MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Ricky Graham Not Washed Up on Dirt Tracks

When the time comes to vote for comeback athlete of the year, Bo Jackson, Fernando Valenzuela and perhaps Joe Montana will be high on voters’ lists, but none has made a more complete comeback than motorcycle racer Ricky Graham of Salinas.

Graham, 35, was the Grand National champion in 1982 and 1984, but two years ago--after a series of personal difficulties--he was considered washed up and out of a ride.

This year, after riding in 1992 for Johnny Goad on a privately backed Honda with moderate success, Graham dominated the American Motorcyclist Assn.’s premier dirt-track series like no one before him. Not Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts, Bubba Shobert. Not Jay Springsteen, Scott Parker nor Chris Carr.

With one race remaining, Saturday night at the Los Angeles County Fairplex track in Pomona, Graham has won a record 11 of 20 races, including a record six in a row in midseason, to clinch his third national championship.

Parker, a four-time Grand National champion, won 10 on a Harley-Davidson in 1989 for the old record.

“This whole season has been like a dream,” Graham said while training for Saturday night’s 25-lap race on the horse-racing oval. “Actually, over the winter, I thought the championship was a possibility if I could have some consistency. I wasn’t thinking of winning races as much as I was of finishing strong every race. I just wanted to be competitive with the factory Harleys.

“Then John (Goad) started building motors that not only allowed me to run with them, but to beat them. It was just a combination of things all coming together. It’s been fun, going from race to race with the motor home full of trophies.”

Graham credits much of his success to help from Danny Malfatti, an art-gallery owner from Hayward, who works as a volunteer at races and goes on training rides with him during the winter.

“It makes a big difference to have a partner when you go riding in the mountains, and Danny is always around when I need him,” Graham said. “He’s a big help with the bike, too, especially at the races when you have to change things between heats.”

Graham clinched his championship in the Springfield Mile, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, where he won so often during the 1980s that he was called “Mr. Springfield.”

“It’s like a special place for me,” he said. “I knew I could clinch the title if I won and Chris Carr finished fourth or worse, but that wasn’t likely as Chris is usually in the top three. I managed to win and when Steve Morehead squeezed into second ahead of Scotty (Parker), it dropped Chris back to fourth and I was champion again.

“This one meant so much more to me than the other two because of what I had gone through to get back on top again. I always felt I had it in me to win another championship, but not too many others felt that way. It came down to changing my attitude. I had to change a lot of things, but what counted most was attitude.”

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Less than a year ago, professional drag-boat enthusiasts were wondering if the sport would ever produce a run above the 230-m.p.h. mark.

That was before Ron Braaksma, in Madness, and Clinton Anderson, in Fatal Attraction, began their assault on the record. Braaksma was first when he ran 230.82 m.p.h. last March at Firebird Lake, near Phoenix.

Since then, there have been a total of six runs at or above 230 m.p.h. in top-fuel hydro competition in the International Hot Boat Assn. Anderson, the reigning world champion from Alpine, Calif., clocked a record 235.68 m.p.h. at Castaic Lake in May.

Now Braaksma and Anderson are poised for a shot at 240 this weekend during the Vons Mission Foods Fallnationals at Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas.

“We built a new boat that we expect to be faster than the one that set the record,” Anderson said. “We tested at Chowchilla, and it was an animal. Our main concern is that the propellers can withstand the power we’re about to pour to them.”

Braaksma, a four-time IHBA world champion from San Bernardino, holds a 49-point lead over Anderson with two events remaining.

Qualifying for the Fallnationals is Saturday, with eliminations Sunday.

Briefly

INDY CARS--Nigel Mansell collected $1,037,000 for his PPG Cup-winning season Monday night at the season-ending banquet in San Francisco. It brought the English driver’s 1993 series earnings to $2,526,953, a record for a rookie driver in any motor sports series. He also was named rookie of the year. Paul Tracy, who won five races, including last Sunday’s season finale at Laguna Seca, was named most improved driver. . . . Kenny Bernstein, owner of the Budweiser King team, announced that Scott Goodyear would be the team’s primary driver next season.

STOCK CARS--Orange Show Speedway will close its season Saturday night with the third round of the $88,000 NASCAR Western States championship series, plus the final round of the world train championship. The late models will run 100 laps over the quarter-mile paved oval, then close the series at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield on Oct. 15. . . . Bakersfield Speedway will present the Budweiser Nationals for late models, modified streets and IMCA modifieds tonight and Saturday night. . . . Ventura Raceway will hold a program of street, modified and pony stocks and IMCA dwarf cars Saturday night. . . . The first of a three-race series for street stocks at Las Vegas, Mesa Marin and Blythe will be run Saturday night at Las Vegas Speedway Park. . . . Sportsman cars will share the road racing spotlight Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway with a Vintage Auto Racing Assn. program.

MOTORCYCLES--Three riders are early nominees for the American Motorcyclist Assn. athlete of the year award to be named Nov. 20 at the AMA banquet in Long Beach. They are Kevin Schwantz, world 500cc road racing champion; Sam Ermolenko, world and national speedway champion; and Jeremy McGrath, national supercross champion.

DIRT TRACKING--The 31st annual J.W. Hunt Pacific Coast Open for midgets and wingless sprint cars will be held Friday night at Kings Speedway in Hanford. Defending midget champion Ron Shuman is scheduled to run in both 30-lap twin features, along with Jimmy Sills and Chuck Gurney.