This Policeman Is a Force at Speedway

There is a reason Andy Northrup is called “The Enforcer” at the Orange County Fairgrounds, where the 32nd season of Speedway motorcycle racing begins Saturday night.

However, it has nothing to do with his sport.

A police officer, Northrup’s day job is to patrol the Lincoln Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles.

“I liked the excitement of the career, and I don’t like bad guys,” said Northrup, who is 6 feet tall, 170 pounds and has competed in 11 consecutive L.A. Marathons. “There’s a lot of satisfaction in arresting people who have done something wrong.”

Since graduating from Chino High in 1978, Northrup has driven a delivery truck, managed a pizza parlor, and owns a mobile car wash and detail company.

But the lure of law enforcement was too much after Northrup met a policeman who lived next-door to his parents in 1988.

Andy the Enforcer will try to handcuff his competition during the season opener Saturday, when he begins his quest for a top-four overall finish in 2000.

Northrup, 39, finished fifth last year, sixth in 1998 and seventh the year before that.

“I’m expecting to do better than last season,” said Northrup, who has last year’s leaders, Brad Oxley, Gary Hicks, Shawn McConnell and Bobby Schwartz, in his sights. “I’m in good shape and I have lot of confidence from last year.

“I know I can beat those guys, I’m just going to have to do it more often.”

This is Northrup’s 20th season, and he will become only the sixth rider to compete for two decades at the 1/8-mile oval in Costa Mesa.

Northrup also raced motocross for 13 years, including Mickey Thompson’s Supercross series. He quit in 1991.

“Here, I can be totally competitive,” Northrup said. “If I was racing motocross, I would be over the hill. Speedway doesn’t beat the hell out of you like motocross does.”

Northrup’s police job does not include a motorcycle. “I don’t really like street bikes,” he said. “They’re too dangerous.”

INDY RACING LEAGUE

Teams with Orange County connections suffered the fate of most gamblers at the Vegas Indy 300 on Saturday.

Stephan Gregoire finished last, an obvious disappointment to Dick Simon Racing of Dana Point. In testing and practice, Gregoire had consistently been one of the fastest drivers on the oval, but he crashed after completing only three of the 208 laps and finished 28th.

“We went up there thinking we were going to finish in the top five, absolutely, for sure,” Simon said. “We have never had an engine blow in a race in three years. The engine broke in two. That’s why [Gregoire] crashed so hard. But he’s fine, and I’d rather break an engine and bellhousing than have him hurt.”

Owner Dick Simon’s weekend wasn’t made any easier while hosting sponsors. He suffered a broken shin bone and third-degree burns on his arms when a propane grill exploded in the hospitality suite.

San Juan Capistrano driver Jeff Ward ran as high as third; he was fifth when he hit the wall on Lap 88. He finished 21st.

Mark Weida of San Clemente, race engineer for Team Xtreme, and its driver, Airton Dare, suffered similar disappointment. Dare was leading when he suffered a broken gearbox exiting pit lane 37 laps from the finish. He finished 14th.

“That was going to be our final stop,” Weida said. “We were the first car out [of the pits] too. I’m a big believer that’s it’s not over until it’s over, but we were strong. Real strong. The car was as quick as anybody, that’s for sure.

“We had the best shot of winning that we’ve ever had.”

Jacques Lazier, a 1995 graduate of Chapman, did manage to finish the race, placing 10th.

CHAMP CARS

The CART series will be in Brazil this weekend for the Rio 200, which is an important race to Cristiano da Matta.

The Rancho Santa Margarita-based PPI Motorsports driver is from Belo Horizonte, about 250 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.

“The home races, you always approach a little differently,” da Matta said. “Even though you’re giving 100% every race, at home, you find some more desire to do better.

“It’s fun to go and race there for me. They always watch on TV, but they don’t get to see [us] very often.”

Da Matta, as a rookie last season, qualified 14th but finished 21st after losing an engine.

NASCAR

Orange native Robby Gordon, whose race shop is now in North Carolina, returns to Southern California this weekend for Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 500 in Fontana.

“Home races are fun, but home races are also a lot of extra pressure,” Gordon said. “Everybody and their mom thinks you get free tickets. That makes it a little difficult, going through that explanation every time we get to an awkward situation.”

Speaking of awkward: “I’m probably the only one who could handle it,” Gordon said about his being the first Winston Cup driver to appear on the sexually-themed “Loveline” question-and-answer radio show on KROQ-FM. “It’s neat to go outside the racing box and see what’s going on in the world today. These are real experiences people are having. I didn’t feel helpless, but a little nervous about the questions--especially on the way there.”

The first-year driver/owner will likely be less nervous during today’s qualifying. “The car was pretty hooked up [in testing last week] with a practice engine,” Gordon said. “I’ll be pretty disappointed if we don’t qualify in the top 10.”

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