Kendall Looking for a Ride Despite Phenomenal Year

Tom Kendall will accept a trophy Saturday night in Long Beach for being named to the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Assn.’s All-American racing team for the sixth time since 1986.

His record of 11 consecutive victories in a Ford Mustang during last year’s Trans-Am series is one of the most remarkable feats in motor racing.

But he’s unemployed--a champion driver without a ride.

It is the first time Kendall, 31, has not been signed and sealed on Jan. 1 since he was 17 and about to enroll at UCLA.

“All those years I was racing, I was always wishing I had time to do other stuff,” Kendall said. “Now I’ve got the time, I’d rather be racing.”

Kendall’s phenomenal career came to a halt when:

* Jack Roush, for whom Kendall had won three consecutive Trans-Am championships, decided to quit the fading series.

* Ford also decided to withdraw its support, preventing Kendall from forming his own team.

* Roush changed his mind and gave his team’s Craftsman Truck series ride to Greg Biffle, rather than Kendall, who had lobbied long and hard for it.

“I’m not entirely out of the loop,” Kendall said with a laugh. “I’ve still got IROC.”

Kendall is one of 12 drivers who will be in the International Race of Champions, which opens a four-race schedule Feb. 13 at Daytona Beach, Fla.

“IROC will give me some good exposure toward a ride before the season is out,” Kendall said. “Mark Martin has talked me up after we’ve raced. He told me that I was better than half the other guys in the series. Unsolicited praise like that has got to help.”

But fellow drivers have been saying things like that about Kendall for years.

As far back as 1990, Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt said, “He’s got all the opportunity in the world right now, starting out young like he is. He could go Winston Cup, Busch Grand National, Indy car racing. He’s a college kid, smart, clean cut. All the doors are pretty much open for him.”

After Kendall won 11 consecutive races and his fourth Trans-Am title last year--he won his first in 1990 driving a Chevrolet Beretta for the ICI Olivetti team--he expected to jump into Roush’s new truck team.

“We shook hands on the deal, but before the contracts were signed, the people with Roush changed their mind,” Kendall said. “They say I turned it down, but that’s a lie. I would have loved to drive in the truck series. It would have been a wonderful project for me, and for them as well.

“I don’t know what caused them to change their mind. I respect their right to change, but I don’t respect them telling people it was my idea.”

When the truck ride fell through, Kendall and Jon Gooding, his Trans-Am teammate, talked about starting their own team.

“I would have been happy to stay in Trans-Am with Jon in a pair of Fords, but when the manufacturer opted out of the series, it was time to look around for something else.”

Kendall has coveted an Indy car opportunity for years, but his 6-foot-4 frame has worked against him.

“I know my height is a stumbling block in people’s eyes, but I’d like a chance to prove I could do it,” he said. “I really believe that a cockpit could be fabricated that would fit. Bobby Rahal is the tallest CART driver, he’s about 6-1.”

John Paul Jr., of the Indy Racing League, is also 6-4, but Kendall turned down several opportunities to test IRL cars after a number of drivers were injured last year.

“I heard about changes they made, but I wanted to be convinced that they are safer,” Kendall said. “When you’re young, just starting out, you’ll take any ride just to prove yourself, but as you get older, and have some success, you become more cautious.”

The highlight of 1997, says Kendall, occurred at Watkins Glen, N.Y., when he broke the late Mark Donohue’s record of eight consecutive victories.

“There were so many elements to Watkins Glen,” Kendall said. “First, you have to know that Mark was my idol growing up. To Trans Am drivers, Donohue is our Michael Jordan--the greatest who ever lived. I read his book before I ever raced, so it was very emotional for me to be in that position, especially knowing that it was at Watkins Glen where his streak was snapped.

“It was also at a track where I’d never won, and where I’d had that horrible wreck in ’91. To break the record there was by far the biggest win of my career. Especially when you think of all the great drivers, guys like Peter Gregg, George Follmer, Scott Pruett and Scott Sharp, who all had a shot at Mark’s record in the past 30 years.”

Kendall will be one of five All-American selectees expected to attend Saturday night’s AARWBA banquet at the Long Beach Hyatt Regency Hotel. The others are John Force, Butch Leitzinger, Alex Barron and Derek Hill.

Highlight of the program will be presentation of the Jerry Memorial Trophy to the driver receiving the most votes--an award almost certainly going to Kendall.

The dinner is open to the public. Details: (818) 842-7005.

AMA SUPERCROSS

Rain is a possibility for Saturday night’s motorcycle extravaganza in the Coliseum, and if it comes, it may bother the promoters but not supercross champion Jeff Emig of Riverside.

Emig scored one of his five victories in the rain at Dallas, a win that all but clinched his championship last year.

“It was very muddy and all the other riders seemed to be having a lot of trouble, except me,” Emig said. “It was my easiest win. I must have finished 35 or 40 seconds ahead of the next guy, and I picked up a lot of points on Jeremy [McGrath] going into the final race.”

Emig won the championship with 293 points to 278 for four-time champion McGrath.

After winning the supercross title, the Kawasaki rider went on to win the national 250cc outdoor motocross title and was named the American Motorcyclist Assn.’s rider of the year.

“It was really a surprise when they called my name,” he said. “When I was standing there [at the awards banquet] and looked around at the other guys who were nominated, it gave me a great feeling. It was quite an honor.”

Emig was chosen over world superbike champion John Kocinski, world speedway champion Greg Hancock and national champions Scott Parker, dirt track; Miguel Duhamel, supersport; and Doug Chandler, superbike.

Emig was also close to retaining his world supercross title, but elected to skip the final event in Geneva in a dispute with the promoter. Earlier, he won at Barcelona, and was declared King of Bercy, one of motocross’ most prestigious crowns, after winning a three-race series in Paris.

When Emig did not race, Kawasaki teammate Damon Huffman won the world title.

“All in all, I had a great year to win the supercross and the outdoor nationals,” Emig said. “It can’t get much better than that.”

NASCAR

The Winston West series will have the honor of initiating NASCAR’s 50th anniversary season, opening with the $84,667 Winter Heat 200 Sunday at Tucson Raceway Park. The oldest stock car racing series on the West Coast, it recently received a boost when series sponsor Winston increased its point-fund contribution from $50,000 to $300,000, making the total package around $500,000.

Butch Gilliland, the defending champion from Anaheim, will be back but driving for a new team owned by his wife, Laurie. Their son, David, will remain as crew chief. Gilliland holds the Tucson one-lap record of 88.328 mph over the three-eighths mile oval, set in June 1996. Among his chief challengers will be Sean Woodside, who will again drive for Ray Claridge’s Golden West Motorsports team.

The 75-mile race will be televised at noon on ESPN2.

LAST LAPS

“The Hat Man” is gone. What’s it going to be like in NASCAR and Indy car winners’ circles without the familiar orange-maned Bill Brodrick, one of whose duties for nearly 30 years has been to shuffle the caps on and off drivers as they emerge from the cockpits to face TV cameras? Brodrick, long-time motor racing public relations specialist for Unocal 76, was released after the company was acquired by Tosco Corp.