Lake at Pond Helps Jet Skiing Catch a Wave

Usually, there’s no water in the Santa Ana River where it passes by the Pond of Anaheim, but this week a couple of man-made dams and 15 million gallons of water have transformed the storm drain into a lake, where the International Jet Sports Boating Assn. will conduct the final event of its 10-race national championship tour.

The feature event of Jet Jam ’96 on Sunday will be the 785 Pro Runabout race of the Budweiser Jet Sports series. Victor Sheldon of Vista is the defending champion in the growing sport’s most prestigious class. Pro Runabouts are 65-mph jet skis that turn on a dime and make for some of the most competitive racing in motor sports.

Sheldon is not sure what to expect from racing on the instant lake created for the three-day water festival, but he says it will be yet another boost for his sport, which has grown in 13 years from a handful of competitors to more than 13,000.

“The best way to describe the growth of jet skis is in the way the riders transport their watercraft,” Sheldon said. “When I first started [in 1986], we drove to the water with our boat in the back of a pickup truck. Now the racers show up with 18-wheelers for all their equipment.”

There are also side rewards. Known as the Slasher, Sheldon has a Slasher line of apparel on the market in Japan. The sport got a boost last year when manufacturers began to offer factory support. Sheldon, winner of three national championships after moving to Southern California from his home in Anchorage, Alaska, was one of the first riders recruited by Kawasaki. He rewarded the factory by winning the 785 title in his first season.

This season, Sheldon is suffering from the sport’s Pro Runabout champions jinx--no winner has had a successful season after his IJSBA title year. After nine events, he is in sixth position. His Kawasaki teammate, Minoru Kanamori of Japan, is leading.

However, Sheldon is leading in the companion 1200 Runabout division. A 1200 is about 150 pounds heavier than a 785, and is faster on the straightaways but not as quick in the corners.

“The start is going to be very important at Anaheim because the course is so tight that it will be difficult to pass,” Sheldon said. “The depth [four to five feet] won’t make much difference, but because the pond is so narrow, there will be a lot of wake from water bouncing back off the sea walls. That will make it better for the crowd, because when there’s a strong wake the water gets choppy, and choppy water makes for more spills. That’s what the crowd loves.”

Sheldon, one of the sports’ old-timers who will be 30 on Oct. 10, won three of the first four 1200 races in Savannah, Ga.; Dallas and San Diego. But he began to have trouble with his starts and failed to win any of the last five events.

Still, that’s not bad for someone who started his career in Alaska, where the season lasts barely three months, “if you’re a hard-core rider,” and his main sports were hockey and skiing.

Motor Sports Notes

ASCOT SPEEDWAY--The new three-eighths-mile banked clay oval on the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds in Victorville will open this weekend with programs Saturday and Sunday nights. On Saturday, co-promoters Harry Schooler and Gene Woods have lined up IMCA sprint cars and modifieds, plus New Zealand sidecars. On Sunday, stock cars take over with street, bomber and mini stocks, plus Figure 8 racing. The stadium will seat 5,000 spectators.

MOTORCYCLE RACES--Harleys will race on the tiny Costa Mesa Speedway in Orange County tonight as part of the speedway program. . . . The Willow Springs Motorcycle Club will conduct Grand Prix racing Saturday and Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway.

SPRINT CARS--Another busy weekend for the Sprint Car Racing Assn. finds the wingless cars racing tonight at Ventura Raceway and Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway.

STOCK CARS--Ventura Raceway will feature street stocks and a destruction derby on Saturday night. . . . Cajon Speedway will have a Saturday night destruction derby following a program of street stocks, Grand American modifieds and bombers. . . . Tonight, Perris Auto Speedway will have street stocks, modifieds, mini sprints and dwarf cars.

HISTORIC RACES--Some of BMW’s most celebrated cars will be on display this weekend when the Monterey Historic Automobile Races are held at Laguna Seca Raceway. Among the BMWs that will appear in races arranged by class and vintage will be a prewar BMW 328 that competed in the Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile road race in Italy; the Brabham-BMW BT54, the successor to the Formula One car that Nelson Piquet drove to the world championship in 1983; and a number of models that raced at Laguna Seca in IMSA events.