OFF-ROAD : Mud-Bogging When Rain Hits Anaheim

The purists of off-road racing who complain that stadium events only simulate the sport should have been at Anaheim Stadium on Saturday night.

The Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road race featured all the nasty elements of Baja, thanks to a heavy rainstorm that turned the man-made course into a mess.

The 57,036 fans who braved the storm were treated to a true off-road race, complete with thunder and lightning.

After an afternoon thundershower, race officials canceled qualifying trials and delayed the start of the heat races for 20 minutes.

“With all this rain, the course might be like racing in the desert. A free-for-all,” said Roger Mears. “Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. Tonight it’s the Mud Bowl.”

Rick Johnson was the first victim of the muddy track. He flipped his Chevy S-10 pickup truck on the sixth lap of his opening heat race and had to be content with a sixth-place finish, following a restart. Johnson had the fastest practice lap earlier in the day.

But he came on strong in his second heat race and so did the rain. Johnson took the early lead for three laps until Rod Millen’s Toyota passed him.

Johnson and Millen were side-by-side heading into a series of jumps as they approached the finish line. Thunder roared and lightning flashed as Millen passed Johnson about 100 feet from the finish line for the victory.

Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas was the surprise winner of the first pickup truck heat race. MacCachren passed Danny Thompson on the fifth lap of the eight-lap race and avoided several stalled vehicles to earn the victory.

“The mud was really thick coming out of the turns,” Thompson said.

Track conditions had improved when defending Super 1600cc driver Jerry Whelchel ran in his first heat race, but Whelchel had to survive a restart before claiming victory.

He tangled with Gary Gall on the first turn of the restart, and officials ruled that Gall had caused the incident. Gall was ordered to the back of the pack and Whelchel started on the pole and went wire-to-wire to win.

Shaun Kalos and Craig Canoy won their 250cc motorcycle races.