MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : New Boss Casts Eyes Abroad for Growth in Indy Cars

When William Stokkan was interviewed for the chief executive’s job with Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc., the Indy car racing sanctioning body, his main expertise was in worldwide licensing and marketing, so it should come as no surprise that he hopes to move CART in the same direction.

The recent Gold Coast Grand Prix in Australia was not Stokkan’s idea--he thought it ill-advised to hold such a race this year--but its success, plus a growing enthusiasm for oval track racing throughout the world, forecasts a global schedule for what once was strictly an American institution.

“Our idea is not to compete with Formula One on a worldwide basis, but oval racing is distinctive to Indy cars, and with the way the auto industry is moving, it would be difficult for us to grow without a presence in Japan,” Stokkan said during a West Coast swing to attend races last week in Long Beach and Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

“It would also be important to have one in Europe, one in South America, one in Australia and the rest in North America. All but Australia would be on ovals. We definitely want a balance between road courses and ovals, and if we export our brand of racing, it should be on ovals. Formula One has already filled the foreign appetite for road racing.

“Our domestic picture extends from Catalina Island to Long Island, and we must never neglect that, but our scope of interest is expanding beyond that. For years, before TV, viewing was limited to the size of on-site grandstands. Today, with international TV, it is unlimited. Many of our sponsors want to tap that resource.”

Stokkan, 40, was named chairman and chief executive officer of CART last July after working 11 years with Playboy Enterprises in marketing and merchandising. During that period, he became involved with Indy car racing when Playboy sponsored the Machinists Union car driven by Kevin Cogan from 1985 to ’89.

“CART placed an advertisement in a paper for a chief executive in late 1989, and several acquaintances of mine who knew of my involvement in marketing, especially Andy Kenopensky, said, ‘You might be the guy to make something of CART,’ ” Stokkan said. “I held down a pretty good position at Playboy at the time, and even after I was informed I was CART’s choice, it took me two or three weeks before I accepted the offer. Kenopensky was the pivotal person in my decision.”

Kenopensky, owner of the Machinists Union team and a member of the CART board for three years, died last Oct. 12 of cancer. He had been the leader of a clique known as “the little guys” in Indy car racing who were continually fighting to slow the escalating costs of the sport.

“The problem, as I saw it, was that CART had grown so fast over the past 10 or 12 years that it was tough to keep up with its infrastructure,” Stokkan said. “At the time of the selection process, there seemed to be a lot of self-criticism being played out. CART was getting more attention from its internal bickering than from what it was doing on the race track.

“My first objective was to get everyone to thinking in the best interest of the sport, not necessarily in their own best interest. In other words, I wanted the drivers, car owners, race promoters and sponsors all pointed in the same direction, all pulling on the same end of the rope.”

Less than two weeks after accepting the job, Stokkan was faced with the abrupt cancellation of the Detroit street race by the CART board of directors.

“Instead of a honeymoon, I got Detroit and Australia,” Stokkan said, able to laugh about it nine months later. “Right off the bat, I had to make a decision that could have been career suicide. I decided it was a matter of integrity, and I had to rule against the board and reinstate Detroit. It was a decision based on fact rather than emotion, which is how the board had acted.”

The Australia race, a street adventure in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, had been arranged by the previous administration, headed by John Frasco. From its announcement, it had been the target of attacks by Jean-Marie Balestre, president of the Federation Internationale du Sport Automobile, world ruling body of motor racing; and Bernie Ecclestone, president of the Formula One Constructors Assn., which conducts the world championship racing series.

As late as a week before the Australian Indy car race, Balestre was telling American reporters in Phoenix that anyone who raced in, or was involved with, the race would be banned immediately from future international competition. Such threats were ignored, and the race went on with great success before an enthusiastic crowd.

“I thought the Australia deal was put together rather hastily,” Stokkan said. “I would have prefered to have another year to plan, but as it turned out, it was good for Australia, good for the Gold Coast (resort), good for our participants and good for the sport. I look forward to next year and beyond.”

Stokkan, who was born in Norway, came to the United States as an exchange student at the University of Chicago, where he graduated with a degree in marketing. Before joining Playboy in 1978, he was U.S. sales manager for Carlsberg beer of Denmark.

“I saw my first Indy car race in 1984. I was in Las Vegas and was brought to the race kicking and screaming,” he said. “The next year, I saw my first Indianapolis 500, which was one of the parts of American culture that I had wanted to see when I first came to this country. That and country and western music were important to my becoming Americanized. One of my big moments was when I met (country and western singer) Dottie West.”

The Indy 500 is not part of CART. It is a single event, sanctioned and conducted by the United States Auto Club, but it is part of the PPG Cup driving championship series along with CART’s 16 races.

“Roger Penske and Pat Patrick had great vision, great courage when they formed CART,” Stokkan said. “They realized that having the Indy 500 without a strong support series would be like having the Super Bowl without a football season.

“Today, despite lingering lawsuits, we have a healthy Indianapolis 500 and a healthy series. Both Tony George (president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and I believe in the sanctity of a world governing body, but we both feel that it is very important to American motor sports to have a better dialogue with the world organization. We will work toward that, but in the meantime, we are going to move forward.”

Stokkan, as he showed in the Detroit race situation, is not a man to back off when a decision needs to be made. Nor is he one to lack confidence in his decisions.

“I have spent 20 years in Europe and 20 years in the United States, and I have the best input from both cultures,” he said. “The best advice I have came from my grandfather, who told me many years ago, ‘It doesn’t matter in life whether you are right or wrong, just never be in doubt.’ ”

MIDGETS--Sleepy Tripp, a two-time United States Auto Club and five-time Western States regional champion, will go for a record 132nd USAC victory in ESPN’s “Saturday Night Thunder” race on Ventura Raceway’s dirt oval. A victory would make the Costa Mesa veteran the winningest midget driver in USAC history, breaking a tie with the late Rich Vogler.

INDY CARS--Rick Mears will go for his third victory in a row at Phoenix in the Valvoline 200 Sunday. Twenty-four cars are entered in the 47th running of the Indy car race on the mile oval. A.J. Foyt, a four-time Phoenix winner, had planned to race but instead will turn his car over to veteran Al Unser and concentrate his recovery on driving at Indianapolis next month.

MOTORCYCLES--Wayne Rainey of Downey, the world road racing champion, will defend his U.S. 500cc Grand Prix crown Sunday at Laguna Seca Raceway in the third round of the world championship series. Rainey has won the last two Laguna Seca races and is leading the 1991 standings. Kevin Schwantz of Paige, Tex., who won the season opener in Japan, and Australians Mike Doohan and Wayne Gardner are expected to be Rainey’s main opposition.

Team Suzuki Endurance of Lake Elsinore broke the American record for mileage covered in 24 hours with 2,215 miles at Willow Springs Raceway at an average speed of 92.29 m.p.h., which included refueling pit stops. Team Suzuki broke its own record of 2,207.5 miles set last September in winning the Western Eastern Roadracers Assn. event for the sixth time.

The speedway season at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino is scheduled to start next Wednesday night and run weekly until the California championships on Sept. 28. . . . John Aden, 18, of Apple Valley will make his first division speedway debut tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

SPRINT CARS--California Racing Assn. drivers will be at Kings Speedway in Hanford tonight and at Santa Maria Speedway Saturday night. Tim Green was last Saturday night’s CRA winner at Chico, not Ken Gray, as reported. . . . Winged sprinters of the Sprint Car Owners of Arizona will open their season Saturday night at Imperial Raceway in El Centro.

STOCK CARS--Sportsman cars of the Winston Racing Series will run Saturday night at Saugus Speedway. . . . Grand American modifieds will make their first appearance Saturday night at Cajon Speedway along with Winston Racing Series sportsman cars. . . . Orange Show Speedway will feature street stocks Saturday night.

The Coors Silver Bullet series makes its 1991 debut tonight at Ventura Raceway with street and mini stocks. . . . Las Vegas Speedway will play host to the third race in the NASCAR Southwest Tour Saturday night, with Mike Chase and Rick Carelli, winners of the first two events, expected to battle it out. . . . Late model and mini stocks will race Saturday night at Bakersfield’s Mesa Marin Raceway.

RALLY--The annual Rim of the World PRO Rally, scheduled Saturday in the Lancaster-Lake Hughes area, will be the opening event of the Sports Car Club of America’s Subaru national championship series. Rod Millen, former national champion and two-time Rim of the World winner, will be in a Mazda GTX along with navigator Tony Sircombe. Challengers include the Subaru-sponsored team of Chad DiMarco and Erick Hauge in an all-wheel-drive Legacy, and 1990 national champion Paul Choiniere.

DRAG RACING--More than 450 sportsman drivers are expected to compete this weekend in the National Hot Rod Assn.’s Division 7 championship runoffs at Bakersfield Raceway. It is the first of six events to earn points for national and regional titles in eight sportsman racing categories. Time trials and national record run attempts will be held today and Saturday, with final eliminations Sunday.