‘Mac Attack’ Has Big Plans for Jet Skiing’s Return
For the first time since 1992, jet skiers will hold a national championship event in Long Beach this weekend.
Personal watercraft will race Saturday and Sunday in the IJSBA California Nationals on Queensway Bay at Shoreline Park. Nearly 300 riders in 34 classes are expected to compete in the next-to-last event on the Skat-Trak Pro Watercross Tour. The season ends next week in Ventura.
Chris MacClugage, premier rider in the two top classes--pro runabout 1200 and pro ski--will be trying to do for the third time what no other rider has done even once. He won both of his specialties in 1994 and 1999 and is leading in both this season.
The Canyon Lake rider, known as “Mac Attack,” has six victories this year, four in pro runabout and two in pro ski, giving him 99 total, third all-time.
“I especially want to win pro ski this week, so I can concentrate on pro runabout next week,” said MacClugage, 27, after testing his Kawasaki mounts at an Irwindale rock quarry. MacClugage holds a 49-point lead over seven-time champion Jeff Jacobs of El Cajon in pro ski but is only 10 points ahead of Nicolas Rius of France in pro runabout.
Pro runabouts are two- or three-seaters and riders can sit for portions of their 15-minute sprints. On pro skis, they stand the entire time.
“The runabouts are more stable and about 10-15 [mph] faster,” MacClugage said. “But it takes more endurance to ride a pro ski because you’re going wide-open all the way.”
Jet skiers aren’t in the financial circles of motorcycle and stock car racers, but a top rider, such as MacClugage, can make around $300,000 for spending most of his time doing what many water lovers pay to do.
MacClugage comes from a watery environment. He grew up in Naples, Fla., where he and his family spent many hours boating in the city’s canals and the Gulf of Mexico.
“I have been on boats, one kind or another, as long as I can remember,” he said. “It didn’t take me long to decide that’s what I wanted to do and when I had a little success early, Kawasaki signed me up to ride for them.”
MacClugage won his first national championship when he was 15, in the amateur freestyle. Since turning pro in 1993, he has won eight national and five world championships and is defending national champion in pro runabout.
Only two other riders, Rius, and Dustin Motzouris, MacClugage’s South African teammate, ride in both major classes. Rius, second in pro runabout, is fourth in pro ski. Motzouris, who lives in Azusa, is fourth in runabout and fifth in ski.
Experts and amateurs will compete Saturday, the pros on Sunday.
No More Winston
It came as no surprise, but it hurt just the same when RJR announced that it would drop its Winston brand sponsorship of the National Hot Rod Assn. after this season.
To comply with the Master Settlement Agreement, effective 2002, tobacco companies will be allowed only one sponsorship and, not unexpectedly, RJR choose NASCAR and its Winston Cup series.
“Both NASCAR and NHRA deliver an excellent product to fans, are experiencing tremendous growth and have promising futures,” said Rick Sanders, president of RJR’s Sports Marketing Enterprises. “In the final analysis, however, we had to choose a single sponsorship and felt that NASCAR sponsorship had the edge in supporting Winston’s overall business objectives over time.”
Eliminated not only is the Winston drag racing series, but also the sponsorship of Alan Johnson’s top-fuel dragster driven by Gary Scelzi and the pro stock motorcycle ridden by Angelle Savoie. Scelzi and Savoie are current champions.
“NHRA has been aggressively working with a number of major companies that see the tremendous value of serving as series sponsor of NHRA drag racing,” Tom Compton, NHRA president, said in a statement.
Whatever company it is, it will be difficult to match the $27 million RJR has paid in prize money, including a record $2.3 million this year, or the untold millions it has spent promoting the sport and its competitors.
Stock Car Reunion
Vintage stock cars, and a number of drivers and former champions in NASCAR’s Winston West series, which began 47 years ago as the Pacific Coast Late Model division, will be on display Saturday at Irwindale Speedway.
A reunion of former drivers will be held at the speedway before the evening’s Winston West race. Les Richter, former president of Riverside International Raceway who helped bring NASCAR west, and Ken Clapp, a former promoter and NASCAR official, will speak.
The 1952 Hudson driven by Walt James and the 1970 Dodge of two-time champion Jack McCoy, will be among the cars on hand. Four former champions, 73-year-old Hershel McGriff (1986), Bill Sedgwick (1991-92), Sean Woodside (1999) and Brendan Gaughan (2000) are entered in the race.
An autograph session for former drivers is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. on the racetrack.
Road Racing
Don Panoz’s American Le Mans series, which includes everything from the Speedvision World Challenge, featuring world-class Porsches and BMWs, to the popular Trans Am series, will be at Sears Point Raceway this weekend for the X-Factor Grand Prix of Sonoma.
The GT class battle between the Porsche 911s of Alex Job McKenna Racing and the factory BMW V-8s is expected to highlight the two-day event on the 11-turn, 2.52-mile hillside track.
Veteran Boris Said of Carlsbad will be in one of the BMWs. They will run a 2-hour 45-minute race Sunday.
The GTS class will include Ron Fellows, who last week won a Busch Grand National stock car race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., filling in for the injured Joe Nemechek. Fellows and Johnny O’Connell, who with Scott Pruett won the GTS class at Le Mans, will be in Corvettes.
Two-time Trans Am champion Paul Gentilozzi will be seeking his fourth consecutive win in the one-hour Wine Country 100 Trans Am race on Saturday. He drives a Jaguar XKR.
Last Laps
Midget car owner Steve Lewis has a four-car team already lined up for the Turkey Night Grand Prix on Nov. 22 at Irwindale Speedway. Drivers will include defending champion Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, Kasey Kahne and J.J. Yeley.
Ed “Ace” McCulloch, a champion funny car and top-fuel driver from 197193 and now crew chief for Don Prudhomme’s cars, has been named No. 19 on the list of the National Hot Rod Assn.’s 50 greatest drivers.
Dave Villwock had won unlimited hydroplane’s APBA Gold Cup race four of the last five years, but when his Miss Budweiser spun heading for the start of Sunday’s race, veteran Mike Hanson took advantage and powered the Tubby’s Submarine U-9 to an astounding upset on the Detroit River. . . . There will no speedway motorcycle action this week or next at the Costa Mesa Speedway because of the Orange County Fair. Sunday, Bill Matherson of Las Flores and Dale Leeder of Norwalk won the sidecar state championship, while Gary Cook of Fontana won the quad state crown.
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This Week’s Races
WINSTON CUP
New England 300
* When: Today, qualifying, 11:15 a.m.; Sunday, race (TNT, 11 a.m.)
* Where: New Hampshire International Speedway (oval, 1.058 miles, 12 degree-banking in turns), Loudon, N.H.
* Race distance: 317.4 miles, 300 laps.
* 2000 winner: Tony Stewart.
* Next race: Pennsylvania 500, July 29, Long Pond, Pa.
* On the net: https://www.nascar.com.
BUSCH
Carquest Auto Parts 250
* When: Today, qualifying, 4 p.m.; Saturday, race (TNT, 5 p.m.)
* Where: Gateway International Raceway (oval, 1.25 miles, 11-degree banking in Turns 1-2, 9 degrees in Turns 3-4), Madison, Ill.
* Race distance: 250 miles, 200 laps.
* 2000 winner: Kevin Harvick.
* Next race: NAPA Auto Care 250, July 28, Fountain, Colo.
* On the net: https://www.nascar.com.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
New England 200
* When: Today, qualifying, 10:05 a.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN, 9:30 a.m.)
* Where: New Hampshire International Speedway (oval, 1.058 miles, 12 degree-banking in turns), Loudon, N.H.
* Race distance: 211.6 miles, 200 laps.
* 2000 winner: Kurt Busch.
* Next race: Powerstroke Diesel 200, Aug. 3, Clermont, Ind.
* On the net: https://www.nascar.com.
CART
Michigan 500
* When: Saturday, qualifying, 9 a.m. (ESPN2, 1:30 p.m., tape); Sunday, race (ABC, 10:30 a.m.)
* Where: Michigan International Speedway (tri-oval, two miles, 18-degree banking in turns), Brooklyn, Mich.
* Race distance: 500 miles, 250 laps.
* 2000 winner: Juan Montoya.
* Next race: Target Grand Prix, July 29, Cicero, Ill.
* On the net: https://www.cart.com.
INDY RACING LEAGUE
Harrah’s Indy 200
* When: Today, qualifying, (ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.); Saturday, race (ESPN, 5 p.m.)
* Where: Nashville Superspeedway (tri-oval, 1.33 miles, 14-degree banking in turns), Gladeville, Tenn.
* Race distance: 266 miles, 200 laps.
* 2000 winner: Inaugural event.
* Next race: Belterra Resort Indy 300, Aug. 12, Sparta, Ky.
* On the net: https://www.indyracingleague.com.
NHRA
Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals
* When: Today, qualifying, 11:15 a.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 7:15 a.m. (ESPN2, 3 p.m., tape); Sunday, final eliminations, 8 a.m. (ESPN2, 2 p.m., tape).
* Where: Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colo.
* 2000 winner: Joe Amato in top fuel, Whit Bazemore in funny cars, Kurt Johnson in pro stock and Angelle Savoie in cycles.
* Next race: Northwest Nationals, July 29, Kent, Wash.
* On the net: https://www.nhra.com.