OFF-ROAD RACING : Stewart, Millen Keep Trucking Status Quo

This was supposed to be the year that the competition finally caught up with Team Toyota in the mini-pickup truck class of the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix series.

But judging by the results of Saturday night’s heat races at Anaheim Stadium, Toyota appears ready to defend the Manufacturer’s Cup that it has won the past eight years.

Ivan Stewart and his new teammate, Rod Millen, were clearly the class of the field in the second heat race after Danny Thompson scored an upset victory in the first heat by leading all the way from the pole position in the eight-lap race.

Millen, an American Rally champion who was driving a Toyota for the first time, passed Dan Esslinger on the fifth lap to gain a victory in the second heat, which had a wild finish.

Stewart, Esslinger and Nissan factory driver Roger Mears came into the last turn of the last lap three abreast, with Mears edging out Stewart at the finish line for second.

A rough-driving committee penalized Stewart--who had finished third--two positions for reckless driving. Still, the two Toyotas looked stronger than ever.

Stewart had finished a distant sixth in his first heat.

“We changed the tires and went even faster in our second heat,” Stewart said. “Rod ran into the wall in his first heat, so it was great to see him get a victory.”

Thompson was a runaway winner in a new Chevy S-10 in the first heat and, along with Mears in the Nissan, appears to be the biggest threat to Toyota in 1991.

“What a way to start the season,” Thompson said. “The Chevy pulled away at the start, and we got a pretty big lead. I couldn’t see where anybody was.”

In the second heat race of the UltraStock class, Christopher Neil, driving a Nissan, collided with Brian Collins’ Porsche on the second lap and Collins’ vehicle flipped.

After a restart, Neil collided with John Gerjes’ Nissan on the front straightaway, and Neil’s car wound up in tangled in the fence. Gerjes continued, but crashed into the wall coming out of the straightaway.

All racing vehicles were adorned with miniature American flags and some carried yellow ribbons in support of American troops.