Short Track at Irwindale Will Help in Long Run

For the first time in 33 years in Southern California, groundbreaking for a new National Hot Rod Assn.-sanctioned drag strip will take place Saturday on the grounds of Irwindale Speedway.

The track, one-eighth mile long instead of the more conventional quarter-mile, will be located along the southern property line of the 63-acre facility, which also includes half-mile and third-mile paved ovals, plus an infield karting course.

Drag racing, which is expected to begin in late fall, will be limited to street-legal automobiles and junior dragsters. Competition will be on Sundays with all cars needing a DMV license before being accepted.

“I am totally behind the concept that provides another place for people to race, and I have favored the one-eighth mile distance for a long time,” said Wally Parks, founder of the NHRA in 1951. “Due to the popularity of the quarter-mile distance in Southern California, there has been some resistance to the shorter track, but there are a whole string of benefits to it.

“There is need for a lot less property, less fencing, less asphalt and in most cases the racing is closer. Sure, the top fuelers and funny cars need a quarter-mile to run 300 mph, but for street-legal cars, the shorter distance will save owners and drivers a lot of money in repairs and upkeep.

“And looking to the future, an eighth-mile strip is the official distance for our junior dragsters.”

Junior dragsters, scaled-down versions of top fuel dragsters, are driven by youngsters 8 to 15.

Grandstands will be built for 1,000 spectators to accommodate families and friends.

Eighth-mile tracks are commonplace elsewhere in the country. According to NHRA officials, there are 19 sanctioned short tracks, and a number of others unsanctioned.

The last NHRA track to be built in Southern California was Orange County Raceway, which operated in East Irvine from 1967 to 1983. Big Willie Richardson’s highly popular Brotherhood Dragway on Terminal Island ran from 1974 to 1995 but was independently operated.

Although this is the first strip built locally in three decades, it will be the fourth drag strip located in Irwindale. There were two San Gabriel Valley dragstrips, one which ran from 1956 to 1958 and the other, on a different site, from 1961 to 1963, plus Irwindale Raceway, site of national events where the Miller Brewery stands, which operated from 1957 to 1973.

“This is what we’ve been planning for since the speedway project began over four years ago,” said Bob DeFazio, the speedway’s vice president and chief operating officer.

Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. groundbreaking is open to the public.

“We’re asking all hot rodders, street rodders, sport compact drivers, and everyone else who has an interest in street legal racing to come out to Irwindale to be part of history in the making,” DeFazio said.

RACING CHANGES

Pomona Raceway, the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds’ drag strip, which has been home to the NHRA since 1961, will again bookend the Winston Drag Racing schedule in 2001, but between the two dates there will be a number of changes. The season will open Feb. 1-4 with the 41st AutoZone Winternationals and close Nov. 8-11 with the 38th Auto Club NHRA Finals.

The rumored third Pomona race, in the summer, was not listed on the 23-event schedule, but the weekend of July 5-8 has been left open.

“We have two very exciting options for the July date, but we are not ready to announce it yet,” said Tom Compton, NHRA president. Asked if a third Pomona race was one of the options, Compton declined to say yes or no.

The biggest changes are adding second races in Las Vegas and Chicago, and dropping second races at Houston and Dallas, reducing Texas’ involvement from four dates to two. Richmond, Va., was also dropped from the schedule because of deteriorating track conditions and replaced by Bristol, Tenn. The new Bristol facility was the site this year of the Winston Showdown, a non-points all-star event, which is not scheduled next season.

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the NHRA’s first national championship, in Great Bend, Kan. To commemorate the event, a national event will be held in nearby Topeka on Memorial Day weekend, May 24-27.

All events will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 on a same-day basis.

KARTING DEBUT

Professional karting will make its debut Sunday at Irwindale Speedway when the Mission Region of Super Karts USA conducts the sixth of its eight-race championship series. The shifter karts will run on a road course that incorporates the oval tracks as well as the infield at Irwindale. Racing starts at 12:30 p.m.

COMPARING INDY AND DAYTONA

A.J. Foyt, who has won them both, has this to say about the difference between winning the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500:

“I think Indy has always been the most prestigious race in the world. But it’s two different types of races. They’re both very prestigious. I’m just glad I was one of the fortunate ones to actually win both of them.

“Indy is like the Kentucky Derby. It’s been there so many more years than the Daytona 500, and I think that’s the race that carries more prestige because of tradition. Tradition is hard to beat. It’s like the Kentucky Derby against the Santa Anita Handicap. Santa Anita is a beautiful racetrack, but there is only one Kentucky Derby.”

LAST LAPS

Perris Auto Speedway fans, familiar with Sprint Car Racing Assn. machinery, will get a look at a different breed of sprint car Saturday night when the Bandit Sprint Cars from Kings Speedway in Hanford make an appearance. The Bandits are normal size cars running steel 360 cubic-inch motors. SCRA cars use aluminum 410 cubic-inch engines.

Terry Labonte and Jeremy Mayfield, who each sat out last week’s NASCAR Brickyard 400 because of concussions, will sit out Sunday’s Winston Cup road race at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Ron Hornaday, who has won two races as a rookie Busch Grand National driver this season, will replace Labonte, while Tom Hubert will sit in for Mayfield. Both recovering drivers are expected to return Aug. 20 for the Pepsi 400 at Michigan.

Shirley Muldowney, who won the NHRA top fuel championship in 1977, 1980 and 1982, is returning to the circuit for the first time in four years to drive in the U.S. Nationals next month in Indianapolis. Muldowney, 60, recently broke the rival IHRA record with a 319-mph pass at 4.741 seconds. She won the U.S. Nationals in 1982, defeating longtime companion Connie Kalitta in the final round.

Scott Pruett and John Andretti are not the only two drivers to finish in the top 10 in both the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400. Tony Stewart has also accomplished that Indianapolis Motor Speedway open wheel-stock car double.

National Speed Sport News, motor racing’s No. 1 weekly, took a poll of its readers, asking what type race they would attend if they had a vacation.

The IRL had double the response of CART, 11.4% to 5.7%. Not surprisingly, Winston Cup was a runaway choice with 61.6%.

Formula One attracted only 4.4%.

Eddie Cheever finally got an IRL win using an Infiniti Indy V8 racing engine, so now chief Infiniti Motorsports manager Frank Honsowitz is turning his attention to a land speed record in an Infiniti Q45. Larry Detrich will drive a modified production sedan next week during Bonneville Speed Week in an attempt to break the record of 188.114 mph for the Southern California Timing Assn.’s gas coupe/sedan class.

NECROLOGY

Herb Thomas, who died Wednesday in Sanford, N.C., of a heart attack at age 77, was one of NASCAR’s brightest stars during its pioneer era. Thomas did not receive the acclaim of such drivers as Lee Petty, Junior Johnson and Fireball Roberts because his career was cut short by injuries when he was 33, but he won championships in what is now Winston Cup in 1951 and 1953. In 1998, Thomas was named one of NASCAR’s all-time top 50 drivers.

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This Week’s Races

NASCAR

WINSTON CUP

Global Crossing at the Glen

* Site--Watkins Glen, N.Y.

* Schedule--Today, first-round qualifying (ESPN2, 11 a.m.); Saturday, second-round qualifying, 7:45 a.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN, 9:30 a.m.).

* Track--Watkins Glen International (permanent road course, 2.45 miles, 11 turns).

* Race distance--220.5 miles, 90 laps.

* Last year--Jeff Gordon won, extending to five his NASCAR record for consecutive victories on road courses.

* Last race--Bobby Labonte passed Rusty Wallace 15 laps from the end of the 160-lap race and won the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. Labonte finished second last year and in 1997, and third in 1998.

* Next race--Pepsi 400, Aug. 20, Brooklyn, Mich.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

Federated Auto Parts 250

* Site--Nashville.

* Schedule--Today, qualifying, 3:15 p.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN2, 5 p.m.)

* Track--Nashville Speedway USA (oval, 0.596 miles, 18-degree banking in turns).

* Race distance--250 laps, 149 miles.

* Last year--Dennis Setzer held off Kevin Harvick’s last-ditch charge from deep in the field to win the rain-delayed race.

* Last race--Pole-sitter Joe Ruttman led 143 of 200 laps and won the Powerstroke 200 in Indianapolis. Ruttman’s Dodge finished 0.859 seconds--about 10 truck-lengths--in front of Lyndon Amick.

* Next race--Chicago 175, Aug. 27.

CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS

Miller Lite 200

* Site--Lexington, Ohio.

* Schedule--Today, first-round qualifying, 11:15 a.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 11:15 a.m.; Sunday, race (Channel 7, 1 p.m.).

* Track--Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (permanent road course, 2.258 miles, 13 turns).

* Race distance--187.314 miles, 83 laps.

* Last year--Juan Montoya beat Paul Tracy by 11 seconds. Dario Franchitti led the first 54 laps of the 83-lap event but finished third.

* Last race--Cristiano da Matta became the fourth first-time winner in CART this season, driving to victory in Cicero, Ill., in his 51st start.

* Next race--Texaco Havoline 200, Aug. 20, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

FORMULA ONE

Hungarian Grand Prix

* Site--Budapest.

* Schedule--Saturday, qualifying (Speedvision, 4 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speedvision, 4:30 a.m.)

* Track--Hungaroring (road course, 2.466 miles).

* Race distance--190.982 miles, 77 laps.

* Last year--Mika Hakkinen led from start to finish for his fourth victory of the season.

* Last race--Rubens Barrichello got his first Formula One victory, taking the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim.

* Next race--Belgian Grand Prix, Aug. 27, Spa Francorchamps.