MOTOR SPORTS : SPEEDWAY GETS ROARING START FONTANA OVAL'S TICKET SALES BRISK.

Byline: BILL SCHLOTTER

Grandstand seats that aren't fully in place sold out last week for the California Speedway's coming-out party, the NASCAR California 500 on June 22.

Speedway spokesman Jay Lucas said all 71,000 grandstand seats, expected to be completed by the end of the month, have been purchased for the Winston Cup main event.

Tickets remain for June 20's qualifying rounds and June 21's Winston West and International Race of Champions (IROC) races.

In preparation for the June opening, Winston Cup drivers will stop by the $100 million Fontana facility May 5-7 to test the two-mile oval, Lucas said. The drivers will be coming from the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 in Sonoma and can afford some time getting used to the Speedway track, since their next event won't come until May 17 in North Carolina.

So far, 20 NASCAR teams have expressed interest in testing the track those days, Lucas said.

California Speedway's 1997 season will include two other major racing events.

The PPG CART IndyCars will run the Marlboro 500 Sept. 28. The race will be the final CART event of the season, with the season points winner being crowned at its conclusion.

And Oct. 19 the NASCAR Busch Series racers will run a 300-mile race, preceded by a 200-mile run by the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racers the day before.

Magna cum camshaft: Record attendance at the Grand Prix of Long Beach (215,000) and brisk ticket sales at the California Speedway seem to indicate auto racing is on the rise in the Southern California.

Motorsports officials say the boom is nationwide.

To meet a demand for race-savvy employees, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in North Carolina has created a two-year curriculum in motorsports management technology. Trustees at the college, located a few miles north of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, approved the program earlier this year.

More than 100 motorsports companies reside in the area, creating 1,790 jobs and a $71.4 million payroll. More than 300 students already have asked about admission.

``We're in NASCAR country,'' said vice president of academic affairs Shirley Lukadoo. ``. . . We anticipate a waiting list.''

Cars rally near Palmdale: Rally cars from the Michelin SCCA PRO Rally Tour will race over the rough roads of the Angeles National Forest near Palmdale May 2-4.

Five different classes of trucks and cars, ranging from 4-wheel drive pickups to small sedans, will run the course, some hitting speeds of 120 mph on the straights. Each car has a driver and navigator and must quickly travel a course that is revealed only at race time.

Among the entries are six-time PRO Rally champions Paul Choiniere and Jeff Becker, who will race their 4-wheel driver Hyundai Tiburon.

Headquarters for the race, to be taped for broadcast on ESPN2 in June, will be the Palmdale Holiday Inn, 38630 Fifth St., where spectators can view competing vehicles.

Top man: Stock car driver Jeff Gordon had a narrow lead over Dale Jarrett in first-quarter voting by the racing press for Driver of the Year. Gordon received 91 points to Jarrett's 90.

CART points leader Scott Pruett was third with 27 points. Michael Andretti and Alex Zanardi were fourth with 18. Three more votes will be taken through the regular season, followed by a season-ending final ballot to pick the winner.

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