MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Last Step for George Is Victory in Grand National Sport Truck

No one has won more stadium off-road races than Greg George of Alta Loma, a pioneer on the Mickey Thompson Gran Prix circuit, but he still is seeking the victory he wants most--in a Grand National sport truck.

Since Thompson founded the sport in 1979, George has won 16 feature races (three in a Super 1600 buggy, seven in an UltraStock funny car and six in Superlite--a high-tech version of an Odyssey). Four of the Superlite victories were this season.

But he would trade them all for a victory Saturday night in the Coliseum in one of Danny Thompson’s Chevrolet trucks.

“Most drivers will tell you that they want to get to Indy or NASCAR or GTO or Formula Atlantic, some type of road racing, but not me,” George said. “All I’ve ever wanted was to drive a sport truck in the stadiums. That is the end in itself for me.”

George, 32, got his chance earlier this year after Larry Ragland, Thompson’s second driver, was injured. George made his truck debut last March in the Rose Bowl.

“You might say I was stunned by the experience after my first heat race,” he said. “I had driven in all other types of stadium races, and I’d watched the trucks closely because I knew I always wanted to drive one. And I had driven 10 laps testing in the Rose Bowl beforehand, but I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen.

“When I found myself surrounded by those huge (2,700 pounds) trucks, it was awesome. They just flat ran me over. I was aware of the amount of contact, but I had no idea how hard or how brutal it was or how they just kept beating on you. I learned fast that practice laps by yourself was no preparation for what was going to happen.”

George learned quickly. He won a heat race at his second event, at Phoenix, and he won another at Dallas.

“Once I won that first one, I felt a lot more confidence in myself, the truck and the team,” George said. “Now I’m ready to go for a win in a main event. I think I’m capable of doing it. A win Saturday night would make me the all-time winner in stadium races, too.”

Jeff Elrod of San Jose also has 16 victories in his career, all in his UltraStock VW.

Qualifying for the trucks will be held Friday in the Coliseum, but it will not be open to the public. More than 40,000 are expected Saturday night, when the program starts at 7:30 p.m.

George also will race his Nature Recipe-sponsored Superlite in Saturday night’s program. He has won four of six races and leads Sean Finley of Anaheim, 238-209, in season point standings.

“Driving in two classes helps me with the truck,” he said. “I get five races that way instead of only three, and every time you get on the track it’s a learning process. You can check where the potholes are developing, the compound of the dirt, if it’s sticky or hard--that makes a big difference. Every lap gives you a better feeling of the course.”

George grew up in racing. His father, Gil, built the first desert racing buggy, a Funco, when the sport of off-road racing was limited primarily to a couple of races in Baja California and the Mint 400 near Las Vegas. Gil George built Funcos for more than 20 years before retiring.

Greg got into racing when he was 15 and drove a Funco to second place overall in the 1974 Parker 400. A year later, in the same buggy, he finished fourth in the Baja 500, and when Thompson held his first stadium race in 1979 at the Coliseum, the Georges were there with a stadium buggy.

“We still go desert racing with the family Ford truck,” George said. “We built it to run in the open class with Ivan Stewart and the other fast guys. We’ve only run two races this year, but it gives me something to work on when I get home nights.” Greg is a welder-fabricator for a pipeline company during the week.

In stadium racing, he’s a hired driver. “I show up with my helmet and my desire and go racing,” he said. “That’s the way I like it.”

The Chevrolet truck is prepared in Thompson’s shop in Wilmington, and the Superlite is prepped by Lee Bennett’s crew in Corona.

Motor Racing Notes

SPORTS CARS--The International Motor Sports Assn. will hold the Camel Grand Prix of Monterey this weekend at Laguna Seca Raceway featuring a 300-kilometer Camel GT race over the 2.2-mile hillside course. Defending series champion Geoff Brabham and teammate Chip Robinson, in Nissan NPT-91s, are tied for the GTP points lead, but both will be challenged by Jaguar, with Davy Jones; and Toyota, with Juan Fangio debuting an Eagle from Dan Gurney’s All American Racers shop.

Wayne Taylor will be the lone Chevrolet Intrepid driver because of the injury to Tom Kendall June 30 at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Kendall, who suffered severe leg and foot injuries when his car hit a barrier, will return home to La Canada today after three weeks in Methodist Hospital at Indianapolis. He is not expected to race again for a year.

Parnelli Jones, 1963 Indy 500 winner, with sit in for his son, P.J., in one of the Toyota MR2 Turbos in the Firestone Firehawk three-hour race. P.J. will be in Toronto for an Indy Lights race, so his father will team with Chris Cord, Chip Hanauer, John Morton, Dane Pitarresi and Duane Davis in a three-car effort.

MIDGETS--Page Jones, the other son of Parnelli, is on a roll now that the United States Auto Club races are being run on asphalt. Jones scored the first “double” in USAC western regional history two weeks ago at Cajon Speedway when he won both the 30-lap full midget feature and the three-quarter main event. It was the 100th such USAC doubleheader. Page came back last Saturday to lead every lap in winning at Saugus Speedway.

Winged mini sprints and United States Auto Club three-quarter midgets are scheduled Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

STOCK CARS--NASCAR Winston Racing Series sportsman car races will highlight Saturday night programs at Saugus Speedway, Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino and Cajon Speedway in El Cajon. . . . Mini stocks will race Friday night at Ventura Raceway, with the show including a chain race.

Winston Cup veteran Geoff Bodine won the Motorcraft 500 last Sunday in Monroe, Wash., but Bill Sedgwick’s third-place finish moved the Granada Hills driver into first place in Winston West standings after six of nine races. Sedgwick, has not won, but he has 979 points to 930 for defending champion Bill Schmitt. Butch Gilliland is third with 923, followed by three-race winner Mike Chase with 878. Chase failed to finish a lap last Sunday after being involved in an accident on the third turn.

SPRINT CARS--The California Racing Assn. returns to Santa Maria Speedway this week for a 30-lap main event Saturday night on the one-third mile clay oval.

MOTORCYCLES--Speedway races Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa will be free for everyone who buys a ticket to the county fair. It is the 23rd annual Fair Derby scratch championships. New Zealand sidecars and special Quad racing will share a separate program tonight--also free--at the Fairgrounds. . . . The American Road Racing Assn. will hold its monthly Grand Prix sprint races Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway.

INDY CARS--Danny Sullivan was fined a reported $5,000 and Willy T. Ribbs $1,500 for a postrace altercation last Sunday at the Meadowlands. Sullivan, frustrated because he could not pass Ribbs’ lapped car late in the race, rammed Ribbs’ car during the cool-off lap and the incident led to a shouting and shoving match between the two in the garage area. Both are on probation for the rest of the season, starting Sunday at Toronto.

DRIVER OF THE YEAR--Stock car driver Davey Allison is the halftime leader in Driver of the Year balloting after winning three NASCAR Winston Cup races plus The Winston non-points race. Allison collected 81 points to 75 for Michael Andretti, a three-time Indy car winner, and 42 for Rick Mears, the Indianapolis 500 winner.