MOTOR RACING / BRIAN MURPHY : Rayburn Thirsts to Toast Vintage Season

It will not be difficult to spot Craig Rayburn tonight at Saugus Speedway. He’ll be the one wearing Topsiders. And, perhaps, pouring champagne.

Such a combination is quite rare at the Saugus track, where beer and cowboy boots are more the style.

But Rayburn, of Simi Valley, is to be forgiven for his breach of etiquette. Tonight, he stands poised to clinch the Street Stock championship on the final night of racing in that division. After a strong effort last week that included a main-event win in the figure-eight and a fifth-place finish in the oval main event, Rayburn has a 14-point lead over Reseda’s Dave Blankenship, whom he has battled all summer for the points lead.

The most points a Street Stock driver can pick up in a night is 29, provided he wins every possible main event and heat race. Rayburn figures that all he has to do is score 15 points to clinch.

That means he needs to finish no lower than sixth in both main events. Rayburn is confident he can perform that task.

“I hate to be presumptuous,” Rayburn said. “But all I have to do is basically finish both (main events).”

The points championship would be Rayburn’s first in Street Stock competition after a slew of top-10 finishes. To commemorate the occasion, and to make sure everything goes as planned, he says he will wear his “lucky shoes” and all of his family, friends and pit crew members will wear their “lucky shirts.”

The lucky shoes are a pair of Topsiders that Rayburn, 27, has had since ninth grade.

“Yeah, they’re kinda worn out,” Rayburn said, laughing.

The shirts that are intended to bring good fortune are “Gus’s Tools” T-shirts. And the champagne?

It will be poured after the races are run, provided all goes well. There are strict speedway rules prohibiting alcohol in the pits until racing is over. And Rayburn wouldn’t want to be disqualified on such a sobering technicality.

Add Rayburn: With one more night of Sportsman racing set for a week from today, Rayburn also is in position to finish among the top five drivers in the final points standings.

“Yeah, we’re putting together a good motor for next week,” Rayburn said.

A double top-five finish would be the first in speedway history.

In drag: The National Hot Rod Assn. storms into L. A. County Raceway this weekend for the Palmdale Meet, the fourth event of the Pacific Division Winston drag racing series.

Headlining the event will be Santa Maria-based Blaine Johnson, who recorded the best time ever in his class with a 5.872-second run at the Texas Motorplex.

Johnson already has clinched the Top Alcohol Dragster title with a near-perfect season, including titles in five national events.

Also racing will be the Alcohol Funny Cars, led by Brad Anderson in a Pontiac.

Anderson is undefeated at Palmdale over the past decade and will have competition from the likes of Pacific Division points leader Lou Gasparrelli, David Baca, Mike Gordon and Jim Holtz.

The three-day event, which started yesterday, expects to draw more than 400 race cars from all over the western United States.

Among the classes of competition: Premiere Dragster, Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock, Super Gas, Super Comp and Super Street.