HARD BUMP IN THE ROAD; GORDON NO HELP TO KENDALL.

Byline: BILL SCHLOTTER Motor Sports

As fulfilling as Sunday's Daytona 500 victory was to Dale Earnhardt, so was the preceding International Race of Champions 100-miler on Friday disappointing to La Canada's Tommy Kendall.

Kendall shot from his 10th-place starting position in the all-star field and blew by NASCAR's Jeff Burton to take the lead on lap nine. But after leading three laps, Kendall's Pontiac Firebird was bumped from behind by eventual winner Jeff Gordon. The nudge turned Kendall right into defending Busch Grand National champion Randy LaJoie, who knocked him further right and into the wall.

``They do a lot of bump-drafting in his series,'' Kendall said of Gordon's Winston Cup technique. ``He was trying to help me - and himself - but he kind of turned me a little right.''

Kendall was not injured, but his wounded car was out of the race. And he could only stand and watch as Gordon and the rest continued to circle the track and then take the checkered flag.

Kendall was close to doing a lot of watching this season. Despite his four USAC Trans Am championships and his amazing 11-race winning streak last season, his only certain ride this season is in the four-race IROC series.

Kendall gave up his 1997 Trans Am ride with Jack Roush Racing in the belief he would drive one of Roush's NASCAR Craftsman Truck racers this season. But that deal fell through and other offers over the offseason did not measure up to Kendall's standards. But he said more interesting possibilities are developing.

He will travel to Europe next week to test a sports car developed by Don Panoz and might accept a job driving for Panoz in road-racing events here and in Europe.

``The Panoz deal definitely meets my standards,'' Kendall said. ``It's a first-class deal with a team that will give me a chance to win races and challenge for a championship.''

Kendall said he also has had talks about driving on a limited basis for a Winston Cupteam and full-time in the Busch Grand National circuit.

``We'll see,'' he said.

Friday's IROC race was dominated by the Winston Cup drivers, who took six of the top seven places. Behind Gordon came Burton, Mark Martin and Earnhardt, with Indy Racing League star Arie Luyendyk fifth. Then it was Dale Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Al Unser Jr., Tony Stewart, Jimmy Vasser, LaJoie and Kendall.

Next race is Saturday, May 2, at Fontana's California Speedway.

Familiar lament: Another guy bemoaning an unfortunate early race crash is Chatsworth product Robbie Groff.

Groff was a late addition to January's IRL season opener in Orlando, Fla., subbing for Blueprint Racing driver John Hollandsworth. But after qualifying his car 12th, Groff lost traction on the first lap, spun out and hit a wall, taking his car out of the race.

``I made a huge mistake,'' Groff said. ``I didn't get the tires hot enough before the start of the race.''

Despite the accident, Blueprint might ask Groff to drive again at the IRL's next stop in Phoenix in March. That will depend on Hollandsworth, a rookie who was to try again to earn his rookie's card during test runs Thursday. Groff, who lost his 1997 ride to CART veteran Raul Boesel during the offseason, said he will drive for Blueprint if asked. What he really wants, however, is a full-time job.

``The main thing at this point is to make sure I'm in a car at Indy,'' he said, referring to May 24's Indianapolis 500.

Back in action: Older brother Mike Groff drove to a respectable seventh-place finish at Orlando after missing 1997's final races with leg injuries suffered in a crash at the Texas Motor Speedway.

``There were some points when we had the quickest car on the track,'' Groff said. ``That was pretty encouraging.''

Speedway stands get grander: The California Speedway in Fontana has 15,777 more grandstand seats under construction.

When completed, the new seats will bring reserved seating capacity to 86,421 for the coming run of events. The Speedway had 70,644 seats available in its inaugural season last year.

This year's highlights will include the NASCAR Winston Cup California 500 on May 3, stops by the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Busch Grand National tours on July 18 and 19 and CART Marlboro 500 indy car race Nov. 1.

CART drivers Mark Blundell - who won last year's Marlboro 500 at California Speedway - Mauricio Gugelmin and Paul Tracy were at the track Thursday doing test laps.

Winston West headed east: The second stop on the 14-race Winston West tour comes Wednesday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Saugus' Sean Woodside, the 1997 series runner-up, goes into the race in fourth place after finishing fourth in the season opener in Tucson in January. Rookie Jerry Cain of Canyon Country is in fifth.

Wednesday's race is the first race of a week that culminates with the Winston Cup Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 1.

Catching on:Former Palmdale racer Lance Hooper, the 1996 Winston West series champion, has landed a full-time ride on the Busch Grand National circuit.

Hooper, who spent much of 1997 in the Southeast looking for a high-profile NASCAR ride, is driving for Richard Jackson Motor Sports, whose No. 1 sponsor is World Championship Wrestling, the pay-per-view wrestling circuit that features Hulk Hogan.

``He just happened to walk in the door the day our driver quit,'' said Lisa Jackson, daughter of the owner. ``Dad liked him and saw a lot of talent in him.''

Hooper, the 1990 Saugus Speedway Rookie of the Year, failed to qualify for the Busch race at Daytona Beach last week, but Lisa Jackson said problems with the team's Pontiac have been solved.

``We were a little slow getting out of the gate, but hopefully we're on track,'' she said.

Lisa Jackson said the team goal is to move up to the Winston Cup circuit by 2000.

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