MOTOR RACING / BRIAN MURPHY : Forster’s Racing Show to Go on the Road

Hello , world, there’s a song that we’re singing

C’mon get happy!

Hard-core couch potatoes from the early 1970s will recognize those lyrics as part of the opening theme song to the sitcom “The Partridge Family.”

But if Brian Forster could recite that song these days, he might substitute the lyric: “C’mon go racing!”

Forster played the little blond-haired Chris Partridge from 1971-74 on the popular show. Remember him? The drummer?

The grown-up Forster is a racing enthusiast and will race for Team Los Angeles on Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosemead in the American City Racing League, which is composed of teams from West Coast cities that compete on tracks up and down the coast.

Forster, 31, makes his living in the Northern California town of Sebastopol as a racing instructor for the Skip Barber Racing School at Sears Point. He also is part of a team that works on owner Simon Delouie’s car, which represents Team Los Angeles in the league. Delouie, of Studio City, will be unable to race Sunday and recruited Forster to drive for him.

Forster, whose racing experience includes the San Francisco Regional championship in 1988 while racing at Sears Point and Laguna Seca, happily accepted.

It won’t be difficult to miss Forster on Sunday--he’ll have the racing helmet that’s painted in a quilt-like fashion. The pattern on Forster’s helmet is the same as the one that decorated the family bus on the show.

“I heard David Cassidy say the other day that if he could find that bus, he’d shoot it,” Forster said. “But I don’t feel that way at all. It’s kind of my claim to fame. Sometimes you gotta flaunt it.”

Forster, a graduate of Notre Dame High, comes from a show business family. His grandfather, Alan Napier, was the butler on the television series “Batman,” and his mother performed on Broadway and his father did some character acting.

Forster hit it big when he performed with the likes of Shirley Jones, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce on the set of “The Partridge Family.” Forster is dismayed by Bonaduce’s recent run-ins with the law.

“My mom and his mom still talk, so I occasionally get updates,” Forster said. “Of course, sometimes I get updates from the media.”

In the meantime, Forster will race Sunday in an all-fiberglass, closed-wheel, open-cockpit Sports 2,000 car. These cars reach a speed of about 125 m.p.h., according to Forster, and average about 105 m.p.h.

Forster, however, denied rumors that band manager Reuben Kincaid--a.k.a. character actor Dave Madden--would serve as Team Los Angeles’ crew chief.

A happy ending . . .?: For two full months now, Keith Spangler of Northridge has been without a car to race. Spangler, at 21 one of the most promising young drivers, had his ride taken away by Joe Heath of Northridge after a racing incident June 1 with Heath, owner of the No. 37 car Spangler was racing.

Since then, relationships between the camps have been strained. Spangler and his father Loren, who rebuilt the No. 37 car over the winter after Heath purchased it, thought that maybe time would heal the rift between the drivers. Heath, however, said that it was a business decision and he hoped there were no hard feelings.

Things might have reached a boiling point last week, though, when Spangler’s grandfather, Caleb Spangler, himself a racing veteran of Saugus Speedway, began insisting that his son Loren, present Heath with a bill for $10,000 in labor that Loren and Keith poured into the car over the winter.

But an amicable resolution has been reached. While Loren Spangler told his father, in effect, that his heart was in the right place, there was no point “whipping a dead horse.”

“Sometimes it’s better to let water slide off your back,” Loren Spangler said of the situation with Heath. “I think pursuing it would create more animosity than it’s worth.”

And besides, the Spangler camp is happy to report, Keith Spangler has found a ride.

Sportsman racer Lee Ladd will allow Spangler to drive his No. 01 car in the double-points Winston 100 race on Aug. 10. Ladd had asked Spangler to race his car for him last Saturday when he had the flu, and he was pleased with the manner in which Keith and Loren set up the car. A new engine built by Guy Tripp from Airflow Research in Pacoima will be in place Aug. 10 and should make the No. 01 car even more formidable, Loren Spangler promised.

Spangler will turn the car back to Ladd for the last four weeks of the Sportsman points season, then race the car in the year-end, four-track Sportsman race series in October and November. On top of that, Spangler will honor Ladd’s practice of donating all winnings from the car to cerebral palsy research.

In addition, Keith Spangler will have a chance to race against Saugus Speedway legend Oren Prosser, perhaps the finest driver to race at Saugus. Prosser is the father-in-law of Cal Northrup, Heath’s crew chief. Heath and Northrup arranged for Prosser to drive Heath’s old No. 90 car in the double-points race on Aug. 10. Heath, meanwhile, is driving the new No. 90, which was formerly Spangler’s No. 37.

“Oren is without question the best driver ever to come out of Saugus Speedway,” Loren Spangler said. “He raced against my father, he raced against me and now Keith can race against him. It’s really a thrill for Keith and he’s really excited.”

Quotebook: Sportsman driver Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill on the fallout between Spangler and Heath, before Spangler hooked up with Ladd:

“It’s a shame. Keith is a really talented driver and can’t compete. It’s a complete waste of talent. It’s almost like Darryl Strawberry without having a team to play for.”

Winning garage: Ron Hornaday’s auto repair shop is not particularly huge, with room for three cars to be jacked up and worked on at once. But these days, they better clear some room for the accomplishments of two of its employees.

Both Ron Hornaday Jr., who owns the shop, and Lance Hooper, a mechanic, lead their respective racing division in points--Hornaday atop the NASCAR Southwest Tour and Hooper in first place in Saugus Speedway’s Sportsman division.

“We don’t have any speed secrets,” Hooper said. “Just a lot of hard work. We’re two separate teams and we’re real supportive of each other.”

Easy rider: Canyon Country’s Mike Kiedrowski, a familiar face on the American Motorcyclist Assn. circuit, is enjoying a fine summer in the 125cc National Motocross Series. After tying for first place with Guy Cooper of Stillwater, Okla., in last Sunday’s race in Troy, Ohio, Kiedrowski remained atop the points standings.

After six of 13 events, Kiedrowski has 230 points to lead Cooper (215).

Another local racer, Eric Kehoe of Saugus, is 10th with 120 points.

Limited engagement: Speedway motorcycle racing will make its only appearance of the season at Ventura Raceway next Saturday.

The event will feature brakeless, alcohol-burning 500cc motorcycles that can only turn left and are capable of accelerating from zero to 60 m.p.h. in less than three seconds. Defending national champion Mike Faria of Riverside, along with Brad Oxley, Alan Christian and Bobby Schwartz are scheduled to compete.