Gurney Testing Cars of Future With Eye on Indy Car Conflict

Dan Gurney helped lead a group of Indy car owners who broke with the U.S. Auto Club in 1978 and formed what became Championship Auto Racing Teams to oversee all races except the Indianapolis 500, which remained under USAC’s control.

Now, Gurney is an interested observer as Tony George, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has started another possible Indy car civil war.

Last month, George resigned from the CART board, declaring his dissatisfaction with Indy car racing’s direction. He also said he would establish a schedule and rules for a new series of races that would include the Indy 500.

George refused to divulge details, saying he did not want to detract from the May 29 Indy 500.

“I wonder if he’s still not thinking out his plan,” said Gurney, who is involved in creating a Toyota Indy car to race in 1996. “He and Johnny Capels (USAC director of competition) were here at All American Racers not long ago, talking about the future of Indy cars. Tony was quite vague about the whole thing, asking more questions than giving answers.

“I told him that whatever happens is critical to me, my 90 employees at AAR and to Toyota, but he didn’t give a hint as to what to expect. I’ll be as anxious as everyone else to hear his next message.”

Juan Manuel Fangio II and P.J. Jones, Gurney’s two drivers who dominated International Motor Sports Assn. Camel GT competition the last two seasons, are testing partial prototypes of what will be a Toyota Eagle.

Last weekend, while Fangio was driving in the pro-celebrity race at Long Beach, Jones was testing a ’93 Lola, with a Judd engine modified in the Toyota Racing Development shops in Torrance, on the company’s 10-mile oval test track near Phoenix.

“While TRD is working to develop a competitive Indy car engine in Torrance, All American Racers has a design crew in Santa Ana creating a new Eagle,” Gurney said. “We want to develop both the engine and the chassis at the same time, so as one progresses, we’ll know right where we stand with the other.”

To help develop the new chassis, Toyota and AAR added a moving ground-plane wind tunnel to the plant in Santa Ana.

“It’s the latest state-of-the-art wind tunnel,” Gurney said. “It has a rolling road that travels beneath the model to simulate a car at speed on a racetrack so we can measure the downforce and drag and come up with the best balance.”

With the Toyota IMSA car retired, Fangio and Jones are ready for a full testing program. Already they have run at Laguna Seca, Phoenix, Sebring, Fla., and Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.

“We want to develop a base line that we can use later on,” Jones said. “Dan is keeping both Juan and me busy, which is good for us too. There is nothing like seat-time in a car to keep a driver sharp.”

Fangio also was one of three drivers in the winning turbocharged Toyota MR2 at the Bathehurst 12-hour race in Australia on April 2. It was the second year in a row that Fangio was a winner. Jones was scheduled to take a fling at NASCAR Winston Cup racing, but dropped out before the Daytona 500 after a dispute with the car owner.

“I don’t know what Tony (George) has up his sleeve, but if it turns out to be for the best in racing, I’m all for it,” Gurney said. “I’d just like to know for sure what direction our new Toyota Eagle should take.

“You can tell the sport is growing with the coming of Honda and Reynard and now Mercedes-Benz into Indy cars. I was elated to hear that Mercedes is coming back. They haven’t been in Indy car racing since 1915, and their presence will be a major plus.”

Ralph DePalma won the Indy 500 in a Mercedes-Benz in 1915, the last year the German manufacturer was represented.

The Mercedes nameplate will appear on the Ilmor-developed pushrod stock-block engines in three cars entered by Roger Penske.

Motor Racing Notes:

MIDGETS--The final night of ESPN’s Saturday Night Thunder series at Ventura Raceway will be Saturday with the last two winners, Billy Boat and Tony Stewart, expected to resume their rivalry against the U.S. Auto Club’s western regional drivers. Racing will begin at 5:30 p.m. to accommodate TV, with a TQ midget program to follow the main event.

STOCK CARS--The 41st NASCAR Winston West season will open Saturday night at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield with the $45,000 California 200. Ron Hornaday Jr., two-time Southwest Tour champion from Palmdale, will be in the Spears Motor Sports Chevrolet Lumina driven to championships in 1991 and 1993 by Bill Sedgwick, who is now the crew chief. . . . NASCAR Grand Americans will be featured Saturday night at Saugus Speedway, with sportsman cars in the spotlight at Cajon Speedway in El Cajon. . . . Modifieds and dwarf cars will run Sunday at Kern County Raceway.

INDY CARS--Overshadowed by the powerful Penske domination of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach last Sunday were two fine performances by rookie drivers in their first Indy car race. Robbie Flock of Los Angeles went from 29th to 13th and Franck Freon of France went from 27th to 12th. . . . Drivers often do their best in front of a hometown crowd, but Robby Gordon, who finished third at Long Beach, said the presence of friends and family from Orange might have hampered him. “I think it slowed me down a little bit too much,” Gordon said. “I didn’t want to make any mistakes in front of all those people.”

MOTORCYCLES--Costa Mesa Speedway will hold its third 25-race program of speedway racing Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds track. . . . Southern California’s other three speedway tracks will open next month, Glen Helen Park on May 4, Lake Perris on May 5 and Speedway USA in Victorville on May 7. . . . The U.S. qualifying round for the world speedway championships will be at Ventura Raceway on May 21. . . . The Sacramento Mile, second round of the Grand National dirt track season, will be run Saturday night at the Cal-Expo. Chris Carr, winner of the opening race at Daytona Beach, Fla., and Scott Parker, last year’s Sacramento winner, are favored.

SPRINT CARS--The Golden State Challenge series for winged sprint cars will be at Santa Maria Speedway on Saturday night. . . . Sprint Car Racing Assn. drivers will make their only Northern California appearance this weekend, racing Friday night at Antioch Speedway and Saturday night at San Jose Speedway before returning to Imperial Raceway in El Centro on April 30. . . . The SCRA has set up a fund to help Mike Sweeney, 36, who suffered multiple injuries to both knees and his right ankle when he flipped through the fence at Manzanita Speedway on April 9. Contributions can be sent to Sweeney Recovery Fund, SCRA, 9723 Washburn Rd., Downey CA90241.

OFF ROAD--The fourth round of the Mickey Thompson stadium series is scheduled for Saturday night at Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas. . . . The Spangler 200, a La Rana Desert Racing event, will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, near Ridgecrest. The start-finish line is the Teagle Wash, off Trona Road.