Long Beach Brings Back Drag Racing
Drag boat racing, absent from Long Beach Marine Stadium for 20 years, will return Sunday as part of the Long Beach International Sea Festival Regatta.
Four blown alcohol hydros, capable of reaching speeds of more than 210 m.p.h. in five seconds, will participate in a drag racing exhibition designed to revive interest in the sport at Marine Stadium, where it was banned 20 years ago because of excessive noise.
“Long Beach is the finest saltwater closed course in the world, so we were very pleased when the City Council voted to allow us to hold a drag boat exhibition Sunday as part of the festival,” said Craig Vestermark of the sponsoring California Outboard Boat Racing Assn. “They will run along with our regular circle-boat program.”
The Marine Stadium drag boat record is 203 m.p.h., set in 1971 by Mr. Ed, driven by Larry Hill of Fresno. It seems certain to fall to one of the four boats, all regular competitors on the International Hot Boat Assn. The IMBA blown alcohol hydro record is 214.98 m.p.h., set by Cliff Bingham of Huntington Beach last July in Chowchilla.
Competitors Sunday include Jerry Toliver of Huntington Beach, in Gone Ballistic; Eddie Knox of Cathedral City, in Problem Child; Mike Vigil of Diamond Bar, in Dirty Deeds; and Bob Pizza of Campbell, Calif., in What a Tomato. Pizza’s boat, then driven by the late Tim Capaldi, was the first alcohol boat to exceed 200 m.p.h. in November 1993.
“Running with the circle boats should introduce drag boat racing to a lot of people who have never seen it,” said Toliver, a former drag racer and nephew of Art and Jack Chrisman, National Hot Rod Assn. pioneers and Hall of Fame drag racers.
Drag boat racing was not only noisy 20 years ago, it was also much more dangerous than today, despite much faster speeds. The difference is the capsule cockpit, which protects the driver from drowning when a boat flips.
The exhibitions will give the drag boats an opportunity to test their speed on salt water, which because of its buoyancy should be faster than fresh water. The IHBA will conduct a full saltwater drag racing program as part of the Hooters Unlimited Hydroplane series Sept. 15-17 at San Diego’s Mission Bay.
Also on the Long Beach program Sunday will be Formula One champ boats, two-man crackerboxes, six-liter hydroplanes and super stocks, plus barefoot skiers capable of 100 m.p.h.
Motor Racing Notes
MOTORCYCLES--Smokin’ Joe’s teammates Mike Hale and Miguel DuHamel, both on Hondas, will duel for the lead in the American Motorcyclist Assn.’s Superbike Challenge series this weekend at Sears Point Raceway, north of San Francisco. Hale leads, 227-226, with two races remaining, Sears Point and Sept. 22-24 at Firebird Raceway, near Phoenix. Also riding will be former world champions Freddie Spencer, on a Ducati, and Fred Merkel, on a Suzuki.
SPEEDWAY BIKES--The Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa has three Friday night programs remaining before playing host to the U.S. Nationals on Sept. 16. . . . Victorville Speedway will stage its annual Legends Night show, featuring old-timers such as Danny (Berzerko) Becker, Jim Fishback and the Woods brothers, Rick and Gene. . . . A Harley-Davidson race will be held Friday night at Glen Helen Speedway in San Bernardino.
MIDGETS--U.S. Auto Club record holder Billy Boat will try to extend his consecutive win record to 10 when the USAC Western Regional series continues Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway. Boat won last week at Ventura.
STOCK CARS--Andy Petree, crew chief for Dale Earnhardt’s Chevrolet, is leaving Richard Childress’ Winston Cup team at the end of the 1995 season to become a partner with Leo Jackson in their own team. Petree helped Earnhardt win the last two of his seven NASCAR championships. . . . Train racing, in which three cars are chained together and race on a Figure 8 course, will be featured Saturday night at Cajon Speedway in El Cajon.
SPRINT CARS--Non-winged cars of the Sprint Car Racing Assn. will make their debut at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif., on Saturday night. Also on the program will be the California long track championship for speedway sidecars. . . . Steve Kinser , only a couple of months after giving up his career in Winston Cup stock car racing, earned $200,000 in the last two weeks by winning $100,000 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, and a week later another $100,000 at the U.S. Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa. Kinser will race with the World of Outlaws Sept. 10 at Bakersfield Speedway.
MISCELLANY--The Ford Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the oldest international off-road race in North America, will start in Tijuana and end in La Paz, running the full length of the peninsula for the first time since the inaugural race in 1967, it was announced by Sal Fish, SCORE chief executive officer. The 1,000-mile race is scheduled for Nov. 8-11. . . . Western Legends dwarf cars will race Saturday night at San Bernardino’s Orange Show Speedway. . . . The Santa Ana Nostalgia Drags are scheduled for Saturday at L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale.
NECROLOGY--Chuck Stevenson, 1952 AAA driving champion and winner of the 1953 Pan-American road race in Mexico, died Sunday of colon cancer at his home in Benson, Ariz. Originally from Fresno, Stevenson drove in nine Indianapolis 500s with a best finish of sixth in 1961. He won four Indy car races, including three in a row from 1952-54 in Milwaukee. Survivors include his wife, Martha, son Chuck Jr. of Indianapolis and daughter Barbara of Half Moon Bay, Calif. The family said there would be no services. Stevenson would have been 76 on Oct. 15.