MOTOR RACING : Ride-Share Program Forced on Luyendyk

Arie Luyendyk, the 1990 Indianapolis 500 champion, isn’t happy about the situation, but he will try to make the most of it. Robby Gordon, projected to become the star in Ford’s racing future, is ecstatic over the same situation and he, too--in a different way--hopes to make the most of it.

Luyendyk, winner of two Indy car races last year for Vince Granatelli’s team, and Gordon, a 23-year-old from Orange who has shown he can drive fast in just about anything on wheels, will share a second Indy car on Chip Ganassi’s Lola-Ford Cosworth team later this season.

Eddie Cheever, a former Formula One driver looking for his first Indy car victory after two seasons, will remain the No. 1 driver for Ganassi and will run in all CART races. The season will start March 22 in Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Luyendyk, 38, is signed to drive only the Indianapolis 500. Gordon will drive six road-course races, starting with the Detroit Grand Prix on June 7.

“Sure, I’m frustrated and disappointed not to be running all the races,� Luyendyk said, “but that’s the way it is when you can’t find a sponsor. I have said I would only drive for a competitive team, and I think Ganassi has one. I won Indy once, so I think I can be a plus factor (as a teammate) for Cheever.�

Gordon, who has never driven in an Indy car race, spent the last two years driving for Jack Roush in the IMSA GTO sports car series. In 30 starts he has 11 victories. Gordon has an off-road racing background and this year he will supplement his Indy car program with desert races in his own truck.

“I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas and I already know what I’m getting for a present,� Gordon said of his Indy car future. “I have always wanted to run Indy and after I get some experience in the car on the road, where I am more familiar, it looks like I’ll get my chance.�

Gordon, who has also won endurance races for Ford at Daytona and Sebring and looked impressive in one stock car venture, was lauded by Ganassi, a former Indy car driver turned owner, as “one of the brightest young talents to come along in 10 years.�

Neither Luyendyk nor Gordon will drive in the pre-Indy 500 races in Australia, Phoenix and Long Beach because delivery on three new, streamlined Lolas is not expected from England until March 15.

Ganassi said that the search for a sponsor for Luyendyk will continue and if one is found, the Dutchman will drive other oval races this season. Luyendyk was left without a regular ride when Granatelli closed his shop after failing to find a sponsor.

The last time racing fans saw Tom Kendall in action, the UCLA graduate was heading into a wall at Watkins Glen, N.Y., last June in a head-on crash that shattered both his legs, feet and ankles.

After undergoing nine hours of surgery and rehabilitative therapy for six to eight hours a day for nearly eight months, Kendall will return to the track this weekend to drive a new Chevrolet GTP car in the Toyota Grand Prix of Miami.

“I’ve tested a couple of times at Bob Bondurant’s driving school (in Arizona) and in the Chevy at Sebring, and after evaluating how I felt, I got a release from Dr. (Terry) Trammell to go racing,� Kendall said from Indianapolis, where he has undergone much of his therapy under Trammell and Kent Walterhouse at Indiana Sportheraphy.

Kendall, 25, is the Chevrolet counterpart of Ford’s Gordon. He has won four IMSA championships and the 1990 Trans-Am. He also drives in Winston Cup road races and has driven in IROC competition.

“I was a little surprised at how well I felt after testing 40 minutes the first day and more than an hour the second day,� he said. “I was able to get up to speed quickly and had no ill effects. I was tired all over, but that was to be expected. What pleased me was that my feet did not give me any special problems.�

Kendall drove his first IMSA race at Miami in a Mazda RX7 at age 18, won there in 1988 in a Chevrolet Beretta and last year lost to Raul Boesel in one of the closest GTP races in history. Boesel’s Jaguar beat Kendall’s Chevy Spice by 0.76 seconds.

Kendall still walks with crutches, but he said he will walk down the aisle in Pasadena without them April 4, when he will marry Caroline Kreefft of San Gabriel.

Briefly

OFF ROAD--Former national motocross champion Rick Johnson will make his debut in a Chevy truck Saturday night in the Mickey Thompson Gran Prix at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. A San Diego native, Johnson will drive a factory-backed pickup fielded by Nelson & Nelson of Hemet. Rod Millen, in a Toyota, will be favored after scoring a sweep of both heat races and the main event in the Thompson opener last month at Anaheim Stadium. The only other driver in stadium off-road history to sweep a card was Robby Gordon in 1989. . . . La Rana Desert Racing’s Presidential 250 is scheduled for this weekend out of Barstow.

STOCK CARS--Santa Maria Speedway has initiated a Danny Simkins Award of Excellence for the driver “exhibiting extraordinary personal and professional qualities� during the season. Simkins, a nine-time Santa Maria track champion who has continued to race despite battling cancer for nine years and losing a leg to the disease two years ago, was the first recipient of the award. . . . Sportsman and street stocks will be featured Saturday night at Imperial Fairgrounds in El Centro. . . . The Mini Modified Racing Assn. will open its season Sunday at Willow Springs Stadium.

DRAG RACING--The National Hot Rod Assn.’s Winston series makes its second start this weekend with the Motorcraft Nationals at Firebird Raceway, near Phoenix. Qualifying will start today with final eliminations Sunday.