MOTOR RACING : Fans Real Winners as NHRA Drivers Hold Nothing Back

All three major professional National Hot Rod Assn. drag racing championships have been determined but, surprisingly, that could be a bonus for spectators at next week’s Winston Finals at the Pomoma Fairgrounds raceway.

No one will be sitting back, racing conservatively for the points. Instead, there should be an all-out assault on power and speed when the $1,084,700 event opens its four-day run on Thursday.

Eddie Hill of Wichita Falls, Tex., John Force of Yorba Linda and Warren Johnson of Duluth, Ga., have already clinched titles and Winston Drag Racing Series bonus prizes in top fuel, funny car and pro stock, respectively. Hill and Force will collect $150,000 each and Johnson $100,000 at the NHRA awards banquet Nov. 1.

The traditionally fast quarter-mile racing strip at Pomona should help produce record runs. All the elements seem to be in place. Earlier this month, in Topeka, Kan., the hot rodders broke loose with one record after another:

--Cory McClenathan of Anaheim had a 4.762-second run, the fastest top-fuel elapsed time ever, breaking the mark of 4.779 set by Hill last October at Pomona.

--Chuck Etchells of Putnam, Conn., became the first funny-car driver to break the five-second barrier when he put his Dodge Daytona through the lights in 4.987 seconds.

--Jim Epler of Vancouver, Wash., became the first funny-car driver to exceed 300 m.p.h. with a run at 300.40 in his Olds Cutlass.

--And Scott Kaliatta of Ypsilanti, Mich., had the fastest top-fuel run in history with a 308.64 m.p.h. blast.

Force, although he has already won his championship plus the $50,000 Big Bud Shootout at Indianapolis in September, has an added incentive to win at Pomona. His 11 victories in 17 events this year tie the single-season record set by Darrell Alderman in a pro stock car in 1991. One more would make him the all-time NHRA leader.

“I grew up crawling through fences to watch races at Pomona, and I think of it as my home track, so it would be extra nice to get that record in front of all my friends,” Force said.

Epler is also looking forward fondly to Pomona, where he won his only NHRA national event, the 1992 Winternationals. He also wants to show that his 300-m.p.h. run at Topeka was not a fluke.

“I have a piece of history no one will ever take away,” Epler said. “But I know the fans haven’t seen the last of the 300 runs from us.”

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Ed (Ace) McCulloch, 51, longtime funny-car and top-fuel driver, will make his final run for the Larry Minor Motorsports team at Pomona. He was released after 10 years with Minor, effective next season.

“The team wasn’t progressing the way I had expected,” Minor said. “I feel a change of chemistry is needed. It was obviously a difficult decision since Ed has been with me for so long. Right now I am looking for a new driver.”

McClenathan, 30, is considered the likely choice.

McCulloch won 16 national events while driving for Minor’s Hemet-based team, including the Slick 50 Nationals in Houston this year. Less than a week before his dismissal, McCulloch made his first 300-m.p.h. run with a 301.70 last Friday at the Texas Motorplex.

“I would like to continue to drive, but my plans are uncertain at this time,” McCulloch said.

Briefly

STOCK CARS--Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale clinched his second NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour championship with a second-place finish behind Steve Portenga of Reno in last Saturday night’s race at Mesa Marin Raceway. Hornaday is the first champion to repeat in eight seasons. . . . The second leg of the Tellus Industries street-stock series will be held tonight at Mesa Marin. Glen Burke of Las Vegas leads the series, which will end Nov. 6 with a 100-lap race at Blythe Speedway. . . . Jerry Nove of Moreno Valley clinched the Blythe sportsman championship last week and will be in the field tonight for the track’s final sportsman race. . . . IMCA modifieds will be featured tonight at Imperial Raceway, near El Centro.

SPORTS CARS--Sam Schmidt of Long Beach drove a Swift to victory in the Formula Continental championship race in the Sports Car Club of America’s Valvoline Runoffs last week at Road Atlanta. Travis Duder of Los Altos, who runs with a Cal Club license, was also a winner in D Sports Racer in a Crossle. Other Cal Club drivers who placed included Allan Padelford of Agua Dulce, second in Showroom Stock GT; Bill Hagerty, Oceanside, second in Showroom Stock A; Eric Morehouse, Fountain Valley, third in Showroom Stock C; and Bill Cooper, Phoenix, third in GT-5. . . . The Cal Club will hold SCCA regional championship races Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway, along with a Toyota super production unlimited stock car race.

MIDGETS--Robby Flock holds a 49-point lead over defending champion Sleepy Tripp with the United States Auto Club western regional series resuming tonight at Ventura Raceway. Three-quarter midgets will share the billing with a 20-lap main event.

POWER BOATS--The California Outboard Boat Racing Assn. will end its five-race championship series Sunday at Long Beach Marine Stadium with the Western States Finals. A fleet of 75 boats is expected, plus 12 circle ski racers. . . . World jet ski champions Jeff Jacobs and Christy Carlson of San Diego and national champion Victor Sheldon of Vista will be among the entries this weekend in the 12th annual Skat-Trak World Finals at Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

MISCELLANY--La Rana Desert Racing will hold the California 200 today with the start-finish line near Ridgecrest, off Trona Road at Teagle Wash. . . . Jerry Segal will try to win his fifth Jet World Finals tonight at the Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale.