Albertyn Is Battling Injury in Return

By SHAV GLICK

May 12, 2000 12 AM PT

Greg Albertyn came to California from South Africa five years ago, having won three consecutive world motocross championships. He wanted to test his skills in the American stadium version of the sport, known as Supercross.

Injuries plagued the Suzuki rider for four years, preventing him from riding the way he had in world competition. In his lone breakthrough, he won the Superbowl of Motocross in the Coliseum to start the 1997 season.

It wasn’t until last year, when he had an injury-free season, that he won his first U.S. series, the AMA 250cc outdoor motocross championship.

Sunday, at Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino, he will open defense of his title--but once again facing the injury jinx.

Midway during the just-completed Supercross season, Albertyn came off a triple jump in Atlanta, caught his handlebar on a hay bale and landed awkwardly. The impact broke the thighbone in his right leg.

“It was one of the most painful things I have ever been through,” he said. “I’ve had broken wrists and a broken shoulder, but never anything like that. The worst part was having to wait around about 20 minutes before the ambulance took me to the hospital. The people running the event wanted to wait until practice was over because they had only one ambulance.

“With all the money Supercross is generating, you’d think they could have more than one ambulance. It was absolute chaos. They could see my leg was broken, but they didn’t do anything. I couldn’t believe it.”

Albertyn missed the last nine races and doctors said they did not expect him to be able to ride in time for the outdoor opener.

“They put a steel rod in my leg about 18 inches long,” he said. “I lost 20 pounds in two weeks because it hurt so much I couldn’t eat. It’ll be in there at least a year, but it feels OK now. I was riding a bicycle three weeks after I was hurt. The doctors said that was a remarkable recovery, but I told them I couldn’t afford to miss any outdoor races.”

Albertyn has been riding at Glen Helen and the Suzuki training track the last two weeks and is eager to get to the starting line Sunday.

He won’t be the only national champion riding in the feature 250cc motos. Ricky Carmichael, three-time 125cc champion from Havana, Fla., is stepping up to the 250cc class.

“Glen Helen is the perfect place for me to start,” the 5-foot 4-inch, 120-pound rider said. “I’ve never lost there in three years so I know my way around the course. The 250s are heavier and faster, but the biggest difference is in the competition. All the top guys ride 250s, so it’ll be a real challenge.

“I think I showed I could win against them when I won the Daytona Supercross. That was outdoors inside the speedway and is very similar to an outdoor event.”

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

NASCAR, in its desire to encompass the country with its Winston Cup success story, has announced expansion next year into Chicago and Kansas City.

“By bringing our competitors to these major markets, we are creating the greatest overall awareness and enthusiasm for our sport,” said Mike Helton, NASCAR senior vice president and chief operating officer.

That is true, but it is also stretching the capabilities of the teams that make up the Winston Cup money machine. Next year, there will be 38 weeks of racing--36 for points and two major non-points races, the Bud Shootout and the Winston, extending from February to November. That leaves precious few weekends off and a short vacation.

That is fine for most of the drivers, who hop in their private jets after a race and are home by midnight. But what about the crewmen, who must labor seven days a week to fix cars after races and prepare them for the next race? Or the team haulers, men who climb into 18-wheelers hours after a race and drive all night to get the cars back to North Carolina or the next race site?

It may get even more stressful, considering that NASCAR is actively seeking a site in the New York area to build another track.

Even sponsors will feel expansion in their pocketbook. It probably won’t affect the big-bucks backers such as Budweiser, Miller, GM, Valvoline and DuPont, but what about teams already feeling the pinch of higher hotel, restaurant and gasoline prices as they flit around the country?

Two more races will force team owners to ask sponsors to put more money on the table, or force them to scrimp and make two more expensive weekends with what they have. Or, the owners could hire two crews, hedgehopping them from one race to another--another hefty expense.

One answer would be a split schedule, such as the National and American Leagues in baseball, but NASCAR officials have been adamant in rejecting that proposal.

“Our fans want to see all the stars when they come to a race,” said Bill France, NASCAR president. “We would not want a race with Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon without Bill Elliott, Mark Martin or Dale Jarrett in it. It wouldn’t be fair to our fans.”

Another suggestion would be to drop one race from several of the 13 tracks where two races a year are held. Traditionalists oppose this idea, however, pointing out that those are the tracks that supported NASCAR when it was struggling, long before the stock car racing boom spread from the Southeast into a national sport.

The real benefactor from the Chicago and Kansas City tracks will be Tony George’s Indy Racing League, whose Northern Lights series will have dates at both new facilities. The IRL is down to only nine races this year, not enough to warrant major sponsorship for teams--other than for the Indianapolis 500--so two more races will be a welcome addition.

INDIANAPOLIS 500

There is still no sign of healing the breach between the IRL and CART, but Chip Ganassi, whose drivers have won the last four CART championships, may be starting a trend toward closure.

Ganassi’s two drivers, Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser, will join the Indy Racing League regulars for the Indianapolis 500. However, they won’t be there when the track opens for practice Saturday. They will be in Motegi, Japan, for CART’s Firestone Firehawk 500, trying to bring Toyota its first champ car victory.

If Vasser continues his personal countdown, Motegi should be the breakthrough race. The 1996 champion finished fourth at Homestead, Fla., third at Long Beach and second at Rio.

The Ganassi drivers are expected Monday at Indy, in time to get in five days of testing their Olds-powered G Force cars before pole qualifying May 20. The 84th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is May 28.

Another intriguing entry is that of NASCAR Winston Cup driver Robby Gordon, who came within two laps of stealing last year’s race before running out of gas. Gordon will again be driving one of John Menard’s Olds-Dallaras and then will jet to Charlotte, N.C., to drive in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600.

“Driving 1100 miles is no big deal for me,” said Gordon, an off-road racing veteran. “I drive the Baja 1000 every year and that takes 17 hours of dusty, pounding, dirty work without ever leaving the driver’s seat. At least I’ll get a couple of hours of fresh air between races.”

LAST LAPS

Jim Smith, the Orange County businessman who was a founder of NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck series and owner of the truck team of driver Mike Wallace, has joined Jim Mattei as co-owners of a Winston Cup team. Now known as Ultra Mattei Motorsports, the team will field Chevrolet Monte Carlos driven by Michael Waltrip. Smith will be the team’s operating manager. Mattei bought the team from Geoffrey Bodine, who had purchased it from the estate of the late Alan Kulwicki. It carries Kulwicki’s old No. 7.

Sprint car driver Ed Patterson, who suffered a broken neck in an accident in last week’s SCRA race at Perris Auto Speedway, is recuperating in Ventura Community Hospital. He is expected to have full recovery, with no paralysis. The SCRA runs Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

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This Week’s Races

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL, Busch 200

* When: Today, qualifying, 11 a.m.; Saturday, race (TNN, 9:30 a.m.)

* Where: New Hampshire International Speedway (oval, 1.058 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns), Loudon, N.H.

* Race distance: 211.6 miles, 200 laps.

* Defending champion: Elton Sawyer.

* Next race: Carquest Auto Parts 300, May 27, Concord, N.C.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS, Memphis 200

* When: Saturday, race (ESPN, noon)

* Where: Memphis Motorsports Park, (tri-oval, 0.75 miles, 11-degrees banking in turns), Millington, Tenn.

* Race distance: 150 miles, 200 laps.