Motor Sports: Local boat racing appears victim of NASCAR's explosion

By: CLIFF KIRKPATRICK - Staff Writer | Friday, May 14, 2004 11:09 PM PDT ∞

As stock car racing on the West Coast prospers, motor sports on the water continues to struggle.

That's surprising since area motor racing fans for years thrived on personal watercraft racing, offshore powerboat racing and hydroplane racing. But that was before NASCAR's West Coast expansion.

Now it has come to this: There are no watercraft or powerboat races scheduled for the area this summer. That leaves cities such as Oceanside high and dry, and the remaining fans shut out.

The next major water event is the annual Thunderboat Regatta at Mission Bay, scheduled for Sept. 17-19. But even that event's headliner, the Unlimited Hydroplane Series, is facing its own financial troubles.

The International Jet Sports Boating Association restructured itself in the offseason. It decided to keep sanctioning personal watercraft racing outside the United States but can not run the domestic national tour. That leaves regional promoters to handle all the events so U.S. riders can qualify for the IJSBA world finals in October at Lake Havasu City, Ariz. The closest regional races are in Lake Havasu and Las Vegas.

Pro riders such as Escondido's Sean Workman competed in Australia and New Zealand last month to find top-level competition. Workman also is looking to ride the European tour.

"There has been talk about people putting a national tour together, but for now I'm just doing regional races to get ready for the finals," Workman said. "I think the sport will come back. I think in the next couple of years the sport will have a national tour again."

The Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association has staged the Oceanside Offshore Gran Prix for seven years, but is taking this season off.

"The cost the city of Oceanside was charging us became too (much)," series vice president Craig Ferguson said. "We can't afford it. It was a big (financial) loser for us last year."

However, president Brett Seber of Escondido said the cost was worked out but the venue became unavailable because of work on the harbor. Seber said waiting until later in the year wasn't an option because that would create problems with the rest of the schedule.

"We're disappointed it didn't work out," Seber said. "We'll look into next year."

It's a five-race season with one open date, which is for Long Beach. At this point, Ventura and Huntington Beach are the closest events.

For San Diego not to be a major player in boat racing is a shame. It's also a sign of the times, showing that fans and sponsors are more attracted to fast cars than fast boats.

Auto Club 500 second on NASCAR schedule

California Speedway's Auto Club 500 will be the second race on the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series schedule, following the season-opening Daytona 500.

The race, which has been the 10th race on the tour since 1998, will be Feb. 27, 2005. The speedway's second Cup race next year will again be on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4.

"Moving the Auto Club 500 to the second race on the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series schedule opens up tremendous marketing opportunities for the speedway to build off the momentum of the season-opening Daytona 500," California Speedway president Bill Miller said.

"It provides more distance between our two NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events, providing us more opportunity to prepare for and position the second race in this marketplace."

Indy 500 qualifying

After a week of practice, qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 begins this weekend and continues May 23. The 28 drivers entered will attempt a four-lap qualifying run on the 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 9 a.m. today.

It's a seven-hour process to figure out who will start on the pole with another six hours to fill out the field Sunday. A full field is 33 cars, so this year everyone is in the race.

May 23 is Bump Day when cars can knock lower qualified cars out of the field, but that won't happen with so few entries. Thus, only positions will just change.

Busy Barron

El Camino High alum Alex Barron will compete in his third Indy 500 on May 30, driving for Cheever Racing this year.

By being on one of the better teams in the Indy Racing League and finishing in the top-10 in the race the last two years, Barron earned some celebrity status. He has been busy this month with public appearances, radio spots and television interviews. Mixed in has been practice runs of better than 220 mph.

Reality TV

NASCAR fans can't get enough of their favorite drivers so the cable network FX started a reality television show that follows some of the Nextel Cup drivers around the track, their homes and family life away from the track.

The hour-long show "NASCAR Drivers: 360'' debuted this week night and will air at 7:30 p.m. Fridays for the next seven weeks. Drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick and Jeremy Mayfield will be in the spotlight.

Pit passes

Local dwarf and sprint car drivers begin their season at Barona Speedway tonight with racing starting at 6:30 p.m. The SCRA returns May 29.

Nathan Wulff of San Marcos took 10th in the super late models race last weekend at Irwindale Speedway. He's in sixth place in the season standings at the track after five of 18 races.

Schedules

NASCAR

Nextel Cup

Chevy American Revolution 400

SITE: Richmond International Raceway (tri-oval, .75 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns)

SCHEDULE: Today, race, 4 p.m.

FAST FACTS: There have been 10 different winners in the last 12 races at Richmond. Tony Stewart is the only repeat winner since 1998, winning in the fall of 1999 and the spring events in 2001 and 2002. ... Rookie Kasey Kahne has not finished better than 13th in any of his last three races. In his previous seven starts, he had three runner-up finishes and a third-place showing.

Craftsman Trucks

Ohio 250

SITE: Mansfield Motorsports Speedway (oval, .41 miles, 12-16 degrees banking in turns)

SCHEDULE: Today, qualifying, 1 p.m.; Sunday, race, 11 a.m.

FAST FACTS: This will be the first truck race held in Ohio and the first NASCAR series race there in 50 years. ... Carl Edwards has three top-10 finishes in as many races this season and holds a 22-point lead over defending champion Travis Kvapil in the standings. ... Andy Houston is expected to make his 100th career truck start .

NHRA

Southern Nationals

SITE: Atlanta Dragway

SCHEDULE: Today, qualifying, 8 a.m.; Sunday, eliminations, 8 a.m.

FAST FACTS: There have been five different winners in the first six Funny Car events this season. Del Worsham is the only repeat winner. ... Greg Anderson has been the top Pro Stock qualifier for 11 straight weeks. ... Atlanta Dragway has hosted an NHRA national event every year since 1981.

Standings

NASCAR

Nextel Cup

Season points

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,453, 2. Jimmie Johnson 1,428, 3. Jeff Gordon 1,426, 4. Matt Kenseth 1,357, 5. Kurt Busch 1,316, 5. Kevin Harvick 1,316, 7. Ryan Newman 1,299, 8. Tony Stewart 1,284, 9. Bobby Labonte 1,265, 10. Elliott Sadler 1,250, 11. Kasey Kahne 1,209, 12. Jamie McMurray 1,200, 13. Mark Martin 1,135, 14. Rusty Wallace 1,132, 15. Sterling Marlin 1,112, 16. Jeremy Mayfield 1,106, 17. Casey Mears 1,093, 18. Dale Jarrett 1,066, 19. Robby Gordon 1,033, 20. Joe Nemechek 1,014.

Money leaders

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. $2,967,552, 2. Tony Stewart $2,313,747, 3. Jeff Gordon $1,975,172, 4. Matt Kenseth $1,891,939, 5. Kevin Harvick $1,754,234, 6. Elliott Sadler $1,733,274, 7. Kasey Kahne $1,599,747, 8. Jimmie Johnson $1,589,534, 9. Scott Wimmer $1,512,893, 10. Bobby Labonte $1,470,662, 11. Ryan Newman $1,432,409, 12. Dale Jarrett $1,416,877, 13. Rusty Wallace $1,401,659, 14. Sterling Marlin $1,221,974, 15. Robby Gordon $1,207,938, 16. Jeff Burton $1,176,962, 17. Kurt Busch $1,168,937, 18. Michael Waltrip $1,166,602, 19. Terry Labonte $1,154,027, 20. Joe Nemechek $1,147,412.

Craftsman Trucks

Seaon points

1. Carl Edwards 486, 2. Travis Kvapil 464, 3. Dennis Setzer 455, 3. David Reutimann 455, 5. Mike Skinner 424, 6. Matt Crafton 407, 7. Rick Crawford 406, 8. Chad Chaffin 396, 9. Bobby Hamilton 395, 10. Jon Wood 388, 11. Terry Cook 366, 12. Jack Sprague 354, 13. Ted Musgrave 350, 14. Bill Lester 345, 15. Shane Hmiel 334, 16. Shane Sieg 321, 16. Brandon Whitt 321, 18. David Starr 320, 19. Andy Houston 309, 20. Hank Parker Jr. 300.

Weekly Racing Series

Seaon points

At Cajon Speedway

Sportsman

1. David Beat 174, 2. John Manke (Ramona) 149, 3. Ron Overman 122, 4. Bob Wickey (San Marcos) 108, 5. Rick Chavez 100, 6. Stephen Peace 97, 7. Scott Moses 80, 8. Jeff Write 63, 9. Faron Collins 60, 10. Bill Parenteau Jr. 56.

Grand American Modified

1. Mike Jackson 169, 2. Mike Salm (Fallbrook) 167, 3. Danny Gay 158, 4. Hector Leon 134, 5. John Luecht 131, 6. Jimmy Dickerson 125, 7. Andy Papp 120, 8. Marc McGowan 94, 9. Jeff Thompson 88, 10. Dan Hildebrand 82.

Street Stock

1. Rick Hagen 199, 2. Richard Hinze 198, 3. Eric Ferguson 196, 4. Rob Overman 186, 5. Rich Green Jr. 146, 6. Neil Rodvold 145, 7. Kenny Hall 141, 8. Dave Arce 123, 9. Brian Collins (Oceanside) 110, 10. Rob Freeman 106.

Pony Stock

1. Mike Weimann (Temecula) 91, 2. Russ Gregson 70, 3. Douglas Wright Jr. 68, 4. Marty Schmidt 64, 4. Tim Beeney (Escondido) 64, 6. Earl Downing 63, 7. Ed Hale 58, 8. Ty Tipton 57, 9. Darrell McKee Jr. 36, 10. Robert Minnick 32.

Bomber Stock

1. Randy Hart 209, 2. David Whisenant (Murrieta) 183, 3. Marty Lehrke 182, 4. Brian Fitzgibbons 165, 5. Scott Denton (Fallbrook) 160, 6. Hayden Smith 146, 7. Darrell Moore 130, 8. Greg McCown 118, 9. Rick Nies 117, 10. Mike McGlone 102.

NHRA

Season points

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher 576, 2. Brandon Bernstein 495, 3. Doug Kalitta 394, 4. David Grubnic 354, 5. Larry Dixon (Vista) 319, 6. Darrell Russell 306, 7. Cory McClenathan 297, 8. Doug Herbert 276, 9. Clay Millican 274, 10. David Baca 272.

Funny Car

1. Del Worsham 460, 2. John Force 418, 3. Gary Densham 374, 4. Tim Wilkerson 351, 5. Eric Medlen 346, 6. Whit Bazemore 345, 7. Phil Burkart 344, 8. Gary Scelzi 322, 9. Jerry Toliver (Temecula) 318, 10. Tony Pedregon 299.

Pro Stock

1. Greg Anderson, 668. 2. Kurt Johnson, 470. 3. Jason Line, 373. 4. Jeg Coughlin, 365. 5. Larry Morgan, 346. 6. Warren Johnson, 324. 7. Dave Connolly, 313. 8. Bruce Allen, 280. 9. Jim Yates, 226. 10. Rickie Smith, 211.

Pro Stock Bike

1, Andrew Hines, 196. 2, Karen Stoffer, 190. 3, Geno Scali, 153. 4, Antron Brown, 151. 5, GT Tonglet, 150. 6, Mike Berry, 105. 7, Shawn Gann, 87. 8 (tie), Steve Johnson and Angelle Savoie, 83. 10 (tie), Chip Hunter and Michael Phillips, 64.

Cliff Kirkpatrick is a staff writer for the North County Times. His motor sports column appears every Saturday. He can be reached at (760) 943-2315 or ckirkpatrick@nctimes.com.

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