Waitress-Turned-Racer Serves Up Success

Two weeks ago, Amy Wilson of Torrance became only the third female driver to win a United States Auto Club main event in its 40-year history when she led all 20 laps of a three-quarter midget race in Bakersfield.

Sunday night, on the tiny speedway motorcycle oval at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, she will try to make it two in a row when USAC holds its once-a-year TQ midget racing program in conjunction with the Orange County Fair.

Wilson, a 21-year-old waitress at TGI Friday in Torrance, is in her second year driving TQs on the Skoal USAC West Coast circuit, but she has been a racer since she was 15.

“My dad got me my first go-kart when I was about 6, and I started racing all over the country with the International Karting Federation in ‘89,” she said. “Then I raced a season in micro-sprints before moving up to TQs last year.

“I liked it best in ’90 when I raced at Ascot on Friday nights; then my dad and I would drive to Hanford for a race Saturday night and then to Tulare for one on Sunday. Those were fun times.”

Wilson, who moved into seventh place in USAC standings with her victory at Bakersfield, plans to run one more season in her Honda-powered TQ midget, then take on the more powerful full midgets.

“I’m still proving myself,” she said. “I own my own car, and I’ve got to keep moving up the ladder and hope I catch a sponsor’s attention. In the meantime, I’ll keep learning.”

While attending Torrance High, she played a little softball, but her weekend racing schedule caused her to “sacrifice going to dances, parties and hanging out with friends. Racing, if you’re serious, is pretty consuming.”

In the Bakersfield victory, Wilson started on the outside of the second row but shot to the lead and led all 20 laps to beat series leader Steve Alexander, Gary Schroeder and fast qualifier Scott Hansen.

“Bakersfield is a one-groove track and my crew [her father, Richard Wilson, and a friend, Brian Harris] told me to get to the bottom of the track as quick as I could. I guess you’d call it a Banzai start, but I made it through.

“It was one of those nights where we were really hooked up. We had three yellow [caution] flags that brought us back to the field, but I managed to pull away after every restart.”

The victory put her in company of Bev Griffis, who became USAC’s first female winner in 1986 in the Indianapolis Speedrome midget series, and the late Kara Hendrick, who won two TQ races at Ascot Park in 1989.

As a car owner, Wilson is not particularly looking forward to Sunday’s 30-lap race. Last year, in her rookie start at Costa Mesa, she flipped.

“It is so tiny, so crowded, that you can’t help but get banged into,” she said. “The fans love it, but probably half the cars will end up in the field. After running on big tracks like Cajon [three-eights of a mile] and Bakersfield [one-third mile], it’s hard to scale down at Costa Mesa.”

The Costa Mesa oval, where speedway bikes race every Friday night, is only 185 yards long, barely one-tenth of a mile around.

Motor Racing Notes

SPRINT CARS--The Sprint Car Racing Assn. will race Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway before heading to the Northwest for two races July 21-22 at Skagit, Wash., and one July 25 at Cottage Grove, Ore. The SCRA will return to Southern California for a July 29 show at Santa Maria. . . . Open wheel IMCA sprint cars will share billing with legend cars and micro midgets Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

STOCK CARS--Saugus Speedway has scheduled NASCAR Winston Racing Series late models, mini stocks and pure stocks for Saturday night. . . . The Coors Light Silver Bullet series for street and pony stocks will resume Friday night at Ventura Raceway. . . . Rick Johnson, seven-time national motocross champion, has moved into the lead in NASCAR sportsman competition at Cajon Speedway. Going into Saturday night’s main event, Johnson has 434 points to 416 for Jerry Gay and 414 for Mike Mendenhall.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--The 20th annual Coors Light Fair Derby will be held Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds, featuring former national champion riders Bobby Schwartz, Brad Oxley and Steve Lucero. Schwartz has won the last two Derbys. On Saturday night, on the same track, sidecars, quads and speedway midgets will perform. . . . Glen Helen Speedway in San Bernardino will hold its Friday night program.

MISCELLANY--The Nostalgia Drag Racing Assn. will hold its sixth Goldminers Classic, spotlighting cars and drivers from the old Irwindale track, this weekend at the L. A. County Raceway in Palmdale. . . . Carlsbad Raceway, site of the U.S. Motocross Grand Prix for many years, will showcase the eighth annual Commotion by the Ocean motocross this weekend. Veterans, beginners and old-timers will race Saturday with professionals and expert amateurs Sunday.