P J Jones

A racing program of full midgets and three-quarter midgets has been scheduled as part of a United States Auto Club-sanctioned event Saturday night at 7 at the Ventura Raceway at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Some of the top USAC drivers will be competing, including 1988 Western States champion Sleepy Tripp and points leaders Tommy Astone, Rusty Rasmussen, Robby Flock and P. J. Jones, son of 1963 Indy 500 champion Parnelli Jones. "This is Ventura Raceway's salute to Sunday's Indianapolis 500," track director Cliff Morgan said.

Saturday night's NASCAR SuperTrucks race turned out to be wild affair at Saugus Speedway. Nine yellow flags and a red flag resulted in a 28-minute delay that marred the 200-lap event won by Ken Schrader in an AC Delco Chevrolet. Ron Hornaday, a former Saugus regular, was involved in one of the most-serious mishaps on Lap 62 before finishing sixth. Hornaday got tangled up with Kerry Teague going into the second turn. Hornaday got a flat tire and severe body damage to his RCCA Product Chevrolet.

Rusty Wallace's patience was rewarded Sunday with a victory in the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro, N.C. It was Wallace's third victory of the season and second in a row, both on short tracks. It pushed him into the NASCAR Winston Cup points lead over Dale Earnhardt, who finished 16th. In an event in which tire wear was a key, Wallace bided his time, taking the lead on the 299th of the race's 400 laps over the five-eighths of a mile track. He passed Sterling Marlin, who had led 190 laps.

A Jaguar and a Toyota were locked in a tense battle as Saturday night became Sunday morning in the 24-Hour race at Daytona International Speedway. The Jaguar prototype, co-driven by Davy Jones, Scott Goodyear and Scott Pruett, took the lead Saturday night in the ninth hour of the IMSA Camel GT season-opener, but the Toyota Eagle of pole-winner P.J. Jones, Rocky Moran and Mark Dismore, regained the top spot early in the 10th hour.

When Ascot Park in Gardena closed last November, the Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix, a racing staple since 1934, was put in jeopardy because it had no site. Saugus Speedway approached the Agajanian family, the owners of Ascot Park, and the United States Auto Club, the sanctioning body, with an offer to play host to the event and a deal was struck. Tonight at 8 at Saugus, the 51st edition of the 100-lap Thanksgiving classic will get under way, keeping alive a season-ending tradition.

Kevin Doty of Indianapolis captured the United States Auto Club 50-lap National Midget main-event race at Ventura Raceway last Saturday night. However it was Russ Gamester of Peru, Ind., who clinched the USAC National Midget Points championship earlier in the evening. Former USAC Midget champion Stan Fox of Janesville, Wis., took an early lead in the main event before a broken steering box allowed Gamester to move into first on lap six.

Three Southern Californians -- Alex Barron of Menifee, Bryan Herta of Valencia and Tora Takagi of Los Angeles -- drove their way into the Indianapolis 500 with second-day qualifying efforts Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When Brazilian Felipe Giaffone qualified at the end of the day, it upped the field count to 26, seven shy of the traditional 33-car starting field. The only opportunity remaining to qualify is next Sunday.

Stephen Leicht took advantage of Carl Edwards' late wreck to win for the first time in the NASCAR Busch Series, passing rookie Brad Coleman with 13 laps left and holding on Saturday night in the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. Leicht, whose best previous finish was eighth in the Pepsi 300 in April, beat Coleman by 1.851 seconds in a Ford. A year after unsung David Gilliland stunned the field, Leicht repeated the feat at the 1.

Al Unser Jr. knows how to win the Indianapolis 500, having reached victory circle in 1992 and 1994. But this year, his primary goal is more modest. "Starting where I'm starting, the whole objective is to finish," said Unser, who at 44 came out of retirement to drive the race once more today. He qualified 27th in the 33-car field. "That's going to be on my mind when the green flag falls and we all go into Turn 1," he said.

Winston Cup veteran Ken Schrader, penalized to the rear of the field for rough driving early in the race, came back in his Chevrolet truck to win the Craftsman SuperTruck 200 Saturday night before the largest crowd to watch a race at Saugus Speedway.