Mears Against an Unser? It’s a True Uphill Battle

For 60 years--since Louie Unser first won in 1934--the Pikes Peak Hill Climb has been considered the private domain of the Unser family. When Robby, Louie’s great nephew, won for the fifth time last year, it was the 32nd time an Unser had won. Seven members of the Albuquerque, N. M., family have made it first up the 156-turn, 12.4-mile run to the top of the 14,100-foot Colorado mountain.

Robby Unser will be back Sunday in a TCI Cable Chevrolet for the 71st running of the event, but another family is threatening to break into the Unser domination in the Race to the Clouds. The Mears Gang of Bakersfield will be represented by three generations, all driving Dodge trucks.

Bill, patriarch of the racing family, will debut a heavy-duty RAM pickup, powered by a Magnum V10 engine. His son, Roger, 46, and grandson, Roger Jr., 29, will be in Dodge Dakota trucks.

Yet another Mears, four-time Indy 500 winner Rick, will be grand marshal of the event. Rick, Roger’s younger brother, was rookie of the year in the 1974 Pikes Peak race.

The elder Mears’ entry will mark his return to active competition after nearly 20 years away. Bill Mears teamed with his sons in the 1970s in off-road racing after a successful stock car racing career in the Midwest.

Roger Mears has won three Pikes Peak climbs, in 1985 in the stock division and in 1972 and 1973 in the family desert buggy.

Robby Unser, whose father Bobby won the Indy 500 three times, will be trying again to return the overall Pikes Peak record to the Unser family. Last year, his winning time of 10 minutes 53 seconds was 0.06 seconds off the record set in a Peugeot by rallyist Ari Vatanen of Finland in 1988.

Another two-generation family effort will be mounted by the Millens of Newport Beach. Rod, winner of three class championships, will drive a Hyundai Elantra in the open category. Last year, he won the showroom stock class in a Scoupe Turbo and in 1991 he drove a Mazda RX-7 to victory.

Rod’s son, Rhys, 20, will try to repeat his success of last year when he won rookie of the year honors and the open rallye class in his father’s Mazda.

John Norris, a Mitsubishi driver from West Los Angeles, had a narrow escape during Wednesday’s first day of practice. He became precariously perched over the edge of the course and was taken by helicopter to a hospital for observation and released.

Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--Rookie driver Dale Williams, after winning the NASCAR Southwest Tour event wire-to-wire at San Bernardino’s Orange Show Speedway, will try his luck Saturday night in the Wrangler/Firecracker 100 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield. Defending series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., with three victories in eight races, continues to lead in points after finishing second to Williams. . . . Grand American modifieds and street stocks will be featured Saturday night at Saugus Speedway, along with a train race and fireworks show. . . . Round 2 of the California late model series is Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway, plus IMCA modifieds. . . . Cajon Speedway will host street and bomber stockers Saturday night, with a destruction derby, train race and fireworks. . . . The Kragen championship series will resume Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway. . . . Blythe Speedway will hold a double points program Saturday night for all classes, followed by fireworks.

OFF ROAD--Ivan Stewart will attempt to win his fourth consecutive overall desert race championship Saturday in the Soutar Motors-Budweiser SCORE Fireworks 250. The Fourth of July weekend feature will start at 6:30 a.m. The three-loop race of 221 miles will start at the Sidewinder exit of I-15 between Barstow and Victorville.

POWERBOATS--Ten national class champions and more than 75 boats are expected Monday at Long Beach Marine Stadium for the California Outboard Boat Racing Assn. championship series. Ten Formula One champ boats, capable of 140 m.p.h., head the entries.

SPORTS CARS--Journalists Don Fuller of Tustin and Mac DeMere of Thousand Oaks teamed with former Indy 500 driver Chet Fillip to win the 14th annual Longest Day of Nelson 24-Hour, a Sports Car Club of America race at the Nelson Ledges course in Ohio. Fuller and DeMere, both writers for Motor Trend magazine, covered 1,008 laps, or 2,016 miles, at an average speed of 84 m.p.h., to win by 33 laps. . . . Zak Brown of North Hollywood finished third in the opening race of the Benelux Opel Lotus Festival at Spa, Belgium.

VINTAGE RACING--The Vintage Auto Racing Assn. will conduct a series of races Saturday and Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway. . . . The 14th Nostalgia Drag Racing and Santa Ana Reunion is scheduled for his weekend at the L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale.

MOTORCYCLES--There will be no speedway racing Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa because of the 101st Orange County Fair, but the bikers will return July 9 for the annual Coors Dry Fair Derby.

PERSONAL--Bob Russo, public relations director for the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group since 1982 and founding president of the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Assn. in 1955, is retiring today. The long-time publicist from Covina will be succeeded by Tony Gardea at the Thompson Group, which promotes stadium off-road and Supercross races.

MISCELLANY--The Chino Fairgrounds will be the site of the M. K. Smith Chevrolet Chino Challenge III destruction derby Saturday night. Pete De Jager of Chino is defending champion in the event, limited to stock cars from 1965 or later. The fairgrounds is at Central and Edison Ave. . . . Ventura Raceway will hold a motocross and stadium off-road racing program Saturday night.