Ayers Leads Standings at Saugus Without Winning a Race

Michael Ayers is weary of being a sportsman.

After six years of racing at Saugus Speedway--two in the sportsman class--he wants to move on to the NASCAR Southwest Tour for Grand American cars.

The fact is, Ayers doesn’t wish to be married to the track. He expects to take wedding vows in November, and racing every week at Saugus, he says, wouldn’t fit into a family man’s schedule. NASCAR’s Southwest Tour includes only 13 to 14 races a year. It also means bigger prizes and more prestige.

Racing in the sportsman class has prepared Ayers for the tonier tour. The Saugus sportsman class has more than doubled in size since the beginning of the season, when NASCAR invaded the one-third mile oval. Competition has grown more intense as sportsman cars have become cleaner and faster.

Five drivers could win the points championship. Without winning a single main event, Ayers leads the group. The prospect of winning the championship but not a race is similar to that faced by Darrell Waltrip last year, when he won the NASCAR Winston Cup championship even though Bill Elliott won most of the races.

Jeff Phillips of Newbury Park and Bob Campanella of Canoga Park are the Elliotts of the sportsman class at Saugus. Campanella has won one main event and is in second place in points. Phillips has won two main events, more than any other driver in the class, and is in third place.

The odd circumstance exists because the NASCAR points structure tends to reward consistent drivers. Ayers always finishes near the top, which fits right into NASCAR’s scheme.

“Between fourth and sixth is where we’re finishing every week,” Ayers said. “We just try to be consistent.

Ayers began six years ago by racing street stocks at the track. He has always had a small, low-budget, family team. His father George is his crew chief. George raced at the track in the early 1960s and was a flagman after that. George likes to say the whole Ayers operation is run by “shade-tree mechanics.”

It was during his years of racing street stocks that Ayers learned what it took to go fast, but still keep the car in one piece.

“We run as hard as we can, but don’t take any chances,” he said. “We just always want to be there at the end and that’s what counts.”

If Ayers, a 23-year-old warehouse manager, manages to stay in front during the second half of the season, he could be counting more than points. Winston, NASCAR’s biggest financial supporter, is paying a $1,000 bonus to the top points finisher. There’s also track championship money and points fund money from NASCAR that will go to the champion.

Phillips and Campanella could take the lead rather quickly, however. NASCAR will hold the Kodak 100 sportsman race Saturday at Saugus at 6 p.m. Points count double for the 33-mile race which means a bad night for Ayers could turn the points lead over to either driver.

“The points are real tight,” Campanella said. “But it’s one of those situations where if Ayers finishes in the top five, he could win the points.”

Said Phillips: “It’s frustrating at times, because we’ve won. But we just try as hard as we can. Ayers has been very consistent and doing a very good job. He has a very good crew. You don’t get there by luck.”