Huffman No. 1, Which Means He Must Try Harder

The Continental Motosport Club’s Golden State Nationals, which spawned such future motocross champions as Bob Hannah, Brad Lackey, Danny (Magoo) Chandler, Jeff Ward and Johnny O’Mara, will open its 19th season Sunday at Sunrise Valley Raceway, near the high-desert community of Adelanto.

More than 500 riders, including 31 from other countries, are expected to compete in the 15 classes, which range from minibikes to 40-and-over seniors. Racing is scheduled rain or shine, according to Stu Peters, CMC president and founder.

Rex Staten, who won both the 250cc and 500cc main events in 1978, the second year of the event, will return at 41 to ride with the seniors.

Damon Huffman of Acton, who rode a Suzuki to the West Coast 125cc Supercross championship last year, was an early entry in the feature classes, but weather conditions may cause him to drop out.

The Suzuki factory crew is en route to Orlando, Fla., where the Supercross season will open Jan. 14, although Huffman will not ride there. If Huffman rides Sunday it will be on his personal bike.

Huffman, 19, is scheduled to open defense of his 125cc regional championship Jan. 21 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, before returning to Anaheim Stadium on Jan. 28 and San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Feb. 11.

“I hear it’s harder to defend a title, but I’ll just try to stay consistent and win a lot of races,” said Huffman, who won two last year.

“I think it’s going to be fun running the No. 1 plate on my bike.”

For the second year in a row, there will be no Supercross events at the Coliseum or the Rose Bowl.

Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit team, including Ryan Hughes of Escondido, a two-time winner on the national 125cc circuit on a Kawasaki, is entered Sunday. Others expected include Yamaha riders Jeff Emig and Larry Ward, both veterans of national Supercross competition.

The VelveTouch Nationals, which began at Saddleback Park in 1977, moved to Sunrise Valley Raceway two years ago on a 40-acre site that also includes a sand drag course and a quarter-mile banked dirt oval where a stock car season will open Feb. 12.

“The land is flat around Adelanto, so we hauled in 14,000 yards of dirt last year and 20,000 yards more this year to create a mile-long motocross track that is comparable to natural terrain tracks,” Peters said. “We did not want a stadium-like track because they have become too technical and too dangerous for non-professional riders--the ones we cater to all year.”

The track is open for public riding on Thursdays and Saturdays, except for this week while it is being prepared for Sunday’s racing. Competition will start at 9 a.m.

CMC headquarters, which were located adjacent to the John Wayne Airport in Orange County for 22 years, have also moved to Adelanto.

Races in the Golden State series are also scheduled for Barona Oaks Raceway in Ramona and L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale.

Motor Racing Notes

AUTO SHOW--The Dauer 962 Porsche that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans last June will be on display at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, which starts Saturday at the Convention Center. Hurley Haywood, one of the winning drivers, is scheduled for autograph sessions at the Porsche exhibit on Jan. 14-15.

Also at the auto show will be the Reactor, a five-minute combination laser-video version of a ride in the cockpit with Mario Andretti in an Indy car. The Reactor features motion-based seating that actually simulates turns, acceleration, deceleration and the impact of G-forces.

INDY CARS--Jack Long, former marketing director of the Long Beach Grand Prix, has been named executive director of Tony George’s new Indy Racing League, which is scheduled to begin racing in 1996 in opposition to CART’s established Indy car circuit. Long succeeds Jerry Hauer, who resigned as commissioner of the IRL, saying he had determined “the league is better served with someone who has stronger ties to the motor sports industry.”

Pro football Hall of Famer Walter Payton has become a partner with Dale Coyne in a new Indy car team to be known as Payton-Coyne Racing. No driver has been named, but the car will carry Payton’s old number with the Chicago Bears, 34, and will run the full season, starting March 5 in Miami.

CLOSING--The Imperial Raceway, near El Centro, will not conduct its winter racing season because of a contractual disagreement with the track owner.

The April 29 running of the Sacramento Mile, one of the major events of the Grand National motorcycle season, has been canceled because of conflicting dates.

MISCELLANY--The third and final NASCAR Super Truck race of the winter series will be run Sunday at Tucson Raceway Park. Rick Carelli, in a Chevrolet, and P.J. Jones, in a Ford, won the first two races. The 75-mile race will serve as a final tuneup for the 1995 national championship series starting Feb. 5 at Phoenix International Raceway.

The Southern California Trials Assn. will open the 1995 season Sunday with the Kangaroo Rat Trial at Romoland.

La Rana Desert Racing will hold its New Year’s 200 on Saturday with the start-finish line at Sidewinder exit off I-15, near Barstow.

NECROLOGY--Ernie Casale, 82, a pioneer midget race car builder and owner, died last Sunday at his home in City of Industry. Casale fielded cars driven by Walt Faulkner, Johnnie Parsons and Bullet Joe Garson that won seven Pacific Coast championships in the 1930s and ‘40s. His car, driven by Bill Zaring, also won the final midget Grand Prix at Gilmore Stadium in 1950. Services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Hillside Chapel of Rose Hills Mortuary in Whittier. Survivors include his son, Andy, and two grandchildren.