This Rookie Is Having a Championship Season

Jeremy McGrath of Murrieta--the latest in a line of motocross phenoms from Southern California--says he never thought he would be running away with the Camel Supercross Series championship in his rookie season.

“I thought I would win a race or two and maybe be in contention, but I never dreamed I’d have a year like this,” the 21-year-old former Perris High student said.

All McGrath needs to win the $100,000 championship bonus is have his Honda finish ahead of Mike Kiedrowski’s Kawasaki in the Coors Light Challenge main event Saturday night in the Rose Bowl. McGrath doesn’t have to win the race, simply finish ahead of Kiedrowski, to be the champion.

“I’m stoked,” McGrath said after winning his eighth Supercross in the Indianapolis Hoosier Dome before 46,346 two weeks ago. “It’s the starts. Most of the time I’m out of the gate in front, and that makes it easy.

“I don’t think anybody thought I was for real, though, until I won from behind in Charlotte. Until then, it was a matter of not making mistakes when I was in front. At Charlotte, I had to fight my way up.”

If McGrath wins in the Rose Bowl, it will tie him with Damon Bradshaw for most victories in a season. His eight victories are a rookie record. Races in San Jose and Las Vegas remain after Pasadena in the 13-event series.

“Once you believe you can win, you can win again,” McGrath said. “I learned how to win riding in the 125 Supercross series, and I got a lot of confidence when I won a big race last winter in France with Jeff Stanton and Jean-Michel Bayle in it.” Stanton is the defending Supercross champion and Bayle is a former world champion.

McGrath rode three years in the 125 support class before moving up to the 250cc bikes this year. He finished second to Ty Davis in 1990 and won the championship in 1991 and 1992.

Stanton, who missed the Hoosier Dome event after suffering a concussion in a spill a week earlier at the Pontiac Supercross, expects to ride in the Rose Bowl even though he is out of contention in the championship race.

Motor Racing Notes

DRAG BOATS--The Spirit of America top fuel hydro, which held the world record of 220.58 m.p.h. until it was broken three weeks ago, will return to racing this weekend in the Mission Foods Nationals at Castaic Lake. Roger Way Jr. of Covina purchased the boat from Fred Bray, who retired it last year, and has retained its regular driver, Kyle Walker of Houston, to drive. Ron Braaksma, who broke the record in Madness with a run of 222.22, also will be at Castaic.

RALLY--National champion Paul Choiniere of Williston, Vt., who is also defending Rim of the World PRO Rally champion, will drive a new Audi Quattro S-2 Coupe when the second round of the Subaru series is conducted Saturday through the Angeles National Forest, near Palmdale. Also entered are Chad DiMarco of Huntington Beach, the 1991 national champion, in a revamped Subaru Legacy; and Lon Peterson, an amateur driver from Victorville who defeated the pros last year in the Rim rally, in a Mitsubishi Eclipse. The 278-mile event, which includes 12 stages from four to 12 miles at speeds of more than 100 m.p.h., will start at 1:30 p.m., with a night section at 7:20 p.m.

STOCK CARS--The Winston Cup cars of NASCAR make their only California appearance this year in Sunday’s Save Mart 300 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma. The Budweiser 200 for Featherlite Southwest Tour cars will be run Saturday at Sears Point. The same cars will be at Saugus Speedway on May 22. . . . Geoff Bodine has purchased Alan Kulwicki Racing and will have Tom Kendall and Jimmy Hensley as drivers for the remainder of the 1993 Winston Cup season. Bodine is under contract to drive the Motorcraft Ford for Bud Moore until 1994.

All Saturday night: NASCAR sportsmen at Saugus Speedway, late models at Bakersfield Speedway, street stocks at Ventura Raceway, late models at Santa Maria Speedway, all divisions at Blythe Speedway, sportsmen at Imperial Raceway, NASCAR sportsman and a train race at Cajon Speedway.

MISCELLANY--The second round of the Chevrolet-Champion Nostalgia Racing Series will be at Bakersfield Raceway on Saturday. . . . Grand Prix motorcycle racing is scheduled Saturday and Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway. . . . Felix (Nighthawk) Giles, off-road racing’s first African-American driver, will be inducted into the Legends Sports Hall of Fame in Long Beach on Friday.