Mason: From On The Screen To Behind The Wheel

KENT - Two Academy Award nominations and a pair of Golden Globes are about all that separate actress Marsha Mason from the other race-car drivers at Seattle International Raceway.

Attired in fire suit and crash helmet and behind the wheel of a Mazda RX3, the star of stage and screen hardly is distinctive in the SIR pit area or on the 2.25-mile track where about 200 racers are competing this weekend in a Sports Car Club of America event.

Mason, 50, whose credits include Oscar nominations and Golden Globe awards for her roles in "Cinderella Liberty" and "Goodbye Girl," is beginning her third year of of auto racing, an interest kindled when she worked at a drag strip as a high-school freshman in St. Louis.

"I used to watch these guys bring these rail cars and funny cars and unwrap the machinery piece by piece," Mason said. "There was something about it, like grease paint. It was always sort of attractive to me. But years went by because there was nothing to really do about it."

At the suggestion of actor Paul Newman, an accomplished race-car driver, Mason did something about it five years ago, enrolling at the Bob Bondurant high-performance driving school at Sears Point Raceway in Northern California. She also attended driving schools in Toronto and Lime Rock, Conn., and observed Newman and his Trans-Am Series team in races throughout the country.

Mason earned her SCCA license in 1989 and has been driving in regional events ever since. Her fondness for the sport is obvious.

"I think the thing I like about it so much is that no matter how difficult it gets in the rest of your life, when you race you just don't think about anything else but racing," Mason said before a practice session yesterday. "It's a wonderful relief, because you've spent a whole weekend letting the rest of it go by. You're trying to accomplish something. You set goals for yourself every weekend.

"And you're around a group of people I probably wouldn't have had an opportunity to become friends with. So I feel I am actually more in touch with the world around me by racing than I am sitting in my house doing television or movies.

"And I really love the people who are involved in racing. They're really good, solid, hard-working, caring, interesting people."

Mason joined a Mazda team this year, renting the RX3 from Mike Lewis, a San Diego businessman who drives an RX7. Both compete in SCCA races for GT-3 and GT-4 class cars and in the NASPORT series for domestic and imported sedans. Cars reach speeds of 145 mph.

The NASPORT series, said administrative director Bruce Silver, "takes you from where you were to what you will be."

It is where Mason belongs, said Lewis.

"True grit and determination," Lewis said in describing Mason's racing desire. "She wants to do this. It's not a play toy. Marsha is very dedicated."

So dedicated, in fact, that she wasn't among the millions who watched Johnny Carson's final Tonight Show appearance Friday night.

"I went to bed," said Mason, who has appeared on the Tonight Show several times. "I had to get up early and come race."

Mason is hoping that her dedication will earn her enough regional points to qualify for the SCCA Runoffs, the organization's national championship event held annually in Atlanta.

"And I'd like to win a race," she said. "Eventually, I'd like to run a faster car. But right now it's important to get experience in a smaller car."

Mason's acting career is on hold. She recently finished doing the television series "Sibs," which will not be renewed.

"There's a possibility of doing a play in the fall," Mason said. "I'm just looking at some of the options to see what's out there. It's a little more difficult now, as you get older. It's not as easy to find material. But you just keep plugging away."

Qualifying will resume at 9 a.m. today. The first race is scheduled for 11:25 a.m. The 30-minute NASPORT race is to start at 1:25 p.m. A similar schedule will be followed tomorrow.