Motor Racing / Vince Kowalick : Winston Cup Drivers Attract Eager Crowd at Saugus Speedway

The eight NASCAR Winston Cup drivers who invaded Saugus Speedway for last Saturday night’s Race of Champions expected to be greeted by an army of fans--and they were.

A crowd of 5,750 packed the track to watch the visiting racers team with eight Saugus regulars in dual 30-lap Modified division main events. Saturday night’s crowd, coupled with the 5,774 who whisked through the turnstiles for racing and fireworks on July 4, amounted to a one-week Saugus season-high of 11,524.

Davey Allison, whose father, Bobby, raced at Saugus in June, eagerly climbed into his racing coveralls. “My dad said that this was a fun place to race,” he said.

Said NASCAR Winston Cup points leader Rusty Wallace: “We like to meet new fans.”

Allison and Wallace--along with fellow guests Michael Waltrip, Geoff Bodine, Willy T. Ribbs, Rick Wilson, Ernie Irvan and Joe Ruttman--got their chance.

Shortly before the races on the -mile paved oval, a seemingly endless line of autograph seekers formed in the parking lot. The fans kept the drivers busy for more than 90 minutes and delayed the start of the races. But no one came away empty-handed.

“I’ve signed autographs at these things from 9 in the morning until 6 at night, steady,” Bodine said. “It doesn’t bother me. It’s a lot harder out there on the track than it is in here.”

If Bodine developed writer’s cramp, it didn’t show. He narrowly won the 30-lap main event for Winston Cup drivers, edging Irvan. Irvan, however, won the Race of Champions, along with teammate Ken Sapper of La Crescenta. Sapper, a three-time Saugus champion, won the second main event.

With all the Saugus fans fussing over the high-profile visitors, did any of the Saugus regulars feel forgotten?

“No,” Saugus favorite Dan Press said. “It’s an honor having these guys out here. They’re our heroes and we see them on TV.”

Rolling along: Points leader Dave Blankenship of Reseda overtook Dean Johnson of Hidden Hills on Lap 16 last Saturday night and streaked to victory in the 25-lap oval, his third Street Stock main event this season.

In the 15-lap figure 8 main event, Ken Wilson of West Hills, who, along with Blankenship, raced in the Hobby Stock division last year, assumed the lead on Lap 13 and held off Blankenship to take his first checkered flag of the season.

Motorcycles: Erik Kehoe of Granada Hills finished second Sunday at the Broome-Tioga Sports Center in Binghampton, N.Y., in the eighth round of the 125cc American Motorcyclist National Championship Series.

With 302 points, Kehoe is second in the points standings behind George Holland of Kerman, Calif. With four rounds remaining, Holland, the winner at Binghampton, has 339 points. . . .

Jeff Leisk of Agoura Hills and Jim Holley of Woodland Hills are among the top 10 after two rounds of the AMA Bel-Ray 500cc Series.

Leisk, who finished third in Binghampton, is third with 73 points behind leader Rich Johnson of El Cajon (93) and Jeff Stanton of Sherwood, Mich., (76). Holley, who is 10th with 35 points, finished 14th.

The next event for both classes is Sunday in Pittsburgh. . . .

Pete Hames of Palmdale finished fifth in the eighth round of the AMA Grand National Dirt Track Championship Series last Saturday at Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, Md. Hames is 13th in the points standings. . . .

Carry Andrew of Van Nuys finished 12th overall in the Nissan Superbike Challenge during the AMA National Road Race last Saturday in Monterey. Andrew finished 13th in both races. Bubba Shobert of Lubbock, Tex., was the overall winner. . . .

Daniel Coe of Woodland Hills finished ninth Sunday in the AMA Castro 250 Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. John Kocinski of Modesto was the winner.

Add finishes: Charles Sanders of Camarillo dominated the Mini Stock oval competition at Ventura Raceway last Saturday. Sanders qualified with the fastest time, won a heat race and the 20-lap main event. . . .

In only his second start of the season, Bill Sedgewick of Van Nuys earned $1,550 for his fourth-place finish Sunday in the NASCAR Winston 200 in Portland, Ore.