Marines Help Tustin Auto Racing Event Establish a Base Camp

Gerry Bill, wearing a cellular phone on his hip like a sidearm, was calmly directing traffic.

The truck with the timing and scoring building for this weekend’s Tustin Thunder Road races stays right here. The telephone company truck can leave its equipment over there.

Then his phone rings.

“This is Gerry,” said Bill, the event manager. “Well, I wanted them to set up someplace else, but that’s OK.”

Problem solved, on to the next one.

It’s been this way for the three to four months since the event came into existence.

The Tustin Thunder Road Races--a series of races for everything from Trans Ams to radio controlled cars--will be held Friday through Sunday at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin.

It has been a joint project. Part military operation, part carnival construction. There will be a carnival, one the size of a football field.

Life has accelerated since July 17, when construction of the race course began.

“We have trucks with tents and bleachers and fences, everything, rolling through here,” Bill said. “My 3-year-old boy asked me the other day, ‘Why don’t you come home any more?’ ”

The one comforting thought was told to Bill moments earlier. A Staff Sgt. approached him and said, “Sir, the Marines are here. I have them in the building out of the sun.”

In other words, the labor force was ready.

Massive K-Rails have been moved about by Marine cranes. Grandstands have been constructed on runways. VIP boxes have been built. And the tents, lots of tents, for vendors.

It has been a hand-in-hand project, between the Marconi Foundation for Kids and the Marines.

As of Friday, most of the course was still on blueprints, with orange cones marking the track. Some grandstands had been completed and tents were under construction. But the big push won’t begin until today. An around-the-clock shift begins right after the vintage World War II airplanes land at 5 p.m.

“And the Marines will begin at 5:01,” Bill said. “That’s the way they operate. They’re workaholics. You ask them to put something over there and it’s there. If they say they will move something at 8:01 a.m., by 8:02 it’s moved.”

The air station has been turned a racing venue, complete with a 2.2-mile course. It will cover two taxiways and two helicopters pads.

“The Marines have treated the whole thing like a military exercise,” Bill said.

Planning began more than three months ago with the inception of the race. The idea was to raise money for the Marconi Foundation’s main charities--Olive Crest, Covenant and Pediatric Aids. Finding a site large enough to make it worthwhile didn’t take long.

The event organizers wanted to have the event in Orange County. They approached Tom Caughlan, the Marine Air Station commander, who was receptive to the idea, if a portion of the proceeds would be donated to the Marine Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department, the races could be there.

The site cut down on paper work, as there was less paper work dealing with the military than with a city, according to Bill. The Marines have provided office space and will allow large hangers to be used for exhibits. They also offered to help with the setup. The 374 Marine Wing Support Squadron, which normally builds temporary airfields, was assigned to work on the project.

Besides helping with course construction, the Marines have plowed a field and built an access road to handle parking.

“This is the type of thing we are trained to do,” said Capt. Douglas Powell, a Marine spokesman. “MSW 374 build airfields, which involves the same type of activities--leveling ground for an airstrip and building access roads. The only thing we are not trained in is laying out a race track. But they tell us where to put everything.”

The Marconi Foundation was responsible for procuring the equipment. Grandstands and K-rails--the large cement blocks that line the course--were borrowed from the Long Beach Grand Prix.

“The Marines are great,” Bill said. “They ask us where we want these large cement blocks and then move them. Actually, this is what they usually do as a job.”

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Tustin Races

* What: Tustin Thunder Road races.

* When: Friday-Sunday.

* Where: Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin.

* Featured Event: Jerry Titus Memorial Race for Trans Ams built before 1973. Qualifying on Friday, with races Saturday and Sunday. Other events include a celebrity race, radio-controlled racing and a “Taste of Tustin.”

* Admission: $10, $15 for grandstand seating. Three-day admission $25; Three-day grandstand $40.

* For information: (714) 258-1820.