Her Victory Made Sparks Fly

When a tire explodes at 260 m.p.h., catapulting the rubber carcass through the air like a Frisbee, it’s no mean task to prevent the speeding vehicle from spinning wildly out of control.

It happened to Shelly Anderson last Sunday during the top fuel finals of the National Hot Rod Assn.’s Winternationals when the drive shaft broke on her car and the reverser punctured the huge right rear tire. Remarkably, the 28-year-old driver from Covina kept the 5,000-horsepower engine under control and continued down the 30-foot lane in a shower of titanium sparks to win the season’s opening event at the Pomona Raceway.

Anderson’s reaction: “It was no big deal, just part of driving.”

Her father, Brad, a three-time national alcohol funny car champion turned car owner and crew chief, is a taciturn man of few words and even fewer platitudes.

“She did quite a job of driving,” he said. “The crew gave her a car (in qualifying) that was a winner. That 4.79 (seconds elapsed time) belonged to the crew. What Shelly did all day long (Sunday) belonged to her. She never did have an easy run.”

Only seven drivers before Anderson had posted a time better than 4.8 seconds for a quarter-mile from a standing start. Her speed of 297.91 m.p.h. was the best of her career.

“I don’t know if that was the most exciting run I ever had or not,” Anderson said. “I had one at Seattle where we broke an A-arm and the car exchanged lanes. That was pretty hairy, although I didn’t hit anything.”

In the final elimination against Rance McDaniel, when Anderson’s car dropped down on the rim, the reverser dragged along the track, sparks flying in its wake. Adding to the excitement, the blower came off and a fire erupted in the motor.

“The fire made it more spectacular for the fans and the TV, but the safety crew was right there to put it out as soon as I quit sliding,” Anderson said.

And after she quit sliding and the safety crew was escorting her to the ambulance, her mother, Carol, who is the team’s manager, walked alongside and said: “Check your eye makeup, your mascara got smeared (when you took your helmet off).”

After all, the final rounds were on live television.

Although it was more dramatic for the fans, the final run might not have been the most difficult for Anderson. In the second round, against Mike Brotherton, Anderson’s car broke an A-arm, forcing her to steer with only one front wheel.

“It was really hard to keep it inside the lane,” she said. “My chutes came out late because I was so busy I couldn’t take my hands off the steering wheel.”

In her other two races, she lost traction coming off the starting line. On both occasions, her opponents (Pat Austin and Clayton Harris) had the same problem, but neither reacted as quickly as Anderson and she beat them to the finish line.

“We tired to overpower the track and ended up smoking the tires,” Anderson said. “When you do that, you have to pedal it down the track, hoping you get there first.”

The victory over Austin evened the score for the Anderson family. Earlier that day, Austin had defeated Shelly’s brother, Randy--the NHRA champion--in the semifinal round of alcohol funny car eliminations.

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The opening round of the eight-race Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road Racing Series--postponed because of earthquake damage to the stadium--is scheduled tonight at Anaheim Stadium.

Rick Johnson and Ivan Stewart, who staged one of stadium racing’s closest finishes in a driving rain last year, will be back in their Grand National trucks, along with defending series champion Rod Millen.

Johnson, a former national motocross champion from Encinitas, edged his Chevrolet truck past Stewart’s Toyota on the last jump of the last turn a year ago.

“Since I won Anaheim last year, I’m starting out the season as the one to beat,” Johnson said. “I like it that way. I’d like to repeat the win in the same fashion.

“I will never forget the ’93 race, and I don’t think Ivan (Stewart) will, either, because it couldn’t have been much more exciting. A torrential downpour turned the course into deep mud, and Ivan and I got a little tangled up at the finish. The crowd went crazy when I took the checkered flag, and Ivan ended up on top of a course barrier.”

Jimmie Johnson, 18, will be Rick Johnson’s teammate on the Nelson & Nelson Racing team. Both are from the San Diego area and are not related. Jimmie, who lives in El Cajon, drove in three races last season.

Stewart and Millen, in matching Toyotas from Cal Wells’ Precision Preparation, Inc., shop, will be seeking an 11th manufacturers’ championship. Millen won only one event last year but still managed to edge Rick Johnson for the driver’s title.

Roger Mears, winner of the last two races in 1993, and his son, Roger Jr., will be in the family’s Budweiser trucks.

Walker Evans, the 1991 series champion from Riverside, will not be racing after having competed in all 14 previous seasons. Evans, who will continue to race his trucks in desert events, will become a TV analyst on ESPN for the Thompson stadium series.

Five of the six class champions will defend their titles. In addition to Millen, they are Jerry Welchel, super 1,600; Greg George, superlite; Doug Eichner, four-wheel ATV; and Larry Brooks, ultracross. Two-time sports utility champion Tommy Croft has retired his Jeep Cherokee for 1994.