Choosing From a List of Key Contributors

To help commemorate its 50th anniversary, the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Assn. is determining the “Newsmaker of the Half-Century,” the most significant person or people in the sport of automobile racing in the last 50 years.

A starting list of 50 nominees was winnowed to 12 by the association’s board, but the winner will be selected by a vote of its membership. The winner will be announced just before the Indianapolis 500 on May 29.

As might be expected, the final 12 is a mixed bag of drivers, executives, car owners and promoters. The nominees:

Mario Andretti: A champion in the U.S. with the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and four Indy car championships and 52 race victories, and in the world with the 1978 Formula One championship.

Kenny Bernstein: Six-time National Hot Rod Assn. drag racing champion, four in funny cars and two in top fuel. First drag racer to exceed 300 mph. Somewhat of a surprise on the ballot, considering that Don Garlits, named No. 1 among all NHRA drivers, was left off.

Dale Earnhardt: Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion whose death at the Daytona 500 in 2001 showed how far his sport had grown and what he meant to it as the tragedy made headlines the world over.

John Force: Drag racing’s dominant force today, winner of 13 NHRA funny car championships with 114 wins in 180 final-round appearances a quarter-mile at a time. Motor racing’s most popular ambassador.

A.J. Foyt: Super Tex was a winner everywhere he raced, on dirt or pavement, on ovals and road courses. First four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, also won Daytona 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

France family: Big Bill France had the idea to organize stock car racing into a national entity known as NASCAR. After nurturing it from its formative years, he turned it over to son Bill Jr., who grew it into the world’s most successful racing organization. Two years ago, grandson Brian took the reins and has it soaring to even greater heights.

Jeff Gordon: NASCAR’s hottest driver in today’s high-profile picture. Winner of four Cup championships, three Daytona 500s and the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Won his 70th Cup race Sunday at Daytona.

Dan Gurney: Never a champion but considered America’s greatest international road racer. Won the Belgian Grand Prix in his All-American Racers Eagle in 1967, NASCAR races at Riverside and Le Mans with Foyt.

Hulman-George family: Tony Hulman saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from extinction in 1945 and helped the Indianapolis 500 regain its reputation as the world’s premier auto race. After his death in 1977, his family ran the business until 1990 when his grandson, Tony George, became Speedway president and brought stock cars and Formula One to the track.

Wally Parks: Founded the NHRA in 1951 and built it into drag racing’s premier sanctioning body while focusing on safety issues. Retired as NHRA president in 1984 but remains on the board.

Roger Penske: Winningest car owner in Indianapolis 500 history with 13 victories. Also has owned teams that won 11 open-wheel championships and more than 100 races. Built California Speedway and was co-founder of CART.

Richard Petty: Known as “the King” in stock car racing circles, he won seven NASCAR Cup championships and seven Daytona 500s en route to a record 200 victories. Still active as owner of Petty Enterprises team.

There they are, the Big 12, selected from an original list of 50. Among those were such diverse characters as Carroll Shelby, Richard Childress, Phil Hill, Smokey Yunick, Steve Kinser, Junior Johnson, Shirley Muldowney and Mickey Thompson.

Who do you like? I say the France family in a slam dunk.

All you need to do is see more than 200,000 fans at Daytona last week, 100,000 at California Speedway this Sunday, 140,000 at Las Vegas in two weeks and so on through the 36-race season.

Certainly nothing else in

motorsports has had the influence that the France family’s NASCAR has had.

Last Laps

Drifting, the Japanese import sport that is catching on with import car fanciers, returns to Irwindale Speedway on Sunday with a D1 Grand Prix. Featured will be the 32 leading drifting drivers from Japan and the United States. Miki “Mike” Ryuji is the defending D1 champion in a Nissan 350Z. Competition will start at 10 a.m.

Cal Club will hold its first double national road racing event this weekend at the 2.5-mile Willow Springs International Raceway. Six races are scheduled both Saturday and Sunday. In the Group 3 big-bore race, Trans-Am driver Michael Lewis will race former Trans-Am driver Andy Porterfield in the GT1 category.

After two weeks of rainouts, Perris Auto Speedway will try again Saturday night to get its stock car season underway. Scheduled are Passcar super stocks, street stocks, extreme trucks and SUVs, and the IMCA modifieds.

Last week’s rained-out USAC/CRA sprint car program will take place March 5 on the half-mile dirt oval.

Mark Post, defending overall four-wheel vehicle and trophy truck series winner, has added veteran Curt LeDuc as a co-driver of his Ford F-150 truck in hopes of becoming the first to win back to back in the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.

More than 280 entries are expected to start Saturday on the 240-mile loop course near the fishing village of San Felipe on the east coast of Baja California.

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This Week

*--* NASCAR NEXTEL CUP Auto Club 500

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* When: Saturday, qualifying (FX, noon); Sunday, race (Channel 11, 12:10 p.m.).

* Where: California Speedway (D-shaped oval, 2 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns); Fontana.

* Race distance: 500 miles, 250 laps.

* 2004 winner: Jeff Gordon.

* Next race: UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, March 13, Las Vegas

*--* NASCAR BUSCH Stater Bros. 300

*--*

* When: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 10 a.m.); race (FX, 3 p.m.).

* Where: California Speedway.

* Race distance: 300 miles, 150 laps.

* 2004 winner: Greg Biffle.

* Next race: Mexico 200, March 6, Mexico City.

*--* NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS American Racing Wheels 200

*--*

* When: Today, qualifying, 10 a.m.; race, 6 p.m. (Speed Channel).

* Where: California Speedway.

* Race distance: 200 miles, 100 laps.

* 2004 winner: Todd Bodine.

* Next race: World Financial Group 200, March 18, Hampton, Ga.

*--* NHRA Checker Schuck’s Kragen Nationals

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* When: Today, qualifying, 3 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, noon (ESPN2, 6 p.m.); Sunday, eliminations, 11 a.m. (ESPN2, 4 p.m.).

* Where: Firebird International Raceway; Chandler, Ariz.

* 2004 winners: Brandon Bernstein (top fuel), Del Worsham (funny car) and Kurt Johnson (pro stock).

* Next event: Mac Tools Gatornationals, March 20, Gainesville, Fla.