MOTOR RACING : Riders Taking One Last Spin at Long Beach

Another Southland motor racing facility reaches the end of the line Saturday.

Long Beach Veterans Stadium, once described by three-time world champion Erik Gundersen of Denmark as “the finest quarter-mile track for speedway (motorcycle) racing in the world,” will be off-limits for motorized racing after the Nissan American Speedway Final Saturday night.

The track, the site of several international speedway championships during the past nine seasons, will undergo a facelift starting next week to make it an all-weather running track for track and field competition.

The final motorcycle event might be one of the most closely contested ever held in Long Beach. The American Speedway Final is the first qualifying test for U.S. and Canadian riders for the world championship. Normally, it is held in June--the middle of the racing season--but because of the stadium’s construction schedule, promoter Harry Oxley of International Speedway, Inc., switched to a preseason date.

The field will have eight local riders from the British League, seven from Southern California-based tracks and one from Canada. Neither the British League nor local speedway tracks will begin their regular season until the end of March.

Speedway bikes, which have 500cc engines and weigh only 185 pounds, are among the quickest in the world. They have no brakes, turn only left, can accelerate to 60 m.p.h. in 2.5 seconds and have a top speed of about 135 m.p.h.

From Saturday night’s event, in which each of 16 riders race five times in four-lap heats of four riders each, five riders will advance to the next stage, the Overseas Final at Bradford, England, on June 23. The top 10 qualifiers there gain the Inter-Continental Final, from which 16 qualifiers advance to the World Individual Speedway Final on Aug. 31 at Goteberg, Sweden.

No American has been world champion since Bruce Penhall of Newport Beach scored back-to-back victories in 1981 and 1982, but the five who qualify at Long Beach will be among the favorites to dethrone Per Jonsson of Sweden this year. Jonsson defeated Shawn Moran in a runoff last year, but nearly three months later Moran was stripped of his runner-up position.

Moran took a prescribed painkiller before the Overseas Final, but it was on the world racing body’s list of prohibited substances. Moran received a six-month suspension and will not ride Saturday night.

Sam Ermolenko of Cypress, who won three consecutive American Finals before suffering a near career-ending injury in the summer of 1989, has recovered and is expected to regain his position among the world’s leading riders. Ermolenko lost in a runoff for the 1985 world championship and finished sixth in 1986, third in 1987 and fourth in 1988. He is the most experienced U.S. rider in international competition.

Other British-based riders are Billy Hamill of Monrovia, Rick Miller of Reseda and Kelly Moran of Apple Valley who, with Shawn Moran and Ermolenko, won the World Team Cup for the United States last year; Ronnie Correy of Fullerton, Bob Ott of Torrance, Greg Hancock of Huntington Beach and Gary Hicks of Riverside.

Miller and Correy both reached the World Individual Final last year along with Shawn Moran.

The local contingent will be headed by U.S. champion Mike Faria of Riverside and former national champions Bobby Schwartz of Costa Mesa, Steve Lucero of Riverside and Brad Oxley of San Juan Capistrano.

The British League riders are expected to dominate because the 440-yard Long Beach track is more comparable to European tracks than the tiny ovals used for local competition at Costa Mesa, Victorville and San Bernardino.

OFF ROAD--More than 200 desert racing vehicles will start Saturday in the Nissan 400 (formerly the Mint 400) from Las Vegas International Speedway for what is known as the “richest, largest and toughest desert race in the world.” Racers will leave one at a time every 30 seconds, starting at 8 a.m., for the 400-mile race through the Southern Nevada desert. At stake will be more than $500,000 in purse and contingency prizes.

Ivan Stewart, overall winner of the last two Nissan 400s, will make his 1991 desert racing debut in a new Toyota truck. Among the competitors will be veteran rally racer Saeed Al Hajri of Saudi Arabia.

POWERBOATS--The Long Beach Rum Run, opening event of the Pacific Offshore Power Boat Racing Assn., 110 miles of ocean racing, will start Saturday at 10 a.m. off the stern of the Queen Mary. A fleet of 30 boats, ranging to 45 feet, have been entered in the race around Catalina Island and back. Drivers include Bob Nordskog, Jim Duvall, Anna Dalva, George Werner and Karl Koster. Spectator viewing is best from Pier J, or along the shore next to the Queen Mary.

FORMULA ONE--Promoters of the Iceberg USA Grand Prix through the streets of downtown Phoenix March 10 have changed the course to create more vantage points along the 2.35-mile circuit. Several 90-degree street-corner turns have been widened to make challenging curving corners, where speeds may be 10 m.p.h. faster than in previous years. Qualifying will be March 8-9 with 26 drivers, headed by defending world champion Ayrton Senna of Brazil, starting the 190-mile race on March 10.

A Formula Three race, featuring 1983 Indy 500 winner Tom Sneva and Mexican champion Carlos Guerrero, has been added to the Grand Prix schedule. The 45-minute race will be held Sunday morning before the Grand Prix.

SPRINT CARS--After a three-week layoff, the California Racing Assn. will return to action Saturday night at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.

INDY CARS--Carroll Shelby will drive the Dodge Viper pace car for the Indianapolis 500. The Viper is a late replacement for the Japanese-built Stealth, which came under criticism from automotive worker unions. . . . The 1988 Lola-Buick driven by the late Billy Vukovich III in last year’s Indy 500, has been donated to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum by owner Ron Hemelgarn. . . . Todd Walther Racing, which had Todd’s brother Salt as its driver last year, will have veteran Phil Krueger in the car when it debuts April 14 in the Long Beach Grand Prix.

VINTAGE RACING--The Coors Essex House series of the Vintage Auto Racing Assn. will start this weekend at Willow Springs Raceway with all service personnel admitted free. . . . Also at Willow Springs, on Sunday, Western Racing Assn. sprint and midget cars will run on the oval course in conjunction with the regular Riechmann Motorsport stock car program.