Pridmore's Career Gets Big Assist From Jordan

By SHAV GLICK

April 15, 2005 12 AM PT

Michael Jordan’s business was basketball, but his passion was golf.

Jason Pridmore’s business has been motorcycle racing, but his passion was golf.

So they can thank golf for bringing them together, Jordan as owner of a racing team in the American Motorcyclist Assn. road racing championship series, and Pridmore as the lead rider for Michael Jordan Motorsports. The move saved Pridmore’s racing career.

“Things were going poorly for me last year and I was about to quit racing and dedicate myself to becoming a professional golfer when I played a round of golf with Michael the day after a race at Road America,” said Pridmore, 35, whose resume includes winning the 1997 AMA 750 supersport and the 2003 FIM world endurance championships, as well as the Goleta city golf championship last summer.

“We struck up a friendship and played a few rounds together, and one day when he heard that I was going to have to fold my team for lack of support with two races left, he stepped in and kept us going.

“Things worked so well that we started making plans for 2005 together. He had Montez [Stewart riding] and a great support team and he wanted to go to the next level, so we put a package together with Suzuki. I had ridden with them for about 10 years.”

The package has Pridmore, son of three-time superbike champion Reg Pridmore, and Steve Rapp, 32, of Corona riding Suzuki 1000 machines in both the superbike and superstock classes, with Montez, 30, in the superstock only.

All three, along with Jordan, will be at California Speedway on April 29-May 1 for the AMA Suzuki Superbike weekend.

Jordan often rides with his team at Pridmore’s Star Motorcycle Schools, which moves around the country giving lessons to riders and would-be riders.

“MJ lives in Chicago, so whenever the school is in the Midwest, he comes around and rides with us,” Pridmore said. “He has a real passion for the sport. He goes to all the races. He’s pretty good, he’s so competitive at whatever he does.”

How about golf?

“We have some pretty good matches,” Pridmore said. “When we started off, I had a little edge, but then he started to play better. He has a great short game and a great putting stroke. It’s tough when I have to give him strokes.”

After joining Jordan’s team, Pridmore said he was so rejuvenated that he put his golf clubs away for 12 weeks and concentrated solely on racing.

“It paid off,” he said. “We went to Daytona hoping to qualify in the first two rows. We exceeded our expectations. I finished third and Steve was seventh in superstock. In superbike, we were seventh and 10th. Michael’s interest in our sport has not only rejuvenated me but also the whole industry. He is a great asset to all of us.

“It’s a thrill for me just to be associated with him. I grew up a big NBA fan and he was a hero of mine. I always hoped that some day I might meet him, let alone work with him and talk with him nearly every day.”

Jordan’s interest in motorcycles started when he was a youngster in Wilmington, N.C., where he and his brother shared a minibike until Michael became involved in basketball.

“I didn’t do anything with it until I gave up basketball and then I met Montez and got interested in helping him, and the more I got involved, the more fun I was having and the deeper into it I got,” he said.

Stewart was racing regional events around Chicago before he met Jordan and moved up into national competition.

Stewart broke his leg in an accident last month at Daytona but may be ready to ride at Fontana. The next AMA road racing competition is next week at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

Southland Scene

Auto Club late models will headline the City of Irwindale Night for the second straight week Saturday at Irwindale Speedway. First-time winner Justin Lofton of Westmoreland will try to repeat his win last week against points leader Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills.

Figure 8s will wind up the program with crisscross racing on an hourglass-shaped course.

Rip Williams, back on top of the USAC/CRA sprint car standings in defense of his championship, will continue his quest for a 100th sprint car win when the wingless warriors race Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway.

Williams has not won this year but has five top-five finishes in the first seven races. He leads Charles Davis Jr. by four points, 395-391. Cory Kruseman, who won the last race at Perris, then won consecutive 360 sprint car races at Ventura Raceway, will also challenge Williams.

Wally Pankratz, 59, who has started 445 main events, will start his 2005 farewell tour Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway in a USAC western midget car series race. Pankratz, of Orange, won the 2000 championship.

Speedway motorcycle racing will return to the Industry Hills Expo Center on Wednesday night for the first of 23 weekly racing programs. Racing will start at 7. Besides speedway racing, there will be sidecars, extreme Moto-X jumping and Harley flat-track racing.

Indianapolis 500

Prospects for an unofficial Champ Cars vs. Indy Racing League showdown at the Indianapolis 500 loomed larger when the Newman-Haas duo of Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira were listed as entries in the latest rundown for the May 29 race.

The pair finished first and second in Champ Car last year and Bourdais started the 2005 season with a win Sunday in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Junqueira has been in three 500s, winning the pole in 2002 driving for Chip Ganassi. Last year, in Newman-Haas’ first Indy entry, the Brazilian finished fifth.

The IRL, with the Indy 500 its centerpiece, will have its full complement of defending champion Buddy Rice, two-time winner Helio Castroneves, Sam Hornish Jr. and the Andretti Green foursome of Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta.

From the start of pole qualifying May 14, fans will see a different style of qualifying for the 500. After the first 11 spots in the field are filled, even if it is on the first day, bumping can start and only the 11 fastest cars will be qualified the first day. The second day is for 12 through 22, with bumping after there are 22 qualifiers. On the second weekend, May 21 will fill positions 23 through 33 and May 22 will be Bump Day.

There are other changes. Until this year, a bumped car was out of the race. The driver could get in another car in an attempt to make the 500, but bumped cars were gone. This year, each car will be allowed three attempts a day, so if it is bumped it can come right back and try again.

If it rains, or if each day’s allotment of qualified cars is not reached, the open starting positions will be added to the next day’s quota.

In other changes, Carburetion Day was moved from Thursday to Friday, two days before the race, and the starting time for the 500 delayed an hour, from 9 a.m. PDT to 10.

Track officials said the time change was made in hopes of improving sagging television ratings. It also virtually eliminates any attempt by Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart or anyone else to drive in the 500 and then fly to Charlotte to drive in the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 that night.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

This Week

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP

Samsung/RadioShack 500

* When: Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1 p.m.); Sunday, race (Channel 11, 9:30 a.m.).

* Where: Texas Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns), Fort Worth.

* Race distance: 500 miles, 334 laps.

* 2004 winner: Elliott Sadler.

NASCAR BUSCH

O’Reilly 300

* When: Saturday, race (Channel 11, 11 a.m.).

* Where: Texas Motor Speedway.