Another Estes Gains Notice

The Estes family name, for nearly five decades a fixture in Southern California motor racing, is being carried on by Dale Estes, son of Bob Estes, noted car owner, sponsor and racing benefactor.

The elder Estes died in February at 88.

Dale, who lives in Malibu, is owner and sponsor of a World SuperKart, driven by Ron White, that is more than matching speeds with some of the faster vehicles at Willow Springs International Raceway.

For instance, White’s Estes-Warr Racing 250 TZ SuperKart bettered the record for superbikes with an average speed of 115.104 mph last month over the nine-turn, 2.5-mile road course.

White, 22, turned 11 consecutive laps in the 1-minute, 18-second range. His record lap was 1:18.19.

The fastest two-wheel records at Willow Springs are Steve Rapp’s 113.882 mph on a 750cc superbike in 2000 and Eddie Lawson’s 105 mph on a 500cc Grand Prix bike in 1991.

Lawson, four-time world 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle champion, is the champion of Willow Springs kart competition but says he has not made an all-out effort to set the track record.

“I keep hearing about Estes’ fast lap, but he’s never met us in a race,” Lawson said. “He put on soft tires and made his time, but we run hard compounds in races so our lap times are higher. One of these days, I’ll slap on some soft tires and go for it.

“The only thing keeping us from going faster at this point is the tires. The small diameter means high rpm, and that really builds up the heat. We need a little bigger wheel and a tire construction that will hold up under high-speed cornering loads.”

The next race at Willow Springs is June 29-30.

Estes’ SuperKart speed is also faster than the Formula 2000 and Formula Continental cars at Willow Springs. Ira Fierberg, in Tiburon Racing’s 2001 Ford-powered Van Diemen, set the track record for both classes of 1:19.51.

“It seems like every time Eddie [Lawson] shows up for a race, we’re not there, and when we show up, he’s not there,” said White, who lives in San Jose. “Or sometimes he’s in one class and I’m running in another. One of these days we’ll probably meet.”

World SuperKarts are powered by 250cc, two-stroke engines from Grand Prix motorcycles that produce 80-110 horsepower through a six-speed transmission. They are complete racing machines, with full body work, airfoils, four-wheel disc brakes and rack-and-pinion steering.

There is no suspension, so tires and tire pressure are significant, given that the driver’s seat is an inch or so from the racing surface.

Bob Estes, a Lincoln-Mercury dealer in Inglewood for many years, was a legend in Indy car circles. He entered cars in every AAA or U.S. Auto Club championship and sprint car race between 1950 and 1960.

He had cars in the Indianapolis 500 for 31 years, his highest finish a third in 1956 with Don Freeland driving. A.J. Watson and Jud Phillips, two of Indy’s renowned crew chiefs, were both employed by Estes as young men in his Inglewood shop. In 1954, Watson built a car for Estes that was the forerunner of the famous Watson roadsters that dominated Indy for many years.

“Jud came close to winning the Indianapolis 500 for my dad in 1955 with Freeland, but at 178 [of 200] laps, with Freeland in the lead, the gearbox gave up,” Dale Estes said. “In 1956, when Freeland finished third in the Bob Estes Lincoln-Mercury Special, Freeland swears that the race was mis-scored and Sam Hanks was actually a lap down.”

Phillips had 10 consecutive Indy starts with Estes from 1950 to 1960 and went on to win the 500 with driver Bobby Unser in 1968 in the Rislone Turbo-Offy Eagle. Among Estes’ drivers were Jimmy Bryan, Eddie Sachs, Don Branson and Pat O’Connor.

When USAC was founded in the fall of 1955, after AAA stopped sanctioning racing, Estes was chosen to represent the car

owners.

As a teenager growing up in Los Angeles, Estes hopped up a 1925 Model T Ford roadster and raced it at 111 mph at Muroc Dry Lake, a record run in 1930.

In 1952, his Mercury-powered car with a streamlined body broke the Class C world land-speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Estes was named to the Sprint Car Hall of Fame last year. His sprint cars won the Midwestern championship three times, in 1953, ’54 and ‘56, with O’Connor, and again in 1959 with Branson.

Supercross

The split between the American Motorcyclist Assn.’s Pro Racing and Clear Channel Entertainment, which threatened to disrupt next year’s supercross season, has been resolved, with Clear Channel given production rights for the next seven years. Earlier this year, the AMA announced it would promote its own events with a new partner, Jam Sports, and even went so far as to announce a competitive schedule.

The 2003 season will open with three of its first five races at Anaheim’s Edison Field, Jan. 4, Jan. 18 and Feb. 1.

Winston Cup

Jeff Burton might be the busiest driver in next week’s NASCAR weekend at California Speedway. He will drive the No. 99 Ford Taurus in the Napa Auto Parts 500 Winston Cup race and the No. 9 Ford in the Busch Grand National. In between, he will do some TV commentating for the second IROC race of the season with Scott Goodyear and Bob Jenkins. Saturday will be his busiest day, starting with Cup practice at 8:30a.m., happy hour at 11:30 a.m., the Busch race at 1 p.m. and then a quick trip to the TV booth at 3:45 for the IROC.

Want to have a drink and not worry about driving after the races? Designated Drivers Inc. will make it possible at the NAPA Auto Parts 500, thanks to Miller Brewing Co. and Gate City Beverage. Spectators who would rather not drive after a few beers can get rides home from licensed DDI drivers in the spectators’ own vehicles. There will be booths at all main gates.

Last Laps

Wally Pankratz, 56, won his 17th USAC western midget car main event last Saturday night at Plaza Park in Visalia. The Orange veteran led all 30 laps. It was Pankratz’s 396th start and his first victory in nearly three years.... Industry veteran Tom Jenkins is the new director of motorsports at Edelbrock, which makes racing equipment.

USAC Ford Focus midgets, a new racing class of cars powered by identically prepared engines sealed to prevent modifications, will make their Irwindale Speedway debut on the one-third mile paved oval as part of Saturday night’s NASCAR stock car and Figure 8 program. Phil Goodwine of Mira Loma won the Ford Focus feature last week on the dirt at Perris Auto Speedway.

Indy Racing League driver Sarah Fisher, out of a ride this season because of lack of a sponsor, will fill in for Robbie Buhl in Sunday’s Firestone Indy 225 at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway in the Team Purex G Force-Infiniti. Buhl is recovering from injuries he suffered in a qualifying accident March 23 at California Speedway. Richie Hearn has been signed by A. J. Foyt to replace the injured Eliseo Salazar in his Dallara-Chevrolet for the Nazareth race.

Long Beach State will hold a “Celebration of Speed and Splendor” to showcase classic cars and racing history April 28 at the Pyramid. The event, spearheaded by Alan Henderson and Michael Lacourse, will feature Formula One, Indy cars, dragsters, stock cars, sprint cars, midgets and Trans Am cars among its more than 200 vehicles. Proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society, Long Beach Cares and the CSULB Departments of radiation, therapy and kinesiology. Cars will be on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets: (562) 985-2882.