Smarts and Speed : NASCAR’s New Southwest Tour Draws Veteran Drivers to Saugus

Many factors determine a winner, but Saturday night’s opening race of the new NASCAR Southwest Tour at Saugus Speedway should come down to just one: experience.

Knowledge of the Saugus track--the West’s oldest auto racing facility--will be the key to victory, according to Reseda’s Jim Robinson, who was the track champion in 1977. Also entered in Saturday’s Saugus 100 are 1983 track champion Roman Calczynski of Sepulveda and track veteran John Covan of Simi Valley.

Drivers must prepare their chassis and suspensions differently for Saugus because the track is flat, Robinson said.

“Hopefully, our experience will help quite a bit. It was said to me a long time ago that if you learn your basics at Saugus, you can run anywhere. The people who have a few laps at Saugus will definitely have more of an advantage than someone who has never seen the track before,” Robinson said.

“The race track has changed a little since I’ve raced there. But the race experience I have at Saugus will help out quite a bit.”

Worthwhile words from a successful Saugus graduate. Since the days when he ran regularly on the one-third mile oval, Robinson has won three NASCAR Winston West stock car championships.

Robinson expects stiff competition Saturday, saying there are several drivers experienced in the unique ways of Saugus who could collect first-place money.

“We’ll have eight or 10 guys who will be competitive and have a good shot at winning the race . . . but I don’t want to mention any names,” Robinson said.

The new 13-race Southwest Tour features sports cars with a minimum 102-inch wheelbase. Prefered cars include Pontiac Trans Ams, Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Thunderbirds, Dodge Daytonas and Chrysler Lasers. Engines are limited to 358 cubic-inch displacement with about 575 horsepower.

Drivers will travel from as far away as Colorado to compete for $16,265 in prize money. A 100-lap main event for 24 top qualifiers headlines the evening’s events. Other events include heat races, plus a 40-lap oval and a 25-lap figure-eight race for street stocks.

Drivers aren’t the only ones excited about the new circuit. Track officials and NASCAR are excited with the series and pleased by the entry list at Saugus.

Said Owen Kearns of NASCAR: “Everybody’s really ecstatic about it. We have 30 entries for Saugus, which is great considering that we didn’t have any 120 days ago.”

In addition to two Southwest Tour races at the track, NASCAR also will sponsor the sportsman division for the entire regular season, which begins April 5, with modifieds, sportsman and street stocks.

Spectator gates open at 10 a.m. Saturday. Practice ends at 4 p.m., with qualifying at 5. Racing starts at 7.

Saugus won’t be the only local track to open its season on Saturday. The California Motorsports Assn. begins the 1986 three-quarter midget season at an improved Ventura Raceway.

The dirt track, located at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, recently was enlarged to a quarter-mile. The cars are open-wheeled quarter-midget racers, powered by Honda or Kawasaki motorcycle engines.

In addition to track improvements, California Motorsports recently reached an agreement with the Los Angeles County-based National Midget Racing Assn. Past conflicts in scheduling and purses left some racers split between tracks. Both organizations have agreed on cooperative schedules for this season with racing at Ventura and Ascot Park in Gardena.

Last year’s track champion, Bill Floyd of Ventura, will not return to the track. He decided to take his skills to Ascot and race with the California Racing Assn.

That will leave favorites Tom Morley of Topanga, Harlan Willis of Oxnard, Kelly Drake of Canyon Country to fight it out for the 1986 championship.

Practice begins at 6 p.m. with qualifying at 7. Racing starts at 8.