Difficulties Aside, Anderson Still Longs to Challenge Force

It all seemed so simple, like a walk in the park. Or, to be more specific, a quick run in the sun.

Randy Anderson, 32, had won two National Hot Rod Assn. top alcohol funny car championships. In his first year, he won the U.S. Nationals, drag racing’s most prestigious title.

He had been around drag racing all his life, growing up in Covina, where he was a member of the crew when his father, Brad, won three top alcohol funny car championships. His younger sister, Shelly, was one of the NHRA’s leading top fuel drivers.

Anderson’s plan was, after five years in the alcohol class, to move up to nitro as a Winston funny car driver and challenge John Force and company.

It was the way it was done. The Pedregon brothers, Tony and Cruz, had graduated that way. So had Shelly, and top fuelers Joe Amato, Cory McClenathan, Blaine Johnson and others.

First, Anderson needed to get his nitro license. All it took was one smooth pass down a quarter-mile strip of asphalt at a representative speed.

“I don’t know exactly what to expect,” Anderson said when the family first had a look at the 1997 model Plueger chassis with its 5,500 horsepower engine. “That first 100 feet will be a lot different, I’m sure. I’ll know how much harder when I get in it.”

The horsepower is almost double. An alcohol car runs on methanol, has about 2,700 horsepower and can run 250 mph in the mid-five second range. A nitro machine uses nitromethane and can run more than 300 mph in less than five seconds.

It turned out to be much harder than he, his father or veteran crew chief Larry Frazier had anticipated.

The licensing was to take place Jan. 17-19 at Firebird Raceway, near Phoenix. To get the feel of the nitro power, he was to take some 300-foot runs and shut off.

On the third short burst, the car had a mind of its own. From the right lane, it veered to the left, got up on two wheels and shot across the track into a retaining wall. The impact temporarily knocked Anderson unconscious and all but destroyed the $250,000 car.

After Randy spent the night in the hospital for observation, the team packed up what was left of the car and returned to its shop in Ontario to get a second car ready.

Back at Firebird last weekend, Anderson didn’t crash, but he didn’t make a full pass, either. Six times he tried to get down the 1,300-foot strip, six times he smoked the tires and had to shut off. He still didn’t have a license and he couldn’t drive in the season-opening Chief Auto Parts Winternationals this weekend at Pomona Raceway without one.

Another trip back to Ontario, more work on the car. On Monday, Brad decided to take one last chance at Firebird.

Tuesday, with veteran NHRA funny car driver Dave Pulde as an observer, Anderson completed a pass in 5.40 seconds at about 285 mph. He was eligible for the NHRA season.

“We’ve had enough ups and downs for a full season, but we’re on our way up now,” a relieved Randy said. “Now, our goal is to qualify for the Winternationals and go from there.

“An alky and a nitro car look somewhat alike, but there’s no comparison in the way they feel. It takes a totally different driving style. My crew chief said what happened the last two weeks will make our future wins much sweeter, having overcome adversity, but it’s not the way I’d planned it.”

Brad Anderson, who manages the careers of Randy and Shelly while also manufacturing race car components in Ontario, said he would be satisfied if Randy made the 16-car field for Sunday’s eliminations.

“For me, that would be a home run,” Brad said.

In his first at-bat Thursday, in the opening round of qualifying, Anderson ran 5.412 seconds at 282.84 mph, 10th best among funny car drivers.

NASCAR

John Andretti, who has not won a Winston Cup race since switching from Indy cars, raised a few eyebrows when the 189.458 mph in his No. 98 Ford Thunderbird was the fastest of all in testing for the Daytona 500--but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The car, owned by Cale Yarborough, is the same one that Jeremy Mayfield drove last year when it was the fastest in preseason testing and narrowly missed sitting on the front row.

FORMULA ONE

World champion Damon Hill, on his prospects with the Arrows-Yamaha team after being dropped by Williams-Renault despite winning the championship last year:

“We will be fighting to get on the podium, but that will be an extremely good result for us. I don’t see why we can’t win an occasional race, but I am under no illusion. I had an enormous level of success last year. This time I will be stepping backward in order to go forward again.”

Hill said he expected to see the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher and the Williams-Renaults of Jacques Villeneuve and Heintz-Harald Frentzen challenging for the Grand Prix title when the season opens March 9 in Australia.

CART

Jimmy Vasser credited his fast start toward winning the PPG Cup championship last year to his success at CART’s spring training, so he is geared for a similar start this year. The CART contingent of 26-28 cars will begin testing this weekend at the Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex, south of Miami.

Rookies making their debuts include Patrick Carpentier, Toyota Atlantic champion who is driving for Bettenhausen Motorsports, and Dario Franchitti, moving into Emerson Fittipaldi’s spot with Hogan Racing.

This year’s season will start March 2 at Homestead.

IRL

Davy Jones, who suffered head injuries in a crash during practice for last Saturday’s season-opening race in Orlando, Fla., remains at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where his condition is serious but stable. . . . Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser has been added to the IRL staff as a driver coach.

Motor Racing Notes

COPPER CLASSIC--Phoenix International Raceway will host its annual smorgasbord of racing this weekend when U.S. Auto Club midgets and Silver Crown cars, NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour stock cars and Western Super Modified Racing Assn. cars share attention. After time trials and qualifying races Saturday, all finals will be Sunday, starting at noon.

SPRINT CARS--The World of Outlaws and the Sprint Car Racing Assn. will open their season this weekend at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. The winged Outlaws will race tonight, the SCRA Saturday night. Two-time champion Ron Shuman, who won last year’s SCRA crown on the final night of the season, will return to defend his championship.

IROC--Darrell Waltrip has been named to the final spot for this year’s International Race of Champions. He joins fellow Winston Cup drivers Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett; Jimmy Vasser, Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi from CART, Tom Kendall from Trans-Am, Robby Gordon from off-road racing and Randy LaJoie from Busch Grand National. The first of four races will be Feb. 14 at Daytona International Speedway.

NECROLOGY--A memorial service for racing historian and driver Mark Dees will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Dees, 63, who became a member of the 200 MPH Club at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1968, was killed in a highway crash Dec. 23.