It’s No Way to Break In a New Track

FONTANA —  Roger Penske’s racing palace, surrounded by pristine white walls as the day dawned, was scarred after the drivers of the NASCAR Winston West circuit were finished Saturday.

Here and there were the blemishes of a new experience.

More used to driving the half-mile facilities of Tracy and Bakersfield, the extra racing room afforded by the new, two-mile, big league facility didn’t keep them off the wall.

When it was over, Ken Schrader had a little better idea how to run in today’s California 500 and a victory in the Auto Club 200, the inaugural event at California Speedway. He also had the winner’s share of $14,600 and his dignity intact.

“I caught a lot of flap in the garage [for entering the race], and if we hadn’t won, I would have heard about it,” said Schrader, who will start fifth in today’s Winston Cup race.

He wouldn’t have heard about it from Mike Wallace, who failed to qualify for the California 500.

With some time on his hands--as well as expenses for a trip to California from the East Coast to defray--Wallace added 100 pounds to his Chevrolet, knocked the spoiler about a bit, took the cold air box off his engine and lined up last for the Auto Club 200.

He finished second, 0.569 seconds behind Schrader, who passed Wallace on Lap 88, heading for a caution flag.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t plan to run in this race,” Wallace said. “Considering we had zero practice, I guess we ran OK. I screwed up a little not racing hard enough back to the caution and letting Schrader get by me.”

The final caution had come out when Ron Peterson, a Southwest Tour veteran getting his first ride in a Winston West car, spun it in Turn Two and went into the wall. The seven caution periods covered 33 of the 100 laps and dropped Schrader’s average speed to 110.311 mph on the 14-degree banked tri-oval.

Peterson, from San Bernardino, was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center for observation, and was alert and conscious during the trip.

David Green, also a Winston Cup driver, was third. Winston West regular Butch Gilleland of Anaheim was fourth.

The race was in its second lap when the first caution flag was waved. Kenny Smith lost control of his car while trying to keep from tagging Dan Obrist in the rear bumper on Turn One. Smith, racing with the help of California Lotto money (he was a $22-million winner), hit the wall and smashed the front of his car.

Darrel Krentz was next. He hit the wall on the same turn on Lap 12, scrambling out just before it became engulfed in flames.

Race officials tried to halt the tide by red-flagging--or stopping--the race for 13 minutes while firemen dealt with Krentz’s car.

But the Winston West drivers kept hitting the California Speedway wall.

St. James Davis was involved in a three-car wreck, then dropped oil on the track. Two more wrecks, then Peterson’s, and all the while the Winston Cup regulars and Gilleland were staying ahead of the pack and out of trouble.