I SPORTS I

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The Pits

Continued from the preceding page

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I

Great Values!
Lots Of Fun!
Door Prizes Galore!

V

Indoor-Outdoor Sale

The Weekend of

Thurs., June 29 Thru Sat., July 1

29555 Northwestern Hwy. Between 12 Mile Rd. and Inkster

FRANKLIN SUMMER TENNIS CAMP

ALL DAY & 1/2 DAY SESSIONS
WEEKLY CAMPS BEGIN JUNE 19

Ages 9-13

Non-Members Welcome
Featuring Tennis & Swimming

3 5 2 -8000

EXT. 38
For Registration
And Information

Fitness & Racquet Club

29350 Northwestern Hwy./Southfield, MI

Anybody can sell
jewelry.
• •
provides
SERVICE.
and DISCOUNTS
NO
ut Weintraub. THERE Is A DIFFERENCE.
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"Sunset Str \p'' 29536 Northwestern Hwy
MF 10
, Southfield
- 5•.3
HOUTS.
10 - 5
Sat

52

FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1989

Owner Kraines and driver Rahal discuss plans before a race.

"Originally, we went in as a
tool for our business. That's
the way we started and that's
the way we are now Of course,
the involvement has become
more personal."
For Kraines, that means
working the pits every race,
timing and observing team
operations. Barry Green,
team manager and chief
mechanic, runs the team
day-to-day.
Kraines' sons now run
Kraco, a California-based car
audio and electronics com-
pany. Larry is president and
Steve senior vice president.
Does the senior Kraines
have the "fun job" in Kraco?
"This is the part of my
lifetime for the fun part. It's
their part to work," he says
with a laugh.
But he doesn't stay in rac-
ing purely for fun. "The rac-
ing part of it has helped our
name, Kraco, as a brand-
awareness for all the products
that we sell."
Early on, Kraines and his
sons saw a natural correla-
tion between auto racing and
business for Kraco. "We know
that a large majority of the
people who buy our products
are the same people who
follow auto racing," Maury
Kraines explains. "These fans
are extremely loyal to the
companies which support
auto racing and help to make
the sport possible."
Kraines founded Kraco,
headquartered in Compton,
Calif., in 1954. The racing
team has an 18,000-square-
foot facility adjacent to the
company plant. Kraines and
his wife, Yasuko, live in
Beverly Hills, Calif.

Kraines' involvement in
racing began with a 1980
Indy 500 sponsorship. Since
then, Kraco has competed in
every race sponsored by
Championship Auto Racing

Teams (CART), which super-
vises all Indy-car races but
the Indy 500. The Detroit
Grand Prix joined the CART
circuit this year.
In 1985, Kraines was
elected to the CART board of
directors. But his team had
won no races, despite having
Michael Andretti, a promis-
ing young driver with a
famous racing name.
The turning point came in
1986 with the hiring of Green
as team manager. Andretti
drove the Kraco/STP/Lean
Machine to victory in the
Long Beach 158, virtually in
Kraco's back yard, then won
the Milwaukee 200 and the
Phoenix 200. He had four
second-place finishes, won
three pole positions and led
Kraco to second place in the
point standings, behind
Rahal.
In 1987, Andretti and the
Kraco team won four races —
including the Michigan 500
— and again finished second
to Rahal in points. The team
was sixth last year, the
highest finish for a car with
a Cosworth engine during a
season dominated by Chevy's.
Kraines praises Green for
"his management, his
knowledge about cars, total
dedication.
"Every win is a very impor-
tant thing," Kraines says,
"because when you win in an
Indy race, you've beaten the
best of all drivers and all
teams and all cars."
Kraines says race car
drivers are "a special breed.
There's no way of measuring
a driver . . . They all have to
be given credit for driving in
an Indy race."
Kraines is no stranger to
dangerous transportation.
The St. Paul, Minn., native
was a U.S. Air Force major,
flying B-17s and B-29s on
bombing missions in World