Showket Romps to Another Easy Victory in Champion Challenge Race at Riverside

RIVERSIDE —  Kal Showket ran away from the field to win the 19-lap Champion Spark Plug Challenge at the Riverside International Raceway Sunday afternoon by more than 19 seconds. He was all alone, averaging 90.4 m.p.h. in a Dodge Daytona, while Dennis Shaw, who finished second, and Dave Jolly, who finished third, chased him in Mazda GLCs.

It was no contest. He admitted it was getting a little lonesome out there.

And Jerry Grant, Champion series coordinator, said that he expects the sanctioning organization, the International Motor Sports Assn., to legislate for more equality. Showket had dominated the same way in the first race of the series at Road Atlanta.

“IMSA is an intelligent dictatorship,” Grant said. “They will find some way of handicapping the cars, just like you would handicap horses, so that we’ll have some better show business.”

Showket said: “IMSA saw the same thing you saw. They’re watching us like a hawk. . . . What I’d like to see is for them to find more horsepower for the Mazdas rather than cutting us back.”

The only challenge Showket was expected to come Sunday from Joe Varde, also in a Dodge Daytona, but Varde had handling troubles and then a flat tire and had to pit twice.

It was more of a race for the Renault Alliance Cup title. Parker Johnstone, who started from the pole position, battled bumper-to-bumper and jockeyed for the lead in a pack with Scott Gaylord, John Norris, Mark Mitchell and Bernie Storc throughout the race, but came back to win the first race of the Alliance series, averaging 77 m.p.h.