this weekend with qualifying Saturday and eliminations Sunday.

MOTOCROSS--The Continental Motosports Club will hold its Fall Finale Sunday at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino. CMC riders will also compete Friday night at Ascot. . . . Ventura Raceway will host a stadium motocross Saturday night.

LAND SPEED--Al Teague of San Gabriel and Nolan White of San Diego took turns breaking single-engine Streamliner records on the Bonneville salt flats. Teague ran 400.623 m.p.h. in his Chrysler hemi two-wheel-drive, then White ran 401.828 in his Chevy-powered four-wheel drive machine.