Popular NASCAR Truck Series Speeds Into Fontana

Not yet three years old, NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck series moves into the superspeedway atmosphere of California Speedway on Saturday with the running of the No Fear Challenge 200. Motor racing’s fastest growing class, which has progressed in such a short time from desert racing to a training ground for the Winston Cup series, is expected to attract more than 35,000 for 100 laps around the two-mile oval in Fontana.

The idea of bringing off-road trucks to stadiums began in 1994 with a discussion among four Southern Californians, Jim Smith of Buena Park,

Jim Venable of San Jacinto, Dick Landfield of San Bernardino and Frank (Scoop) Vessels of Bonsall.

“We all raced Ford pickups in the desert,” Smith said. “It was exciting racing, but it was almost impossible to see or televise. We all wanted to showcase our trucks, so we came up with the idea of building a Winston Cup-type truck.

“We flew to Daytona to talk with Bill France Jr. about the idea. He thought we were nuts and said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ That didn’t stop us. We had Gary Collins build a race truck in Bakersfield and we took it to Daytona during the 500 week and put it on display. The reaction was unbelievable. About every racing publication had it on their cover, and we hadn’t even figured out where we were going to race them.”

France took notice this time, and early in 1994 announced that NASCAR would sanction a truck-racing series.

On July 30, 1994, a demonstration race was held at Bakersfield’s Mesa Marin Raceway. Twelve trucks were there and PJ Jones won in one owned by Vessels. Most of the drivers were locals, such as Ron Hornaday Jr., Butch Gilliland, David Ashley, Steve McEachern and Mike Chase.

“We were not prepared for the response,” Smith said. “It seemed like every car builder in the country set out to build a truck. But what surprised us was that the Winston Cup teams got involved. When Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty and Ernie Irvan began showing up with trucks, the whole thing took off.”

It took off too fast for Venable, Landfield and Vessels, who dropped out. Only Smith remains from the original group.

“We all had full-time businesses to care for,” Smith said. “I was fortunate to find Barry Dodson to run my team, so I can stay involved. It’s gratifying to see the success of the series, and to be one of the grandfathers of truck racing is a real tribute. The other three call me all the time to talk about what’s happened to our baby.”

Mike Bliss, a former U.S. Auto Club Silver Crown champion from Milwaukie, Ore., and Eric Norris, the son of actor-martial arts expert Chuck Norris, will be Smith’s drivers when qualifying starts at 3 p.m. today. Team manager Dodson helped Rusty Wallace to the 1989 Winston Cup title.

“I’ve never driven on anything like that [California Speedway], so it was an experience for me,” Bliss said. “It’s a neat track. That’s probably the fastest I’ve ever been, but once you get going, the speed is all relative.”

The No Fear Challenge 200 will be the longest oval-track race in the series.

Norris, who drives only in selected races when he can take time away from orchestrating stunts for his father’s TV show, “Walker, Texas Ranger,” plans to make a full-time effort next season.

“I’ve only been in one oval race in my life, so this may be a humbling experience,” said Norris, 31, a former Formula 2000 competitor.

*

The Winston Cup series is taking a weekend off but that doesn’t mean rest and relaxation for some of its drivers. Instead of going fishing or golfing, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Dick Trickle and Bobby Labonte will be at Fontana, driving in Sunday’s Busch Grand National series race, the Kenwood Home & Audio 300.

Bobby Labonte will be making his last start in the Shell Pontiac. Newly crowned Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart will take over that ride next season. The versatile Stewart will drive in Silver Crown and USAC midget races Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Wallace, who will drive Ricky Craven’s Ford on Sunday, will be making his first start in a Busch car since July 4, 1993, at Milwaukee.

Qualifying starts today at 4:30 p.m.

Defending champion Randy LaJoie will clinch his second consecutive series championship if he finishes far enough ahead of Todd Bodine, his only challenger. LaJoie has a 246-point advantage, so if he wins and Bodine finishes ninth or worse, LaJoie will repeat as champion, with two races remaining.

No Busch champion has repeated since Larry Pearson in 1987-88.

Besides the Winston Cup superstars and the Busch regulars, entries for Sunday’s race include Kevin Schwantz, former world motorcycle road-racing champion making his second start in a Busch race; Dale Earnhardt Jr., son of the seven-time Winston Cup champion; Stevie Reeves, a two-time U.S. Auto Club midget car champion; and Stanton Barrett, whose father, Stan, reached 739.666 mph in the Budweiser Rocket in 1979.

“Ten years ago, a guy running USAC wouldn’t have even considered the Busch series as a place to race,” said Reeves, who drives a Ford owned by CAA Performance Group, which includes John Andretti, Cary Agajanian and Mike Curb. “Now, that’s the way to go if you’re thinking of Winston Cup. This is a tough, tough series. It’s competitive enough just among the guys who run it on a regular basis and, when you throw in those guys who come down from Winston Cup from time to time, it gets even more competitive.

“The way it’s grown, I’d put the Busch series up against just about any motorsports series in the country.”

LAST LAPS

Three Northern California drivers, Bryan Germone of Windsor and brothers Chris and Craig Raudman of Redding, will continue their battle for the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour championship Saturday night in the Coors 125 at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. Last week’s Port City 200 at Bakersfield’s Mesa Marin Raceway was rained out, the first series postponement since 1995. It has been rescheduled Oct. 25. Germone holds a 52-point lead over Chris Raudman with three races remaining.

Andy Evans, owner of Professional SportsCar, finally had something to smile about when Eliseo Salazar won the Indy Racing League’s season finale at Las Vegas. Salazar was driving one of Evans’ Team Scandia cars.

Recently, Evans was forced to cancel plans for a stock car series similar to the SCCA’s Trans-Am after Les Richter was named to beef up the Trans-Am’s stature. Then, Bill France and Daytona Speedway switched sanctioning bodies for the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona from SportsCar to the SCCA and its newly formed U.S. Road Racing Championship series. And Jack Long, who had been president of SportsCar during its transition from the International Motor Sports Assn., resigned.

Mike Lewis of San Diego won the GT-3 class championship in the SCCA’s Valvoline Runoffs for the second year in a row at Mid-Ohio. Four other Cal Club drivers finished second in their class: T-1, Doug Gamble, Escondido; H Production, Brian Linn, Hermosa Beach; AS, Ross Murray, Marina del Rey, and Spec Racer Ford, Lee Fleming, Lake Forest.

Shirley Muldowney, former top-fuel drag racing champion, will return to National Hot Rod Assn. competition this weekend in the Revell Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Dallas for the first time since the 1992 Winston Finals. Muldowney has been competing in International Hot Rod Assn. events, where she ran a record 303.71 mph.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Race Facts

* WHAT: NASCAR Doubleheader Race weekend--No Fear Challenge 200 for Craftsman Truck series and Kenwood Home & Car Audio 300 for Busch Grand National cars.

* WHERE: California Speedway, a two-mile oval, in Fontana.

* WHEN: No Fear Challenge 200, Saturday, 1 p.m.; Kenwood 300, Sunday, 1 p.m.

* QUALIFYING: Today, Craftsman trucks, 3 p.m.; Busch cars, 4:30 p.m.

* TELEVISION: No Fear Challenge 200, Saturday, 1 p.m., ESPN2; Kenwood 300, Sunday, 1 p.m., ESPN.

* RADIO: Both events, KCKC, 1300 AM, 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

How They Compare

How Craftsman trucks (above) and Busch Grand National cars compare:

*--*

Truck Category Car 112 in. Wheelbase 105 in. 3,400 lb. Weight 3,300 lb. 33 in. Nose height 27 in. 59 in. Roof height 51 in. 77 in. Fender height 74 in. 39 degrees Windshield angle 27 degrees 88 degrees Rear-window angle 27 degrees 36 in. Nose length 44 in. 78 in. Rear deck length 23 1/2 in. 66 3/4 in. Spoiler width 57 in. 9.5 to 1 Compression ratio 9.5 to 1

*--*