MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : NHRA Invests $4.5 Million in Fairplex Strip

The first positive step toward a permanent motor racing facility in Southern California in more than 20 years was taken this week by the National Hot Rod Assn., which announced a $4.5-million renovation program at the Pomona Fairplex drag strip.

A 15-year lease signed with the Los Angeles County Fairplex assured the NHRA of continued use of Pomona Raceway--at the northwestern corner of the fairgrounds parking lot--for two Winston Drag Racing Series championship events. Although the NHRA has used the fairgrounds annually since 1961, it never had a lease for longer than five years, which made long-range improvements impractical.

“We’ve been working with officials from the Fairplex since 1985, developing an agreement that allows NHRA drag racing to continue its storied tradition at the Los Angeles County Fairplex,” Dallas Gardner, NHRA president, said. “The improvements underway not only benefit the participants of both the Chief Auto Parts Winternationals and the Winston Finals, but also the race spectator by providing first-class comfort.”

The announcement also ends rumors that the Pomona facility might be closed, following in the pattern of Ontario Motor Speedway, Riverside International Raceway, Ascot Park and other drag racing strips such as Orange County Raceway, Irwindale, Lions, San Fernando and Carlsbad.

“It’s a funny thing,” said John Force, a two-time NHRA funny-car champion from Yorba Linda. “Guys from Southern California like myself and Don Prudhomme and Kenny Bernstein and Ed McCulloch, we go to facilities all around the country that are like great ballparks. And back home, until today, we’ve had temporary facilities.

“I remember coming to Pomona when I was too little to race and peering through the fence at my heroes, and then when I got old enough to race here, I was afraid all the time they’d take Pomona away, too. Now they’ve told us we’ll have our own place to play. I feel like all the Little Leaguers must have felt when they first heard about Dodger Stadium.”

The improvements include construction of 40,000 high-rise stadium seats to replace temporary stands that have been rented twice a year, and a three-story, 14,000-square-foot VIP hospitality building that will include a media center and 18 suites for corporate sponsors.

Permanent seating will line both sides of the drag strip, and 20,000 temporary seats will be added toward the end of the quarter-mile track for each event. Federal Aviation Administration regulations prohibit permanent structures there because of the proximity of the Pomona Raceway to Brackett Field in La Verne.

The grandstand area also will include the Top Eliminator Club, similar to existing premier clubs at Gainesville Raceway in Florida and Indianapolis Raceway Park, drag racing facilities owned by the NHRA. It will have 2,500 stadium seats with a hospitality area that includes a dining room with TV monitors that will show live, on-track action.

Five permanent buildings with restrooms will replace portable units. The old operations tower, originally built for Ontario and later used at Riverside, will remain.

The long-term lease, however, does not address the concerns of the weekly racer in Southern California. The Pomona track will be used only twice a year, in January-February for the Winternationals and October-November for the Winston Finals. Only two tracks operate weekly in the Southland--the L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale and the NHRA-owned Bakersfield Raceway in Famoso, 15 miles north of Bakersfield.

Pomona is the only NHRA national event site not used for regular racing. It is limited to two dates because of its proximity to La Verne.

“We’re very pleased with the contract renewal with the NHRA (because) they have worked very closely with the city of La Verne and its citizens,” said Ralph Hinds, president and CEO of the Fairplex. “This agreement is of great local economic benefit to the communities of La Verne and Pomona.”

Brian Tracy, an NHRA vice president, said studies showed that “there is a $2-million-a-day economic impact on the immediate market area during the two events.”

Each event lasts four days.

Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--Saugus Speedway will hold the Winston Twin 50s for NASCAR sportsman drivers in a double points race Saturday night. Pro stocks and a train race also will be on the program. Ed Fuller Jr. clinched the track mini-stock championship with a third-place finish last week. . . . Modified and stock ponies will share Saturday night billing at San Bernardino’s Orange Show Speedway. . . . Winston Racing Series sportsman, street and Grand American modifieds will run Saturday night at Cajon Speedway. . . . Bakersfield Speedway has scheduled late models and modifieds for Saturday night.

The San Bernardino County Fair’s ninth annual Coors Double Trouble Destruction Derby will be held Sunday at the Victorville Fairgrounds. Demolition will begin at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. with a $500 bonus to any driver winning both derbies.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Friday night racing returns to the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa tonight after a month’s absence with a program of Harley-Davidson races in addition to the regular scratch and handicap racing. . . . Weekly racing also continues tonight at Lake Perris Speedway, Saturday night at Speedway USA in Victorville and Wednesday night at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino.

Fullerton’s Ron Correy will ride Sunday at Bradford, England, in a semifinal round of the World Speedway Championships. Sam Ermolenko of Cypress and Rick Miller of Reseda will ride Aug. 15 in the other semifinal at Wiener-Neustadt, Germany. Sixteen finalists will race in the final, Aug. 29 in Warsaw, Poland. . . . An American team led by Greg Hancock of Costa Mesa won the World Pairs Speedway championship in a tiebreaker final with Great Britain. Hancock’s sudden-death victory over Britain’s Gary Havelock broke the deadlock.

Mike Faria of Riverside, the U.S. champion, finished eighth in the Speedway Champions Cup at Rovno, Russia, which brought together champions from 16 countries. Faria, who is expected back to ride locally this weekend, scored two victories, a second and a third in the round-robin competition.

DRAG RACING--Jets, funny cars and top-gas dragsters will be featured Saturday night in the Budweiser Fox Hunt at L. A. County Raceway in Palmdale. Jerry Segal and Joe Douthit will compete in jet dragsters.

MISCELLANY--The Alfa Romeo Owners Club will hold time trials and races Saturday and Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway. . . . Winged midgets head the Saturday night program at Santa Maria Speedway. . . . A final tuneup race before the Ventura County Fair off-road championships will be held Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. More than 380 riders and drivers are competing for berths in the finals on Aug. 23.

KARTS--The International Karting Federation will conduct its Two-Cycle Sprint Grand National championships today and Saturday at the Adams Kart Track, Market at 24th Street, in Riverside.

HONORS--Deb Williams, a veteran motorsports journalist from Charlotte, N.C., is the first woman to receive the Henry T. McLemore Motorsports Press Award. Williams is an associate editor of Griggs Publishing Co., which produces Winston Cup Scene and other racing periodicals.

NECROLOGY--Teddy Burkman, 55, a pioneer sponsor in Southern California speedway motorcycle racing, died recently of brain cancer at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla. Burkman, who lived in Oceanside, was once known as “the czar of speedway” for his interest in the sport.