MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Boat Racing Is No Circus, so Hanauer Quits

Chip Hanauer, the national unlimited hydroplane champion from Seattle, has retired at the peak of his career, and he is not happy about it.

“It’s sad to contemplate retirement at 36, but the sport is drying up, and when Circus Circus pulled out it caught me by surprise,” Hanauer said. “On the other hand, it also afforded me a window of opportunity to step away. As tenuous as the sport has become, it didn’t seem like a good place to invest the next five or 10 years of my life, so I decided to leave the sport while I’m still happy, healthy and on top.”

Hanauer won his fifth national championship three weeks ago on Lake Mead when he drove Circus Circus to its fourth victory in the final five races of powerboat racing’s premier 11-race series. Less than a week later, owners of the Circus Circus hotel/casino in Las Vegas announced they were dropping out of the sport.

“I thought some sponsor would pick up the team intact and we’d go on with a different name,” Hanauer said, “but when Steve Woomer bought it for his Winston Eagle program and decided to keep his own personnel, I had a gut feeling that it was time to get out myself.”

Jim Kropfeld, driver of the Winston Eagle last season, will drive Circus Circus next year.

“Frankly, it was hard for me to understand why someone would buy a winning team and then not keep it together. Our team had been assembled only 48 months, and we brought home a national championship in our second year. We jelled together perfectly. I was very happy and had another year on my contract and was looking forward to defending the championship. Then came the shocker, when Circus Circus folded its tent.”

Hanauer, who won seven Gold Cups and five national championships in the past nine years, had several offers to remain in the sport. One came from Bernie Little, owner of the Miss Budweiser boat and the strongest force in the sport. Hanauer beat Little’s boat--driven by Tom D’Eath--for the 1990 championship in the final race.

“Bernie made me a very generous offer, and I knew if I went with him I would have the best equipment possible, but the future of the sport--or rather the lack of a future--helped me make the decision I did. Basically, there are only two professional teams left after Winston Eagle merged with Circus Circus and the Mr. Pringles boat (owned by Bill Wurster with George Woods as driver) quit.

“At a time when the growth of motorsports was never stronger, our sport is weaker than ever. I would have had a totally different attitude about accepting another ride if there were enough competitive teams to assure the sport a good growth curve.”

Hanauer, who drove a Toyota Celica in a pro-celebrity race last April at Long Beach, said he hopes to get into auto racing.

“I know it’s a longshot, but I would like to start a new career. I will be at Laguna Seca this weekend for the Indy car race, and I plan to talk with the Toyota people about driving in the Firehawk showroom stock series next year. It would be an entry level approach and give me an idea if I had any future in it. I received encouragement from my instructors at Long Beach, and racing cars had always been in the back of my mind, so I think I’ll give it a chance.

“Actually, it’s like when I began racing boats. I grabbed the first opportunity afforded me and hung on. Of course, I was only 9 years old then, but at 36 I find myself in the same predicament. The skills are different (between boat racing and auto racing) in the manipulation of the vehicle, but the mentality and the mental discipline needed are exactly the same.”

Hanauer, an honors graduate of Washington State, drove his first unlimited hydroplane in 1976 and won his first race in 1979. He has since won at least one race every year, and he has won either the Gold Cup or the national championship--or both--every year since 1982. In 1986 he equaled the most prestigious record in powerboat racing when he won his fifth consecutive Gold Cup to share the record with the legendary Gar Wood, who won from 1917 to 1921. Then he won two more to put the record at seven.

INDY CARS--The Champion Spark Plug 300, final race of the CART Indy car season, will be contested Sunday at Laguna Seca Raceway on the Monterey Peninsula. It will serve as a farewell for several teams and drivers. Al Unser Jr. has clinched the $400,000 championship bonus and Eddie Cheever rookie of the year, but the battle for the second-place bonus of $250,000 between Michael Andretti and Rick Mears is on the line. Andretti has an 11-point margin with 20 points going to the race winner.

It will be the final race for Porsche, which is quitting Indy cars to concentrate on Formula One. John Andretti, one of the Porsche drivers, will drive Jim Hall’s Pennzoil Lola-Chevrolet next season. Teo Fabi, the other Porsche driver, is undecided about 1991. Danny Sullivan, who won an Indy 500 and a PPG Cup driver championship for Roger Penske, will end his Penske association.

SPRINT CARS--Two-time defending California Racing Assn. champion Ron Shuman took over the points lead for the first time this season with his victory last week at Ascot Park. The Tempe, Ariz., veteran will attempt to pull away from Brad Noffsinger, Rip Williams and John Redican when the CRA series continues Saturday night at Ascot. Johnny Parsons, a veteran of the United States Auto Club circuit, will be an added entry. The race will be part of a national “Race Against Drugs” program. . . . The Sprint Car Owners of Arizona will hold their final points race Saturday night at the Imperial County Fairgrounds, north of El Centro.

MIDGETS--Sleepy Tripp & Co. will be at Ventura Raceway Saturday night for a United States Auto Club western regional main event. Also on the program will be a three-quarter midget feature with Jay Drake, Cory Kruseman and Gary Schroeder competing for the championship.

MOTOCROSS--The Honda Racing Corp., whose riders have won 10 world 500cc championships in the past 12 years--including Belgium’s Eric Geboers this year--has withdrawn from the world championship series. Geboers, winner of the U.S. Grand Prix last month at Glen Helen, had announced his retirement. The decision will not affect the American Honda MX team plans for next season, however. Supercross champion Jeff Stanton, Rick Johnson and Jean-Michel Bayle will ride for the U.S. team. . . . Kawasaki’s Jeff Ward retained his 500cc national championship, finishing second behind Johnson last week at Unadilla, N.Y.

STOCK CARS--Winston Cup driver Ken Schrader will drive a Chevrolet Cavalier at Cajon Speedway in the Great Western Classic for Grand American cars Oct. 25. It will be the final race of the season on the three-eighths mile paved oval at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. . . . Street stocks will race Friday night at Ventura Raceway. The season will end Oct. 26 because the track has canceled its three weekly November races.

LAND SPEED--Don Carr of Sun Valley set an El Mirage Dry Lake record of 297.54 m.p.h. during a SoCal Timing Assn. meet last Sunday in the Carr/Kaplan AA fueler. That broke his own record of 290.97 set in 1988.

DRAG RACING--Cars from an earlier era will be featured this weekend at the Hot Rodding Super Show at Bakersfield Raceway. Among them will be vintage Chevy Bel Airs, Rob Vandegriff’s ’57 and Charles Carpenter’s ‘55, both of which have hit 200 m.p.h. Exhibition runs will be held Saturday with eliminations Sunday.

MOTORCYCLES--The 10th round of the American Road Racing Assn.’s Gran Prix sprint series is Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway.

POWERBOATS--Actors Don Johnson and Chuck Norris scored victories as the Offshore Professional Tour closed last week off the Florida Keys. Johnson, in his Team USA, won the 147-mile race, and Norris’ fourth-place finish enabled him to win the Superboat season championship.