Victory Worth Waiting For at O.C. Plant

A rainy weekend in Milwaukee created a great Monday for employees at Toyota Racing Development.

The rain-delayed CART Miller Lite 225 provided a welcome distraction at the Costa Mesa company. Employees gathered around computer terminals to watch live timing and listen to pit-to-car radio transmission over the Internet.

Others listened to the Internet radio broadcast through their phones or the company’s public address.

And some weren’t in the building at all.

“The race didn’t begin until lunch time, so a lot of people went to a sports bar or residences close by,” said Pete Spence, the technical director at TRD America. “With [Juan Montoya] in the lead, they didn’t come back until the race was over. And I didn’t care. They deserve it.”

Montoya held on to win the race, giving Toyota its first champ car victory since the engine manufacturer joined the FedEx Championship Series in 1996 with team owners Cal Wells III and Dan Gurney.

Had the race taken place Sunday, as scheduled, employees would have been at home watching on television. Instead, Monday, they were together. “It was actually a more exciting, more emotional affair, which is fitting, this being our first race win,” Spence said.

Among those watching over on the Internet was Tom Torretto, the lead builder for the research and development engines.

After the final series of pit stops took place without incident, hopes rose.

“That was a big relief for everyone,” Torretto said. “We’ve worked countless hours through some pretty rough times.”

The roughest was when the original Toyota driver for Wells’ PPI team, Jeff Krosnoff, was killed in a race the first year, 1996.

It took more than 300 starts in 78 races for Toyota to get its first victory, the first for an American-made engine--one designed and built in Costa Mesa--in a CART race since Mike Mosley drove a stock-block Chevy for Gurney at Milwaukee in 1981.

P.J. Jones, driving for Gurney, gave Toyota its first points, a ninth-place finish at Detroit in 1996. Alex Barron, driving for Gurney in 1998, gave Toyota its first race lead but he crashed doing about 60 mph during a restart at Vancouver. Wells’ driver, Scott Pruett, gave Toyota its first pole, at Fontana, in the last race of 1999, with the RV8D engine. And Chip Ganassi’s team, which won the last four championships and made the switch from Honda power to Toyota this season, provided the first win.

SPEEDWAY

The third Jack Milne Cup will be raced on Saturday at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa’s Bobby Schwartz will try to become the first repeat winner.

INDY RACING

Dana Point team owner Dick Simon thinks his driver is ready to win an Indy Racing Northern Light Series race, and that it could be Saturday when Stephan Gregoire takes the flag at the Casino Magic 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Gregoire finished fourth in last year’s race.

“To me, there is no question that we have a team to win races, and after [the Indianapolis 500] this year, we can compete and beat the other teams,” said Gregoire, who started 20th at Indy and finished eighth. Gregoire should be at a competitive advantage. The G Force chassis is built with a narrow track suspension, similar to the one used exclusively by Simon Racing last year.

* Though there was some question about whether Robby Gordon would compete in this year’s Indy 500, there isn’t any question about next year.

“We’ll be back. I’ve been too close to this too many times now,” said Gordon, who owns his own Winston Cup team.

OFF-ROAD

While a few Orange County racers won their classes in the 32nd SCORE Baja 500 on Sunday, the end of San Clemente rider Johnny Campbell’s winning streak was perhaps most notable.

Campbell and co-rider Tim Staab of San Diego, Honda’s A-team in the series, finished second to the manufacturer’s second team, Jonah Street of Ellensburg, Wash., and Steve Hengeveld of Oak Hills, Calif., in Class 22 for motorcycles 250cc and larger. Street and Hengeveld covered the 440.6-mile desert layout in 8 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds (51.78 mph).--a scant 15 seconds faster than Campbell. Yorba Linda’s Craig Turner and co-rider Curt LeDuc of Cherry Valley won the Class 7 open mini truck race in 11:12:26 (39.31 mph).

Eric Hardin and his brother, Jared, both of Anaheim, won Class 7S for stock mini trucks in 14:21:27 (30.68 mph).

Steve Grienke of Orange clocked 10:31:04 (41.89 mph) to win in SCORE Lites.

If you have an item or idea for the motor racing report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at martin.henderson@latimes.com

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ON TRACK

Orange County Speedway

Through June 4

Speedway motorcycles

1. Charlie Venegas, San Bernardino: 203

2. Brad Oxley, San Juan Capistrano: 157

3. Shawn McConnell, Brea: 120

4. Randy DiFrancesco, Bakersfield: 117

5. Bobby Schwartz, Costa Mesa: 107

6. Ryan Fisher, Norco: 101

7. Eddie Castro, Ojai: 100

8. Dukie Ermolenko, Cypress: 96

9. Chris Manchester, Reno: 89

10. Gary Hicks, Riverside: 85

Schedule

Saturday--Jack Milne Cup (speedway, sidecars); 17--Father’s Day (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 24--Championship 25-lap Classic (speedway).

July 8--Fan Appreciation Night w/Razzo (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 14--Friday sidecar, quad, midget championship; 15--Fair Derby (speedway); 16--Youth Motorized Olympics (Jr. speedway series), Vintage Dirt Track races.

Aug. 5--Demolition Derby (speedway, sidecars); 12--Kids Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 19--Harley-Davidson Night (speedway, sidecars, harley races and show); 26--Dan Nay Night (championship speedway, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway).

Sept. 9--Freestyle Motorcycle Jumping (speedway); 16--Skirt Night (speedway, sidecars, peewee 50s, Jr. speedway); 23--North vs. South (speedway, sidecars), 30--Sidecar State Championship (speedway, sidecars).

Oct. 7--Farewell (speedway, sidecars); 14--U.S. National Championship (speedway).

Irwindale Speedway

Through June 4

Super Late Model

1. Greg Voigt, Goleta: 372

2. Ben Walker, North Hills: 292

3. David Brandon, Palmdale: 274

4. Dan Holtz, Bakersfield: 256

5. Tim Woods, Chino: 246

6. A.J. DiMarzo, Saugus: 234

7. Tommy Fry, Simi Valley: 208

7. Shawn Brink, Lancaster: 208

9. Rod Johnson, Saugus: 198

10. James Bruncati, Glendora: 188

Super Stock

1. T.K. Karvasek, North Hills: 296

2. Jeff Green, Long Beach: 288

3. Greg Benner, Whittier: 228

4. Don Rogers, Simi Valley: 200

5. Mike Price, San Pedro: 196

6. Tom Siebuhr, Canyon Country: 192

7. Kevin Wood, Saugus: 190

8. Yagel Berkovitz, Burbank: 180

9. Steve Gilmore, Granada Hills: 178

10. Doug McComb, Thousand Oaks: 154

Late Model

1. James Weston, Goleta: 380

2. Tony Green, Oak Hills : 366

3. Todd Burns, Riverside: 360

4. David Hessing, Canyon Country: 326

5. Steve Nickolai, Simi Valley: 304

5. Nick Conti, Palm Desert: 302

7. Deryk Ward, Palm Springs: 302

8. Guy Goldstein, Cathedral City: 286

9. Richard Hooper, Palmdale: 282

10. Dan DiGiammarino, Highland: 200

Grand American

1. Rip Michels, Mission Hills: 184

2. Dean Kuhn, Oceanside: 182

3. Robert Rice, Hawthorne: 168

4. John Watkinson, Canyon Country: 156

5. Tom Topping, Los Angeles: 145

6. Henry Ford Jr., Alta Loma: 134

6. David Andrews, Frazier Park: 134

8. Brian Tully, Redondo Beach: 112

9. Steve Sulack, Lancaster: 108

10. Steve Luecht, Chula Vista: 104

Schedule

Saturday--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Spec Trucks, Legends Cars; 17--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, Speed Trucks, Mini Stocks, Figure 8s, American Race Trucks; 24--NASCAR Home Depot Winston West 250, Super Late Models.

July 1--NASCAR Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Super Stocks, Legends Cars, Figure 8s, and Fireworks Show; 8--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Spec Trucks, T.Q. Midgets, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds; 15--NASCAR Late Models Twin 40s, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Legends Cars, Mini Stock cars, Figure 8s; 22--NASCAR Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Speed Trucks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds; 29--NASCAR Home Depot Southwest Series, Late Models, Super Stocks.

August 5--NASCAR Super Late Models Twin 50s, Grand American Modifieds, American Race Trucks, Mini Stocks; 12--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Spec Trucks, Legends Cars, Figure 8s; 19--NASCAR Home Depot Winston West 250, Late Models; 26--NASCAR Super Late Models, Super Stocks, Grand American Modifieds, T.Q. Midgets, American Race Trucks.

Sept. 2--NASCAR Super Late Models Twin 50s, Super Stocks, Speed Trucks, Mini Stocks; 9--NASCAR Super Late Models, Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Legends Cars; 16--NASCAR Late Models, Super Stocks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds, Mini Stock cars, Figure 8s, American Race Trucks; 23--USAC Midgets, Sprint Cars, CAM 360, T.Q. Midgets; 30--NASCAR Super Late Models 100, Grand American Modifieds, Mini Stocks, Legends Cars.

Oct. 7--NASCAR Southwest Series, Super Stocks, Legends Cars; 14--USAC SILVER CROWN CARS, Sprint Cars, Grand American Modifieds; 21--NASCAR Late Models 75, ARCA Trucks, Super Stocks 50, T.Q. Midgets, Mini Stocks 25, Supermodified; 28--NASCAR Super Late Models 100, USF3 VW FORMULA 3, Speed Trucks, Legends Cars.

Nov. 3--American Race Truck practice, qualifying; 4--American Race Trucks National Finals, Speed Trucks, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds, Mini Stock cars, Legends Cars; 11--NASCAR Home Depot Winston West 300 season finale, Spec Trucks 100; 18--Speed Trucks 100, MSRA Pro 4 Modifieds, T.Q. Midgets, Legends Cars; 23--60th Annual Home Depot Turkey Night Grand Prix for USAC Midgets, and T.Q. Midgets.

Perris Auto Speedway

Through June 4

SCRA Sprint Cars

1. Richard Griffin, Silver City, N.M.: 982

2. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda: 754

3. Ricky Gaunt, Torrance: 721

4. Tony Jones, Corona: 686

5. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix: 649

6. Mike English, Norwalk: 639

7. Mike Kirby, Lomita: 618

8. Steve Ostling, Corona: 617

9. Troy Rutherford, Ojai: 575

10. Cory Kruseman, Ventura: 555

PASSCAR Street Stocks

1. Luke Dodd, Riverside: 163

2. Henry Wesolowski Sr., Temecula: 139

3. Tim Shadduck, Hemet: 138

4. Ron Warkington, Riverside: 135

5. Ron Sanders, Wildomar: 131

6. Rusty Stewart, Lakewood: 125

7. Art Hovind, Corona: 99

8. Rick Arringdale, Victorville: 98

9. Ken Searcy, Nuevo: 88

10. Eddie Lagor, Nuevo: 82

Champ Trucks

1. Dino Napier, Corona: 236

2. David Schuyler, Lompoc: 229

3. Todd Cunningham, Corona: 226

4. Jack Dodd, Riverside: 216

5. James Gonzalez, Canyon Lake: 196

6. Gary Cecil, Corona: 179

7. Cap Pidgeon, Signal Hill: 178

8. Mike Hixson, Murrieta: 171

9. Art Peterson, Cathedral City: 169

10. Mark Anderson, Sky Valley: 168

Schedule

Saturday--Stocks, Trucks; 17--Flat Track Motorcycles; 24--Stocks, Trucks, Cruisers.

July 1--SCRA Sprints, 50 laps; 8--Stocks, Bandit Sprints; 15--SCRA Sprints, Trucks; 22--USAC Midgets, TQ Sprints; 29--Stocks, Late Models, Cruisers.

Aug. 5--SCRA Sprints; 12--Stocks, Bandit Sprints; 19--SCRA Sprints; 26--Trains, TBA.

Sept. 2--Stocks, Trucks, Cruisers; 9--SCRA Sprints; 16--Stocks, Trucks, Dwarfs; 23--SCRA Sprints; 30--SCRA Sprints, Lightning Sprints.

Oct. 7--Stocks, Lightning Sprints; 14--Stocks (Fair); 27--SCRA Sprints, USAC Midgets; 28--SCRA Sprints, USAC Midgets.

Nov. 4--Triple Crown Championship, Stocks, Trucks, Lightning Sprints; 10--Oval Nationals, SCRA Sprints; 11--Oval Nationals, SCRA Sprints; 18--SCRA Kindoll Classic, Sprints, 50 laps.