“Slippery when wet” would best describe the Mickey Thompson
\nStadium Off(c)Road Racing ’93 season opener held at Anaheim
\nStadium. As the song says “It never rains in California” but
\nthere is a first for everything. Another first was Rick Johnson
\nwho utilized his “mudocross” experience to keep the Nelson &
\nNelson Chevrolet out front to win the Sport Truck main event.<\/p>\n
The Sport Utility main was a mud bog but Christopher Neil
\nkept his Pathfinder under control for the win. The Super 1600
\nmain event was a real fiasco. All the cars were covered with mud
\nmaking scoring the event nearly impossible. In fact, the scorers
\nare still reviewing tapes to announce official point standings.
\nThe only person able to keep his number plate dry was Kevin Smith
\nand he overcame the horrible track conditions to take the win.
\nThe slippery SuperLite main event took on the character of a
\ndemolition derby. However, Greg George was able to bring his
\nNature’s Recipe Special around for a win. The Skat Trak ATV main
\nwas another scorers nightmare. But Donavon Holland was able to
\nstay out of the muck and lead all the way to the checkered. A
\nfresh rain cloud had just dropped its load on the UltraCross main
\nevent, and a fresh face for the winners circle emerged. Robert
\nDrew rode his Kawasaki to his first stadium win by leading the
\nevent wire(c)to(c)wire.<\/p>\n
The rain came into Anaheim early so no one expected much of
\na crowd. But when stadium fans get a chance to watch their
\nfavorite event they won’t be put off by torrential down pours,
\nthunder or lightning. In fact 57,036 die hard fans shielded
\nthemselves from the rain as they sat through all the excitement
\nof every event.<\/p>\n
A new season brings out many changes. First off, the folks
\nat MTEG have changed the series name. The series will now be
\ncalled the Mickey Thompson Stadium Off(c)Road Racing series.
\nAnother improvement for ’93 came in the form of a detailed rules
\nand regulations book. Competitors should find answers to most of
\ntheir questions within this updated book. Within the
\norganization, Brian Turner has been named Vice President of
\nMarketing and Communications replacing Tom Osiecki. Turner has
\nbeen working as a consultant and now will be in charge of changes
\nhe recommended concerning the overall direction of the company’s
\nmarketing and public relations programs.<\/p>\n
Five of the six 1992 series champions are back this year to
\ndefend their title. Rod Millen has his Toyota wearing the number
\none plate in the Sport Truck class. Tommy Croft has his Jeep
\nprepared to defend the Sport Utility title, and Jerry Whelchel
\nreturns in the Super 1600 group. Mark Erhardt has prepared for
\nanother year long battle in the Skat Trak ATV challenge. The only
\nnon(c)returning champion not defending his title is Mike Graig.
\nGraig has left the series to challenge the Supercross title.<\/p>\n
Danny Thompson returns this year switching from his
\nChevrolet to become a Ford Rough Rider. Thompson will team with
\nRob MacCachren in a pair of BF Goodrich equipped Ford Rangers.
\nNye Frank also joins the Ford camp as Stadium Program Manager.
\nNye Frank, over the past 30 years, has been the guiding force
\nbehind many driver’s titles and world records. Most recently Nye
\nFrank developed a sleek stadium chassis which featured the first
\nthree(c)speed automatic transmission for 1992 Super 1600 champion
\nJerry Whelchel.<\/p>\n
In 1992 the Nature’s Recipe SuperLite team dominated the
\nclass. To help keep their dominance alive they have added Shannon
\nMillen, Rod Millen’s wife, to their effort. This year Team
\nMirage, anchored by C.J. and Clint Mears, hopes to bring the
\nNature’s Recipe dominance to an end with their new Mirage
\nchassis. <\/p>\n
A special tribute was given to Rick Mears at the Anaheim
\nevent. Mears may best be known as one of only three four time
\nwinners at Indianapolis, or having 29 Indy wins, with 40 pole
\nposition wins, three championships and career earnings of more
\nthan 11 million. But Rick’s racing roots are deeply embedded in
\noff(c)road racing. In fact he won the first stadium event held by
\nthe late Mickey Thompson. Mears said of all the hoopla, “Off-road racing helped get me started, and it feels very special to
\nbe remembered like this by the Mickey Thompson Group.”<\/p>\n
The Mears Gang was well represented at the Anaheim event as
\nRoger and Roger Mears Jr brought their Nissans to the Grand
\nNational Truck class. As stated, Roger’s younger son C.J. and
\nRick’s son Clint brought new Mirages to the SuperLite division.<\/p>\n
The Mears Gang were not the only family members competition
\nas Walker Evans’ son Evan signed up to drive a Jeep Comanche
\nentered by Ken Hodgdon. Evan Evans has been active in desert
\nracing but Anaheim was his first stadium race. If fact, the Grand
\nNational field is becoming a real family feud as Brian Stewart,
\nson of Ivan, is back again in his Dodge. <\/p>\n
Track workers tried in vain to keep the track dry by
\ncovering it during the day. This eliminated qualifying so grid
\npositions for heat one were assigned in order of last years
\noverall position. But as a note, unofficial timers said that Rick
\nJohnson had the fastest lap times during the early morning
\npractice.<\/p>\n
Racing got underway with the Grand National Sport Trucks.
\nDanny Thompson, due to the inverted starting order, sat on the
\npole in his new Ford Ranger. Alongside him Brain Stewart in his
\nDodge. Behind them were eight other anxious Sport Truck drivers.<\/p>\n
Brain Stewart out pulled Thompson on the start and then Rick
\nJohnson slipped inside for a brief lead. At the second turn
\nJohnson made contact with the barrier and ended up last. Brain
\nStewart held onto the lead with Walker Evans and Rob MacCachren
\nbattling for second. While those two fought Rod Millen pulled up
\nin the action. But then Walker Evans got upside down causing a
\nrestart. <\/p>\n
Danny Thompson had the lead on the restart with Rob
\nMacCachren on his tail. Both drivers held their position and
\nRoger Mears headed Rick Johnson.<\/p>\n
With two laps remaining MacCachren was able to slip inside
\nhis teammate, as Thompson maneuvered to lap Evan Evans. Shortly
\nafter Johnson made a move inside of Roger Mears for third but
\ncaught a barrier and rolled the Chevy to cause another restart.<\/p>\n
During the restart excitement Mears moved inside Thompson
\nfor second place and Roger Jr took his dad’s lead and put
\nThompson back in fourth place.<\/p>\n
Ford became the official first event winner as Rob
\nMacCachren crossed his Ranger across first. The Mears Gang
\ntrailed in second and third and Danny Thompson was fourth. Brain
\nStewart crossed over fifth. <\/p>\n
In the first Sport Utility heat Team Jeep came out as a
\ndominant factor. On the start Tommy Croft pulled out an easy two
\ncar lead by the intersection after the two lane option. Going
\ninto the third lap Croft had demonstrated his championship style
\nand pulled way ahead of the traffic. Teammate Tim Lewis was able
\nto grab the second spot. <\/p>\n
Current champion Tommy Croft grabbed the lead at the start
\nand never seen any traffic until they passed him standing on the
\npodium. Second place went to teammate Tim Lewis. Third was Jim
\nSmith and fourth Christopher Neil ahead of T.J. Clark.<\/p>\n
Donny Banks jumped first off the line and went on to win in
\nthe first 4(c)Wheel ATV heat. Charlie Shepherd tried to steal the
\nlead on a last ditch effort but had to settle for second. Third
\nwent to defending champ Mark Ehrhardt.<\/p>\n
Honda made a clean sweep of the top three spots in the
\nsecond 4(c)wheel ATV heat. Chris Berger held off a last minute
\ncharge by Doug Eichner. Donavon Holland was third.<\/p>\n
In the first SuperLite heat 13 cars came out to battle.
\nMercedes Gonzales grabbed the early lead. On the second lap Greg
\nGeorge and Tim Baker tangled while battling for second, and
\nGeorge ended up in fifth after the argument. <\/p>\n
Gonzales was driving a comfortable race then spun giving the
\nlead to Sean Finley with three laps to go. Finley held on to win
\nin his first time out in the Lovelle Racing Triple EEE. Gonzales
\nmanaged to hold onto second and her teammate Greg George moved
\ninto third on the last lap. Fourth went to Scott Klaers and Chris
\nUrquidez crossed over fifth.<\/p>\n
Lovelle Racing quickly learned to love Anaheim. Frank
\nChavez, teammate to heat one winner Sean Finley, brought his
\nLovelle Racing Triple EEE across for the second SuperLite heat
\nrace. Chavez had not driven for a year and a half before coming
\nto Anaheim. <\/p>\n
Rennie Awana drove his Briggsbuilt across for second ahead
\nof Don Archibald. Fourth place finisher was Joe Price and Shannon
\nMillen was fifth.<\/p>\n
Defending Super 1600 champ Jerry Whelchel sat on the pole of
\nthe first Super 1600 heat race and when the green flag came out
\nhe quickly pulled out front. But Whelchel would have to restart
\nagain as four cars piled up in turn one. <\/p>\n
Whelchel appeared to repeat his advantage on the restart but
\nGary Gall and he tangled in mid air with Whelchel landing on top.
\nThe two cars blocked the first option of the two lane track so
\nanother restart was called. <\/p>\n
Whelchel sat alone on the front row for the restart as Gall
\nwas sent to the back of the pack. Whelchel quickly grabbed the
\nlead but spun at the intersection allowing Jimmy Nichols to pull
\nup and challenge for the lead. But Whelchel was able to hold on
\nthen distance himself from Nichols. Once out front and clear of
\nthe traffic it was all over as Whelchel moved his Ultra Wheel Nye
\nFrank Special across the finish line. <\/p>\n
Second place had Nichols fending off Kevin Smith throughout
\nthe event. Just before the white flag came out Smith took the
\noutside option and stole the second spot from Smith. Nichols fell
\nback several car lengths. On the last lap Smith bicycled his
\nMirage and Nichols was able to pull up and add some excitement
\nfor second. But when it was over Smith was second and Nichols had
\nto settle for third. Fourth was Ed Herbst ahead of Gary Gall.<\/p>\n
The second Super 1600 heat was plagued with mishap and
\nmechanical woes. Bob Gordon got the jump on Marty Hart at the
\ngreen. The front two and Wes Banks were the only ones not
\naffected by a multi car pile up in turn one. All involved were
\nable to untangle themselves so no restart occurred. But this
\nallowed the front three to pull so far away they were lapping
\ntraffic by the third lap. <\/p>\n
Marty Hart found his way around Gordon but before he could
\nget comfortable had to pull off the track. Gordon no more settled
\ninto the lead and he too pulled off. Wes Banks became the leader.<\/p>\n
Banks didn’t suffer from mechanical woes but overshot the
\nrough section and tagged the barriers. This allowed Bill Goshen
\nto drive around for the lead.<\/p>\n
Goshen was able keep running and win his first ever stadium
\nevent. Wes Banks got going again and took second ahead of Rick
\nReynolds. Fourth was Tim Herbst and fifth was Eric Arras.<\/p>\n
Thunder and Lightning filled the air as the second heat of
\nGrand National Sport Trucks took the field. Rick Johnson took his
\npole position to the lead and a four truck pile up in turn one
\nheld up the traffic. Current champ Rod Millen managed to slip his
\nToyota past the quandary and settled into the second spot. Walker
\nEvans put his Dodge in third ahead of Roger Mears.<\/p>\n
On the following lap it was apparent that last year’s feud
\nhad been rekindled. Millen went to the outside of the option and
\nhe and Johnson came out side by side, but Johnson held on. Millen
\nfound a quicker line around the outside in lap three and came out
\nleading. <\/p>\n
Millen pulled out a two truck lead over Johnson with third
\nplace Brain Stewart a full straight away behind. Evan Evans held
\nMillen up and Johnson was able to pull alongside in the rough but
\ntime ran out and Millen took the win. <\/p>\n
Brain Stewart kept his Dodge up front for third and fourth
\nwas Rob MacCachren. Ivan Stewart managed fifth.<\/p>\n
Graig Canoy rode his Yamaha to victory in a torrential down
\npour during heat one of UltraCross racing action. Canoy jumped out
\nearly and lead the entire race. Second place went to Jim Holley.
\nThird place and probably the hardest rider of the event was Larry
\nBrooks. Brooks was doubling jumps and making passes when everyone
\nelse appeared to be stuck in a single line.<\/p>\n
When the second UltraCross heat came out Shaun Kalos followed Ryan Carlisle around until just two laps remained. That’s when Kalos made a last ditch effort to steal the win. Carlisle held onto second and third was Jani Sitar.<\/p>\n
A steady rain had turned the track to slim before the Sport
\nUtility vehicle main event. The track had gotten so bad that heat
\nwinner Tommy Croft got his Jeep off to one side and sank in mud,
\nunable to finish. Christopher Neil used the pole position to become the early leader. The Jeeps driven by Croft and Larry Noel tried the
\noutside option and found no traction, having to settle for third
\nand fourth. On the fourth lap the order changed drastically as
\nLarry Noel moved past Croft. During the confusion both Jim Smith
\nand Brian Collins found their way around as well.<\/p>\n
At the checkered only five of the nine starters were moving.
\nChristopher Neil took the win with Jim Smith second. Brain
\nCollins crossed over ahead of Larry Noel. <\/p>\n
The 4-Wheel ATV main was another romp through the mud. The
\nrider that came out looking almost Tide clean, compared to the
\nothers, was Donavon Holland who had lead from the drop of the
\ngate. Holland was followed by Donny Banks and Doug Eichner was
\nthird.<\/p>\n
The SuperLite main event got confusing early. There were
\ncars running over cars and getting stuck in nearly every corner.
\nBut Greg George found some traction and maneuvered his Nature’s
\nRecipe vehicle into the winners spot. Second place was Keith
\nEhlers and heat winner Sean Finley managed a third.<\/p>\n
The Super 1600 main event was the worst of all at trying to
\nscore. Before one lap had been completed all the vehicles were
\ncaked in mud making them almost impossible to identify. However
\nKevin Smith was easy to distinguish as his number eight was the
\nonly number identifiable. This possibly due to the fact he was
\nleading throughout the race. And that his rear number plate is
\npositioned over the engine.<\/p>\n
In the UltraCross main event the mud bath continued but the
\ntrack seemed to have cleared some after the Super 1600s. Robert
\nDrew mounted his Kawasaki and led wire(c)to(c)wire for his first main
\nevent victory. Larry Brooks had to work his way through the pack
\nbut managed to get second. Third went to Scott Myers.<\/p>\n
The Grand National Sport Truck main event turned out to be a
\nreal hair raiser. The lead changed hands several times and was
\nalways being threatened. The kind of action that deserves sitting
\nin the rain and waiting on.
\nRoger Mears Jr and Rick Johnson sat on the front row. The
\nsecond row had Roger Mears and Brian Stewart. Rod Millen, Rob
\nMacCachren, Danny Thompson, Walker Evans, Ivan Stewart and Evan
\nEvans lined up behind.
\nOn the start Roger Mears Jr ran away from Johnson who
\ncouldn’t find any traction. Once Mears Jr committed to turn one
\nhe too lost traction and spun the Nissan. This barricaded the
\nturn and by now Johnson had his Chevrolet hooked up, and avoided
\nthe traffic jam by taking the outside option. It paid off, and
\nJohnson took the early lead. Ivan Stewart who had started on the
\nfifth row managed to slip into second. Rod Millen nabbed third.
\nOn the following lap it was Millen who had moved into the
\nlead and Johnson and Ivan Stewart trailed. On the following lap
\nJohnson again lead with Stewart this time in second. Shortly
\nafter, Johnson got sideways and Stewart managed to grab the lead.
\nJohnson however regained control and quickly got back around.<\/p>\n
Johnson suddenly had a couple of truck lengths breathing
\nroom and the action slowed down for a lap. Just before the white
\nflag came out lapped traffic slowed Johnson up and Ivan Stewart
\ncame back into the action with both fists flying. The heated
\nbattle continued all the way to the finish line. Johnson had the
\nlead and Stewart made his last ditch effort on the last corner.
\nHe got his Toyota nudged into the side of Johnson’s Chevy and
\npushed Johnson over the finish line. Stewart ended up on the
\nbarriers and since Johnson had been busy with Stewart he didn’t
\nsee the checkered so he kept going for another half lap before
\nbeing stopped.<\/p>\n
So it is now official Johnson won the season opener for
\nChevrolet and gave notice that his Rookie of the Year award for
\n1992 was no fluke. Ivan Stewart was looked down upon by the Rough
\nDriving Committee and sent back three positions for the roughness
\nwith Johnson and an encounter earlier with Danny Thompson. This
\nmoved Rod Millen into second and third went to Walker Evans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Slippery when wet” would best describe the Mickey Thompson Stadium Off(c)Road Racing ’93 season opener held at Anaheim Stadium. As the song says “It never rains in California” but there is a first for everything. Another first was Rick Johnson who utilized his “mudocross” experience to keep the Nelson & Nelson Chevrolet out front to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortcourseracer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}