HENDRIX FAST AT IRWINDALE.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Auto Racing

Some might say Rick Hendrix was a little out of his element Saturday night racing in the USAC Three-Quarter Midget event at Irwindale Speedway.

The Canyon Country driver usually competes on the USAC Western Midget and Sprint circuits. He even won a Midget points title in 1998. So it shouldn't come as such a shock that he won the 20-lap Three-Quarter Midget feature at Irwindale Speedway.

What is surprising is that Hendrix, who is currently eighth in points in the USAC Western Midgets standings, led all 20 laps in a car that was relatively new to him.

Hendrix had only four days to prepare for his race at Irwindale. Other drivers, such as series leader J.J. Ercse and Walt Johnson of Sun Valley, have had all year to compete and prepare.

``This is my second Three-Quarter Midget race in five or six years,'' the 42-year-old Hendrix said. ``These are the hardest cars to drive.''

Even though it's been a while since Hendrix, a Glendale Hoover High graduate, has competed in Three-Quarter Midgets, he is hardly a newcomer to the series. He competed in Three-Quarter Midgets from 1987 to 1992 and won the series title in his final year on the circuit.

His return to the series was a mixture of luck and timing. Hendrix's Sprint and Midget Car crew chief, Tony Porto, has a friend, Dave Lampert, whose son drives on the Three-Quarter Midget circuit.

Lampert's son, Steve, recently left for college in Redding, Calif., leaving the elder Lampert without a driver for the Irwindale race. Dave Lampert asked Porto if he knew anyone who could race and Porto said he could get Hendrix to compete.

``We set up the car on Wednesday and I knew the car was good,'' Hendrix said. ``But it wasn't right when we got there (Saturday). By the first heat, we got it. I am really happy for Steve and myself.''

Hendrix started on the front row and says he was never really challenged in the race.

``We want to get together again,'' said Hendrix, who won on pavement for the first time this year for Lampert. ``His son likes the dirt races and he's better on them anyway.''

Ercse finished second and maintained his lead in the series standings. He leads Johnson, who finished fourth, by 10 points.

The next race on the USAC Three-Quarter Midget schedule is Nov. 18 at Bakersfield.

--Maronski rallies: Frank Maronski Jr. of Quartz Hill made up 21 spots, going from 25th to fourth, in Saturday's NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Star Nursery 250 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Maronski, eighth in series points, finished one spot ahead of Granada Hills Kennedy High graduate M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park.

Mark Reed of Bakersfield won the Star Nursery 250. Series leader Matt Crafton was third.

The next race on the Southwest Series is the Snap-On 100 at Altamont Raceway on Sept. 30.

--Monster builder: Frank Schettini of Simi Valley will be displaying his monster truck designs at the Off Road Expo 2000 on Oct. 7-8 at the Fairplex in Pomona.

One of the top monster truck builders in the sport, Schettini will be joining Kent Lothringer, who is preparing eight vehicles for the Baja 2000, and Kreg Donahoe.

The expo is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 7 and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 8. Admission is $8 for adults and children 12 and under are free.

--Roush Racing tryouts: Four drivers auditioned at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week for two open Roush Racing seats for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team.

One of those seats is being vacated by former NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series champ Kurt Busch, who will drive Roush Racing's No. 97 Ford Taurus on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit in 2001. Greg Biffle, the other Roush Truck Series driver and current series points leader, is moving up to the NASCAR Busch Grand National Division in 2001.

The four drivers looking to replace Busch and Biffle are Scott Riggs, who has 16 career Truck Series starts and one top-five finish; Nathan Haseleu, a Re/Max Challenge Series driver; Mike Peters, a Late Model driver from South Boston, Va., and Chuck Hossfeld, a Street Stock driver from Lancaster, N.Y.

``They're doing great,'' said Max Jones, the Roush Racing truck team manager. ``They're all professionals in their own right. And none of them has driven Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so it's unique. It's going to be tough to pick a winner. They're all so close and they're all doing a good job. They've tested with us before (at Toledo, Ohio), so we know they were pretty good.''