The Lake Elsinore Storm’s leaders have hopped onto the driver’s seat in trying to keep the tradition of the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix rolling.  The popularity of the annual off-road motorcycle racing series has waned in the past couple of years after the event’s promoter for a decade, Todd “Goat” Breker, unexpectedly bailed out a month before the November 2007 races.

Randy Hiner, the operator of an off-road motorsports track at the southern end of the city, rescued the event that year and put last year’s races on at his track. However, he has relinquished the handlebars this year to the minor-league baseball team’s entertainment division.

Storm Entertainment has become increasingly active in staging events at The Diamond, including the Aug. 12 concert featuring Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp.

The stadium will be the focal point of this November’s grand prix, if the organization can pull it off.

“Randy didn’t want to do it anymore, so the city came to us, because there’s always been some talk about maybe including the stadium,” Storm President Dave Oster said. “They asked us if we’d be interested in putting it on. We looked at it and said we would see what we could come up with.”

What they have come up with so far is a proposed seven-mile track with the race starting and finishing at The Diamond. The course was mapped with the advice of city officials as well as motocross veterans.

From its start, the route would head north along the east side of the lake’s inlet channel, turn west, zigzagging through open land north of the channel. Next the route would bend north across Lakeshore Drive and up Country Club on the hill that was a standard feature of past races. Then it would cross Franklin Street and head back south and east over rugged terrain before heading back to the finish line at The Diamond.

Though the route would require some road closures, it would not take riders through downtown, thereby leaving those streets open to businesses and residents. It also would offer some rigorous challenges to the racers in keeping with the history of the event, which was launched in 1969.

It became so popular within a few years that the city had to shut it down because it was unmanageable, Mayor Bob Magee said. The event was dormant until Breker restarted it in the mid-1990s.

“(Storm representatives) actually went out with our staff and practicing professionals and plotted a course that includes portions of the historic race, so we’re still hanging onto the essence of the grand prix,” said Magee, a racing enthusiast whose son competed in some previous races. “We need to preserve that historical element and create a long-term presence.”

When the races first started four decades ago, they attracted the biggest motorcycle performers of the day. The participation of Hollywood star Steve McQueen brought nationwide attention. The 1971 races, in which McQueen participated along with dirt bike stars Malcolm Smith and Mert Lawwill, were captured for posterity in the documentary, “On Any Sunday.” It was filmed by Bruce Brown, who had directed and produced the renowned surfing documentary, “Endless Summer.” “On Any Sunday” was nominated in 1972 for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

“It’s a unique documentary-style film,” Magee said. “It takes you through motorcycle racing in all different forms. And there’s a special affinity because it takes place in our hometown. You see Malcolm Smith roaring down Main Street.”

The hordes who subsequently descended upon what was then a very small town doomed the event in the early 1970s. Now, civic leaders and Storm Entertainment’s management are hoping to resurrect the tradition and attract legions of followers, which could serve to rev up the city’s economy.

The Storm plans on hosting numerous vendors inside the stadium as well as concerts with name rock bands to add diversity to the event, tentatively targeted for Nov. 7 and 8.

“We’re hoping we can make this a little bit more of a family outing, so if you don’t want to sit in the dirt, you can come into the stadium,” Oster said.

There is still a long way to go, however, toward making the plan work, which means attracting financial sponsors, Oster said. That could be difficult, given the economy. The city is not in a position to offer much help given its precarious budget situation, Magee said. A major cost will stem from the security, fire and medical services required at such an event.

Storm representatives have tentatively scheduled a public forum in mid-August to elicit ideas and generate interest in the races.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Oster said. “We’re still a little bit new at this. We’ve put on events here at the stadium, so we have a good understanding of that. The racing world is something that’s a little bit different and new, but one thing we’ve learned and done well is to find the people who know what they’re doing and create partnerships with them.”

Call staff writer Michael J. Williams at               951-676-4315         951-676-4315, ext. 2635.