MOTOR RACING : Amato Quickly Opens Bid for Title No. 4

Joe Amato’s goal this year is to become the first four-time top fuel drag racing champion in the National Hot Rod Assn.’s Winston series. If his preparation is any indication, he is ready.

Last Friday night in Bakersfield, Amato ran the quickest quarter-mile from a standing start in the sport’s history, 4.874 seconds, in his new Al Swindahl-built dragster. The previous fastest was 4.881 by Gary Ormsby last Sept. 29 at Topeka, Kan.

Amato, 46, will officially open his bid for a fourth championship today when the NHRA begins its 18-race, $18-million season with the 31st annual Winternationals at the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona. Qualifying rounds today, Friday and Saturday will set the fields for final eliminations Sunday.

When Amato defeated Ormsby in the final run of the 1990 season during the Winston Finals at Pomona, it moved Amato into a tie with Shirley Muldowney and Don Garlits as the only three-time champions. Amato also won in 1984 and 1988.

“Competition is so tight that it’s going to be difficult to repeat, but I know in my own mind that I’ll get No. 4 eventually,” Amato said. “I’m not saying I’ll do it this year because of the pressure involved. Only one top fuel champion has ever won two years in a row.”

That was Garlits--who has retired--in 1985 and 1986.

“All you’ve got to do to know how tough it is to win is look at last year,” Amato said. “Gary (Ormsby) and I came down to the last round of the last race of the year, the whole nine yards. It was the stuff movies are made of--everything riding on that one last run. It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life because of the way it happened.”

Ormsby jumped the gun and gave the NHRA championship and its $150,000 bonus to Amato on the starting line, but Amato did not let up. He roared down the quarter-mile on the Fairgrounds parking lot in 4.932 seconds, the quickest he had ever recorded.

Despite his success, Amato did not stand pat. Instead, he had Swindahl build a new Team Valvoline dragster--the one that ran at Bakersfield--for the 1991 season.

“The saying is that new tubing runs fast, and it looks like it’s true,” an elated Amato said of winning in Bakersfield. “We wanted a new car because last year’s got bent a little from all that abuse.”

Pomona has been good to Amato. In addition to the 1990 Winston Finals, he won the Winternationals in 1985 and reached the final round three other times. Also, he has won five of six top fuel all-star races there.

During the off-season, Amato underwent arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder.

Ormsby had a new car built for this season, too, but he demolished it during a test run two weeks ago at Phoenix and will be forced to use his year-old car this week. Indications that the top fuel field is tightening came when Don Prud-homme ran 4.96 at Phoenix and Kenny Bernstein had a series of 4.99, 4.94 and 4.94 at Bakersfield. They were the first sub-five-second runs for the former funny car champions, who switched to top fuel last season.

Ed McCulloch, scheduled to drive both his funny car and a top fueler for team owner Larry Minor, has stepped aside for Cruz Pedregon in the fueler. Pedregon, a former alcohol dragster driver from Gardena, ran 5.03 in a test at Bakersfield.

“I was only driving the top fuel car until Cruz got some experience,” McCulloch said, “but he did such a great job at Bakersfield that Larry (Minor) and I both felt it would be best for him to start now. I’m happy it worked out this way because it makes it easier for me to concentrate on my funny car.”

McCulloch, who has won 18 NHRA national events and five U.S. Nationals in a career that began in 1969, ran 5.186 at Phoenix. That is only a fraction under the 5.132 he ran two years ago in Ennis, Tex., the fastest funny car time ever run. McCulloch has won everything there is to win in funny cars--except the NHRA championship.

Professional qualifying is scheduled for 2 p.m. today and Friday and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday. Eliminations will start at 11 a.m. Sunday.

FORMULA ONE--Michael Andretti has taken the first step toward a career in Grand Prix by signing a contract with McLaren to test drive one of their V-12 Formula One cars next week. He also will test during the season when opportunities arise between his Indy car program and McLaren’s Formula One schedule. The first test will be next Wednesday at Estoril, Portugal.

PHOENIX--Racing fans will have a bonanza this weekend with the Copper World Classic Saturday and Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway and the California Racing Assn. sprint cars Saturday night at Manzanita Speedway. Four classes of cars--Silver Crown championship dirt cars, stock cars, midgets and super modifieds--make up the Copper Classic lineup. Featured will be Ken Schrader, a seven-time winner at the track. Schrader, last year’s pole-sitter at the Daytona 500, will drive a Chevy Lumina in the 40-lap stock car main event Sunday. He is also defending champion in the Silver Crown race.

Three-time champion Ron Shuman will open defense of his CRA championship in the season opener at Manzanita. The sprinters will be at the Imperial County Fairgrounds in El Centro for the first time in three years on Feb. 9-10.

SPORTS CARS--Geoff Brabham has won the past three International Motor Sports Assn. Camel GTP championships in a twin-turbo Nissan, but neither Brabham nor the car has won the 24 Hours of Daytona. The Nissan team has two cars entered in this year’s SunBank 24 at Daytona, which will start its twice-around-the-clock race Saturday afternoon. Brabham, who has 24 victories in the past three seasons, will drive with Chip Robinson (who won in 1987 in a Porsche), Derek Daly and Bob Earl. The companion Nissan will have Steve Millen, Jeremy Dale, Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk and Julian Bailey.

A potential family feud looms between the Andrettis--Mario, Michael, Jeff and John--and the Unsers--Al, Al Jr., Robby and Bobby, who at 56 is coming back after retiring from serious racing in 1983. Both families will drive Porsche 962C prototypes. Dan Gurney’s Toyota Eagle team will include Rocky Moran, Willy T. Ribbs, Juan Manuel Fangio II and P. J. Jones.