A Road Racing Revival at California Speedway

Sports car road racing, the centerpiece of motor racing in Southern California for three decades before Riverside International Raceway closed in 1988, will be revived next week on California Speedway’s new 2.8-mile, 21-turn road course.

The Rolex Sports Car Series, featuring the exotic prototypes that run in the Daytona 24 Hour and Sebring 12 Hour, will be featured in a 400-mile race on Saturday, March 23. A Grand-Am Cup Street Stock race of 250 miles will wake up fans at 8 a.m. Sunday as a preliminary to the Indy Racing League’s Yamaha Indy 400.

“This will be a big event for California Speedway and for racing fans, who will get to see road racing and oval racing on the same weekend,” said Bill Miller, speedway president. “The new road course hearkens back to the days of Riverside and racing heroes like Roger Penske, Dan Gurney and Parnelli Jones who competed there.”

During the 1990s, sports car racing all but dropped from sight as the International Motor Sports Assn. shut down, the Sports Car Club of America lost interest, and road racing became dysfunctional. In the last several years, two new sanctioning bodies have emerged, both dedicated to restoring the luster to the once-popular form of racing. Both have 10-race schedules this year.

Jim France, whose family owns NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway, chose Roger Edmondson to form a new organization, the Grand American Road Racing Assn. Its first race was the 2000 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

A year earlier, Don Panoz had taken over what was left of the SCCA program and formed the American LeMans series, using the same rules as the LeMans 24 Hour race in France. Panoz’s group will be racing this week in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the first round of his season.

Didier Theys and Mauro Baldo, winners of both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and last week’s Homestead Grand-Am race in Florida in a Dallara-Judd, will be at Sebring on Saturday, then will head to Fontana for next week’s Grand-Am.

Drivers can compete in both 10-race series if they like, although the rules are slightly different.

“This country has seen a variety of organizations and private entities at the helm of automobile road racing,” said Edmondson. “The result has been that the sport has lagged behind other motorsports series in developing a sustained fan base and sponsorship support.

“It is our mission to provide the stability the sport so dearly needs and we will do that by controlling our spending and growth.”

There will be five classes in the 400-mile feature race:

Sportsracing prototype--The premier class features two-seat prototype cars designed for speed and exotic fan appeal, such as Ferrari, Lola, Riley & Scott, Kudzu and Reynard, powered by Ford, Chevrolet, Judd, Ferrari, Porsche, Mazda and BMW engines.

Sportsracing prototype II--A class for smaller, non-turbocharged cars, most powered by Nissan, BMW and Mazda engines. Terry Borcheller and Anthony Lazzaro won both earlier races in a Nissan-powered Lola. Lazzaro will also drive in the IRL race on Sunday.

“It will be two quite different experiences,” Lazzaro said. “The IRL race will be much more mentally tiring, while the road race will be more physically demanding. I’m looking forward to both of them. Seat time is most important in racing and I’ll get plenty of it next week.”

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Grand Touring Super--The larger GTS class features V-8 Corvettes and Saleen S7Rs and V-10 Vipers battling against turbo Porsches, Marcos Manteras and others.

American Grand Touring--American muscle cars--Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs--powered by American V-8 engines up to 375 cubic inches.

Grand Touring--These machines are based on factory-built cars such as BMW M3s, Ferraris, Corvettes, Mazda RX-7s, Mosler MT900s and a variety of Porsches. Drivers include local favorites such as the Bill Auberlen-Cort Wagner entry in a Ferrari.

The Grand-Am Cup is for production cars straight off the showroom floor with minimal modifications for safety. Among the drivers of the 51 entries are Gary Hutto and James Sofronas of Newport Beach in a BMW, Bob Endicott of San Pedro in an Acura Integra and R. Marty Miller of Riverside in a Porsche 911.

Irwindale Opening Night

NASCAR’s Weekly Racing Series will kick off the fourth season of racing Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway’s popular half-mile paved oval.

Super late models, the series’ top of the line, headline a show that will include super stocks, race trucks and Grand American modifieds.

Sean Woodside, 2001 super stock champion from Saugus, will not defend his title, having moved up to Winston West and Southwest Tour events, but he will be at Saturday night’s opener to showcase last year’s winning car.

Ready to take over in the super stock class will be last year’s challengers, led by Nathan Wolf of Escondido, who missed the championship by only 58 points and was rookie of the year. Also in the hunt will be veteran Tommy Fry of Simi Valley, second-generation favorite David Gilliland of Chino Hills and Brent Reynolds of Escondido.

Fans who cheer for car models more than drivers can choose from Chevy Monte Carlos, Ford Tauruses, Pontiac Grand Ams and Dodge Intrepids, all powered by V-8 engines.

The 100-lap main event is the first in an 18-race series.

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Recalling Big George

Tony Jones took a ceremonial victory lap for driver “Big George” Gervais last Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway, then won the main event and dedicated his win to Gervais with a more traditional victory lap.

Gervais, a Sprint Car Racing Assn. veteran, died last Friday of injuries suffered in a racing accident last July. It was the first fatality in the SCRA’s nine-year history.

The victory put Jones in the SCRA series lead for the first time in his career. He has 178 points to 176 for three-time champion Richard Griffin and 175 for Troy Rutherford. Jones began the season with a new team owned by Johnny Vermeer and Bubby Jones, Tony’s sprint car Hall of Fame father.

Jones will be defending champion Saturday night in the Gary Sokola Classic at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.

Perris will feature a variety show Saturday night, including super stocks, winged lightning sprint cars, street stocks and champ trucks.

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Fast Laps

Drag racing’s winningest driver, John Force, will take another shot at scoring his 100th funny car victory Sunday in the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla. Two of racing’s legends, Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney, will compete in top fuel. Although Connie Kalitta won’t be driving, the top-fuel dragster driven by his nephew, Doug Kalitta, will carry the paint scheme of Connie’s legendary 1971 Bounty Hunter.

Jason Leffler will attempt a cross-country double this week, driving a Dodge in Friday’s Craftsman Truck race at Darlington, S.C., and a Silver Crown car on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway as part of the Copper World Classic. The IRL’s Bombardier 200 will follow the Silver Crown race.... In preparation for the Indianapolis 500, an IRL race, CART driver Jimmy Vasser will compete in the IRL race at California Speedway next weekend.

The 11th annual California Racer’s Reunion, sponsored by Hila Sweet and Bob Hogle, will be April 7 at the Victorville Fairgrounds. Parnelli Jones, Rodger Ward and Carroll Shelby are among those expected to attend.... NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon has been selected as a Sports Ethics Fellow as part of National Sportsmanship Day for his “ethics, sportsmanship and fair play.”

Roger Penske, Andy Granatelli and the late Sid Collins, for many years “the voice of the 500,” have been voted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame at Indianapolis.... Bill Marvel, longtime U.S. Auto Club executive, was elected president of the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.