Jet Skis in Natural Setting This Time

The Budweiser Jet Sports Tour will be in San Diego this weekend for Round 4 of its 10-race Westcoast Performance Nationals, but the next time it comes to Southern California it will be in a man-made pool of water next to the Pond of Anaheim.

That’s right, they’re going to dam the Santa Ana River and create a 1,000- by 300-foot pool for the jet skis to cavort Aug. 16-18 in a season-ending Jet Jam ’96.

In the meantime, if you prefer a more conventional setting for the Santa Ana-based International Jet Sports Boating Assn. events Saturday and Sunday, more than 200 touring professionals and amateurs will be at Vacation Isle on Mission Bay this weekend.

Factory-backed teams from Kawasaki, Polaris, Sea-Doo, Tigershark, WetJet and Yamaha will compete in seven pro classes, including pro runabout 785.

Sea-Doo’s Chris Fischetti of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., the 1991 world champion, leads the pro runabout 785 class with 166 points to 138 for Japan’s Minoru Kanamori, who won last week’s event in Dallas aboard a Kawasaki.

“I always enjoy racing at San Diego, but this year will be particularly exciting,” Fischetti, known as “the Fish,” said. Last year he won both the pro runabout 785 and pro sport titles on Mission Bay. “I hope to go back and win again.”

Third is Riva Yamaha’s Dustin Farthing of Hobe Sound, Fla., last year’s rookie of the year, with 133. Tom Bonacci of Costa Mesa, another Sea-Doo rider, is fourth at 118. Last year, Bonacci won his first world championship in the pro sport class.

Victor Sheldon of Vista is defending Jet Sports Tour champion in the pro runabout 785 class, but after failing to qualify in the season opener at Savannah, Ga., he trails in ninth place. However, he leads the pro runabout 1200 class.

Other defending series champions entered include Fischetti, pro sport; Karine Paturei of France, pro-am women runabout; Tera Crismon of Lake Havasu City, pro-am women ski; Dan Fitzgerald of Boca Raton, Fla., pro runabout 1200; and Rick Roy of Canada, pro freestyle.

Finals start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

Motor Racing Notes

NEW TRACK--Groundbreaking for a three-eighths-mile dirt oval on the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds in Victorville was held Wednesday by co-promoters Gene Woods and Harry Schooler. Woods is a former speedway motorcycle champion who runs the Speedway USA track, adjacent to the new oval. Schooler is a former operator of Ascot Park. Former sprint car champion Bob Hogle will be racing director at the 5,000-seat facility, scheduled to open Aug. 14.

SPRINT CARS--J.J. Yeley, coming off Sprint Car Racing Assn. victories at Perris and Ventura, will try to win his third consecutive main event Saturday night when the SCRA returns to Perris Auto Speedway. Yeley, 19, trails 1994 champion Ron Shuman by one point in the season standings.

STOCK CARS--Cajon Speedway will hold a train race Saturday night with its regular Winston Racing Series sportsman and Grand American modifieds program. . . . Also Saturday night: Street stocks at Ventura Raceway and street stocks and mini stocks at Kern County Raceway.

MOTORCYCLES--Malcolm Smith Motorsports of Riverside will hold a GS-only dual sport ride this weekend in the San Bernardino National Forest. Smith, inducted Wednesday into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, Mich., will lead the ride from Riverside to Lake Arrowhead. Details: (909) 687-1300. . . . Doug Domokos, “the Wheelie King,” will perform tonight during the speedway and sidecar races at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. . . . Sidecars are the feature attraction Saturday nights at Speedway USA.

POWERBOATS--Seven-time national unlimited hydroplane champion Chip Hanauer, who suffered a concussion in an accident during the APBA Gold Cup last weekend on the Detroit River, said Thursday that he was stepping out of the Miss Budweiser boat. Mark Evans, who drove to second place as Hanauer’s replacement in Detroit, will be in the boat Sunday at the Kansas City Hydrofair on Smithville Lake, Mo. Hanauer, four victories shy of the late Bill Muncey’s all-time hydroplane win record of 62, insisted that he is not retiring.

NECROLOGY--Clay Robbins, 69, a former California Racing Assn. sprint car and midget car driver from North Hollywood, who raced in the ‘50s and ‘60s, died Tuesday. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Michael’s Church, 3646 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City. . . . Jim Morton, longtime director of operations for SCORE International off-road races, was killed in a highway accident last Sunday while returning to his home in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., from the Baja 500.