Choiniere Tries an Old Trick in a New Car
Paul Choiniere has won the last three Rim of the World rallies through the Angeles National Forest driving an Audi Quattro. This weekend, in the 12th annual national championship held in the mountains west of Palmdale, the Williston, Vt., driver will be favored again, but in a Hyundai Elantra.
Choiniere and his navigator, Jeff Becker of Great Neck, N.Y., switched to the Hyundai at the start of this year’s Sports Car Club of America’s Michelin Pro Rally series and have won every race.
“Audi dropped its motor racing program a few years ago, and we were running on a shoestring for a couple of seasons before Hyundai decided to get involved,” Choiniere said. “It seemed like a good opportunity to us, and it’s turned out that way.”
The car is owned by John Buffum, Choiniere’s stepfather and generally considered America’s greatest rally driver. Before Buffum retired in 1988, he had won a record 104 national performance rally events.
Besides being the Hyundai team leader, Buffum is director of the American Rally Assn., which conducts the SCCA Pro Rally series, 11 events that determine the national champion.
A pro rally differs from international rallies, such as Paris-Dakar, East Africa or Monte Carlo, in that drivers and navigators do not get to practice on the course--or even look at it--until the event starts. Most of the Rim of the World is run over forest service fire roads, often at speeds of more than 100 m.p.h.
“The Rim is just what its name implies,” Choiniere said. “When you’re running along the rim of the mountain, your biggest worry is how far you’ll fall if you miss a turn. Some of the drop-offs might take two days to hit bottom.
“Having run the Rim before will be helpful, though. Even though we are forbidden to check out the course, knowing the characteristics of the terrain helps, and sometimes we use portions of the same roads we’ve run before. If you can recognize even one corner, it can save you some time.”
About 60% of the Rim of the World Rally will be run at night. The 55-car entry will take off at two-minute intervals, starting at 7 tonight, from the Ramada Inn in Palmdale. After running five stages, cars will be impounded at 11:30 p.m. On Saturday, from 10 until 1, cars and drivers will be showcased at the Antelope Valley Mall before returning to the rally for eight more stages from 1:30 to 10 p.m.
The cars will cover 115 stage miles, in stages ranging from four to 12 miles, but including transits, they will run about 400 miles.
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Motor Racing Notes
STOCK CARS--NASCAR’s Winston Cup series will make its only California appearance Sunday at Sears Point Raceway when the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 is run on the 2.52-mile road course in the Sonoma Valley. Also run in conjunction with the 300-kilometer (187-mile) race will be Round 3 of the Winston West season, with Bill Sedgwick looking for his third consecutive victory. A Featherlite Southwest Tour event will be run Saturday. . . . Super late models and pure stocks of the Winston Racing Series will compete Saturday night at Saugus Speedway. . . . Ventura Raceway will feature street stocks and IMCA modifieds tonight.
SPRINT CARS--One of the most competitive seasons for wingless cars will continue Saturday night with a Sprint Car Racing Assn. main event at Ventura Raceway. In seven races, there have been six winners. Last week’s race at Santa Maria was rained out.
SPEEDWAY BIKES--The Legal Rights Defenders Challenge Cup will be held tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. . . . Speedway USA at Victorville will open its weekly season Saturday night, and Glen Helen will hold weekly shows on Wednesday nights.
MISCELLANY--The SCCA’s Trans-Am series for road racing sedans, whose opener was postponed by rain last month at Sears Point, will try again Saturday night with a 100-mile race under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway. . . . U.S. Auto Club midgets and TQs will race Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale. . . . The Southern California Timing Assn. will open its season Sunday at El Mirage Dry Lake.
DRIVER OF YEAR--In driver-of-the-year balloting for the first quarter, Winston Cup driver Jeff Gordon was voted No. 1 for winning three of the first six races. Fellow NASCAR drivers Sterling Marlin, winner of the Daytona 500, and Dale Earnhardt, last year’s recipient, finished second and third.
MOTOCROSS--When the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group, promoters of four rounds of the Supercross stadium series, filed for bankruptcy liquidation last month, the Supercross schedule was changed. The June 3 race in Denver has been rescheduled for San Jose on the same night. The season will still end on June 10 in Las Vegas, with both final events co-promoted by SRO Motorsports and Pace Supersports.
NECROLOGY--Bob Pankratz, a midget racer of the Gilmore Stadium era who became a prominent car builder, died of a heart attack Monday at a convalescent home in El Centro, where he had lived for several years. In his Torrance garage, Pankratz, 80, built midget and sprint cars that were driven to championships by Troy Ruttman, Duane Carter, Jimmie Davies, Eddie Sachs and A.J. Foyt. He is survived by son Wally, also a race driver; daughter Peppe Rose, and four grandchildren.
