Cruise Control : Sepulveda’s Stoic Roman Calczynski Finds Himself on the Verge of His First NASCAR Crown

Take a good, long look at Roman Calczynski as he climbs from his stock car and brushes the dust from his coveralls. Search beyond the thick brown beard, the sweat and the smile.

Listen to what Calczynski, a 37-year-old Sepulveda racer, is saying. Is he praising his competition? Did another driver make a questionable maneuver that forced Calczynski from the race? Did Calczynski’s engine seize and spew oil across the track?

Or did Calczynski win handily, coasting from flag to flag?

On the basis of this brief inspection, where would you assume Calczynski finished? First? Fiftieth? Can you tell?

Calczynski lingers in the grandstands moments after the checkered flag of the NASCAR Southwest Tour’s Sept. 10 race at Saugus Speedway. Calczynski drove hard in an attempt to pass Mike Hood of Bakersfield in the 42-lap race, but he failed, finishing second by one-third of a second.

Calczynski, the tour’s points leader, squandered a chance to increase his lead. Entering the 100-lap race--the 16th on the 19-race tour--Calczynski held a 7-point lead over Troy Beebe of Modesto. For the past three months, there has hardly been room to wedge a gasket between Calczynski, Beebe, and third-place driver Mike Chase of Bakersfield.

With three races remaining--at El Cajon (Oct. 1), Bakersfield (Oct. 15) and Phoenix (Nov. 5)--Calczynski leads Beebe by 12 points--2 more than the difference between a first- and second-place finish. Chase is 53 points behind.

Beebe scrambled from the middle of the pack to finish third at Saugus, right on Calczynski’s bumper. Hood, who assumed the lead on Lap 58, had never won a tour race.

The door was open for Calczynski, who has a tour-high 3 wins, but he could not drive through it. Instead of gaining 15 precious points on Beebe, Calczynski gained but 5.

Now, Calczynski is high above the track, shaking Hood’s hand and saying, “Nice race.”

“I knew Roman was right there,” Hood says with a relieved smile. “He always is.”

Calczynski smiles. “He was overdue for a win,” he says of Hood. Then he descends the stairs and heads for the pits, leaving the victor with reporters

and track officials.

Calczynski, it seems, never loses his cool, never overheats.

“Roman doesn’t get flustered,” NASCAR promoter Owen Kearns said. “When he wins, he’s not leaping out of a race car. And when he loses, he’s not long-faced. Ten minutes after it’s over, it’s over. He doesn’t get too high and he doesn’t get too low, and that’s the reason he’s a winner.”

Said Calczynski: “I’m just not a really emotional person. In fact, the way I am probably hurts me a little bit because sponsors really like someone who is more of a limelight figure.”

Mention the name Roman Calczynski (pronounced kal-ZIN-skee) among those unfamiliar with racing and you’re liable to receive a courteous Gesundheit. But mention Calczynski around Saugus Speedway and you’ll learn that he has one of the best track records around.

Calczynski began racing at Saugus in 1976 and won track championships in the Street Stock division in 1979, the Sportsman in ’81 and the Modified in ’83. Calczynski joined the Southwest Tour upon its inception in 1986 and has since become its career leader--along with Chase--with 32 top-10 finishes. He is also the tour’s career leader with 26 top-5 finishes and his 8 wins place him second on the tour’s career list.

Calczynski, the only driver to start all 46 tour events, has won $56,817, placing him third in career earnings behind Chase ($68,245) and Ron Esau of El Cajon ($68,210). “I’ve known Roman for three years and he’s a real good guy and a clean racer,” Beebe said. “You know he’s not going to cheap-shot you.”

A nice guy who always finishes first? More like a nice guy who has seemingly been plagued with disappointing finishes this season after two consecutive seasons as the tour’s runner-up.

In the middle of a tight points race, and with his first tour championship in sight, Calczynski is trying to focus on the road--not the checkered flag--ahead.

“I try to keep on an even keel, but it’s hard to ignore,” Calczynski said. “Like everyone says, there are too many good teams out there and it’s going to go right down to the wire.”

Had Calczynski not encountered repeated mechanical problems, the issue would probably already be settled. “You could make a case for Roman that if he hadn’t had motor problems, he’d have a 300-point lead,” Kearns said.

A swig of battery acid would probably leave a better taste in Calczynski’s mouth than some of his finishes this year. Some of his misadventures:

In April, Calczynski qualified eighth at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma and leaped into fourth 3 laps into the race. “It was pretty much a cinch that the worst he would have finished would have been fifth,” Kearns said.

That would have earned Calczynski 155 points. But a blown engine forced him from the race and he finished 33rd.

In June, Calczynski was in fifth place with 4 laps to go at Riverside International Raceway. Calczynski’s clutch snapped, however, and he placed 19th.

In July, Calczynski qualified first at Eureka Raceway and challenged early for the lead. But a broken oil line forced him into the pits and he finished 5 laps down, costing him about 40 points.

In August, Calczynski led virtually the entire race in Carson City, Nev., building a comfortable lead with 13 laps to go. “Nobody was going to beat him,” Kearns said.

Calczynski’s blown engine, however, did. He dropped to 12th and lost 53 points.

Again in August, Calczynski was second with 20 laps to go but finished seventh after a collision and spin-out with Dan Press. “Let’s just say the track got wide enough for only one car,” Kearns said. “It wasn’t Roman’s.”

But despite the repeated failures, Calczynski has been at the top of the tour standings after 11 of 16 races.

“I don’t think it’s been as easy as I thought it would be or I wouldn’t have been runner-up the past two years,” Calczynski said. “I’ve been on the wrong end of the stick a few times, but what I get out of this is knowing that there are 20 guys out there that are track champions from this track or that track. So, when you beat those guys, you know you’ve beaten the best.”

Calczynski isn’t the only one who has encountered misfortune. But he seemingly has done the best job of surviving it.

“Everybody has had problems,” Kearns said. “But Roman’s failures have been more frustrating because they’re the type that are beyond his control. A guy that doesn’t have a good attitude could get down but not Roman.

“Really, the only difference in his points is the one victory. He has three to Beebe’s two.”

Beebe also has had recurring problems. “A couple of bad races,” he said. “But I could still catch Roman. I still have a couple of good races left for him.”

And the tour championship probably will, as Calczynski insists, go right down to the wire.

“We’ll prepare the car the same way, no matter if we have a 500-point lead or if we’re 500 points behind,” Calczynski said. “And if I fail, I’ll just have to try harder next year. I wouldn’t throw in the towel just for that.”