Cars to Race at Air Base, Jet Skis at Pond, er, Lake

Two unusual motor sports events, made more unusual by where they are being held, will give racing fans a variety of entertainment next month in Orange County.

--The Tustin Thunder vintage car road races, Aug. 2-4, will be held on the Marine Corps Air Station grounds in Tustin, better known for the two gigantic blimp hangars--now used for Marine helicopters--left over from World War II. A 2.2-mile course will be laid out over approximately the same track used in 1950 for a California Sports Car Club road race that featured future world Formula One champion Phil Hill in a Jaguar.

--The Jet Jam ‘96, spotlighted by the final round of the International Jet Sports Boating Assn. Budweiser Jet Sports Tour, will take place Aug. 16-18 on a 15-million-gallon lake created by damming up the normally dry Santa Ana riverbed next to the Pond of Anaheim and filling it with water.

Ogden Facility Management, which operates the Pond, will create the instant lake where the world’s finest jet skiers will perform skills and stunts usually seen only on real lakes, rivers and bays. With help from the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the riverbed will be dammed at two ends and islands will be formed in the middle to create two small lakes.

The bottom of the riverbed will be graded and covered with plastic lining. Then the city of Anaheim will supply 15 million gallons of fresh water using city fire hydrants. At the conclusion of the event, the water will be drained into a county storage area, purified and reused by the water district as potable water.

Seating will be on both sides of the makeshift lake, with the Pond parking lot being used for an outdoor festival. Also on the parking lot will be a course built for the National In-Line Skating Series, including a 15-foot-high half-pipe competition ramp.

Competition will be held in all seven Jet Sports Tour classes, with Pro Runabout 785 the featured race. Kawasaki’s Minoru Kanamori, a Japanese native living in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., took the series lead with his second victory last Sunday in Des Moines. Sea-Doo’s Chris Fischetti, also of Lake Havasu City, is second and Bill Pointer of Laguna Niguel third.

Racing at the Ford-sponsored Tustin Thunder will feature more than 400 old-time vehicles, according to John Marconi, vice president and director of the Marconi Foundation for Kids, sponsors of the event. Sanctioned by the Vintage Automobile Racing Assn., there will be 14 championship races on a course using the taxiways and giant helicopter pad on the Marine base.

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Memorial services for Indy car driver Jeff Krosnoff, who was killed in an accident during Sunday’s Molson Indy Toronto race, will be held Monday at Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, in La Canada-Flintridge. The outdoor service will be held from 5 to 9 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family is in the process of setting up a Jeff Krosnoff memorial fund.

Motor Racing Notes

MOTORCYCLES--The U.S. World Superbike championship, round six of the 12-race series, is scheduled this weekend as Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. America’s hopefuls include John Kocinski, Mike Hale and Colin Edwards, but the favorites will be Australian Troy Corser, winner of four races this year, and Englishman Carl Fogerty, the defending world champion. With Laguna Seca sporting a new, smooth surface, all records are expected to fall. Practice is Friday, qualifying Saturday and two 29-lap races Sunday.

MIDGETS--U.S. Auto Club competition returns to Ventura Raceway on Saturday night after a three-month absence. Veterans Sleepy Tripp and Wally Pankratz will challenge younger drivers such as Jason Leffler, Scott Hansen and Jay Drake on the tight one-fifth-mile oval.

SPRINT CARS--The Sprint Car Racing Assn. will be at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix on Saturday night. . . . The Pombo-Sargent Classic for winged sprinters of NARC is scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights at Kings Speedway in Hanford.

STOCK CARS--Cajon Speedway will feature Winston Racing Series sportsman, Grand American modifieds and pony stocks, plus a destruction derby, Saturday night. . . . Racing returns to Blythe Speedway Saturday night. . . . Also Saturday night will be round seven of the Ford championship series at Santa Maria Speedway.

INDY CARS--Davy Jones, runner-up in the Indianapolis 500 and winner of the 24 Hours of LeMans, will replace former world motorcycle champion Eddie Lawson in the Galles International car at the Marlboro 500 in Michigan on July 28. . . . Mike Groff has signed with Jonathan Byrd and Clayton Cunningham to run a Nissan Infinity-powered car in next year’s Indy Racing League.

DRIVER OF YEAR--Michael Andretti, winner of three of the last seven CART races, narrowly edged Winston Cup driver Jeff Gordon as second-quarter leader in one of the most wide-open balloting ever for driver of the year.

MISCELLANY--La Rana Racing will run a nine-hour desert championship night race Saturday, starting from the Sidewinder exit of Interstate 5, near Barstow, at 4 p.m. Saturday. . . . Southern California Timing Assn. racers will be at El Mirage dry lake on Sunday. . . . The 50th anniversary Chino Challenge destruction derby is scheduled for Saturday at the Chino Fairgrounds.