MOTOR RACING / BRIAN MURPHY : Crash Costs Spangler More Than a Race

Joe Heath describes it as “a $5,000 mistake.”

Keith Spangler says he was “just going for the win and there was nothing else to it.”

The topic is the, ahem, unusual turn of events on Turns 1 and 2 of Lap 38 in Saugus Speedway’s 40-lap Sportsman main event last Saturday night.

Teammates Heath and Spangler were racing in first and second place heading into Lap 38. All seemed right with their world. For a main-event win, Heath would earn $3,500 from Coors Brewing Co. He would win $500 from Saugus. He would win a $600 bonus for being the first winner from the pole position in six weeks. Spangler would win $450 for second place.

That’s almost $5,000 for the team.

Until the accident.

Spangler tried to pass Heath on the inside but clipped Heath’s car in the process and spun him out, much to the shock of 3,840 spectators and nearly every other racer at the track.

Heath’s victory went up in smoke and Spangler, in his ill-fated bid for the win, broke his tire rod bolt. Third-place driver John Redmond of Saugus wound up with the win. Heath wound up 14th, Spangler 15th.

Redmond, the lucky bystander, summed up matters best: “Teammates taking each other out? I’ve seen it all.”

Heath, apparently, has seen enough. Heath, who owns Spangler’s No. 37 car, has terminated his business relationship with Spangler and taken back the car.

“I was (angry),” Heath said. “I couldn’t believe he did it.”

Yet Heath, 26, a rookie at Saugus, insists that his decision to fire Spangler was grounded in business, not personal reasons. In fact, Spangler’s father Loren still will service and maintain Heath’s car through his company, Spangler Race Car Fabrication.

“There are no hard feelings,” Heath said. “I just have to do what’s good for business. I mean, a lot of people saw that happen. I had to do what had to be done.”

Spangler, meanwhile, is without a Sportsman ride. His money is tied up in a Winston West car that he is trying to race by next season.

“We don’t really have anything right now,” Spangler, 21, said. “If it doesn’t work out, we might not be racing for the rest of the year.”

Spangler defends his driving, insisting that once on the race track, a win is a win is a win.

“I’m not going to say I’m sorry,” said Spangler, who was in third place in the points standings entering the evening. “I was aggressive and I did what I thought I was best. I’d come a long way from the back of the pack and to get that far up. . . . I want a win more than anything in the world.”

Spangler pointed out that, late in the race, Heath’s car was “pushing it,” or taking turns wide, making a pass attempt on the outside difficult. That left Spangler with the option of attempting a pass on the inside--a risky move when there’s little room available.

“The guy said I rammed him, but that’s just racing,” Spangler said. “He was using up all the track and not giving me a chance to win.”

This is the second time this season that Spangler has found himself a topic of conversation in the Sportsman division circles. On May 11, Spangler was penalized 14 positions and bumped from an apparent win after race officials determined that he was guilty of rough driving. In that case, Spangler’s car got under leader Dave Phipps’ on the final turn of the final lap, causing Phipps, of Simi Valley, to spin out.

Again, Spangler said that it was not a case of dirty driving--just a case of burning desire.

“I’ve never taken anybody out for the sake of just doing it,” he said. “I’ve been around a couple of years and I’ve taken second and third behind guys like Dave Phipps. I’ve gotten beaten up by the others, but I drive aggressive and I drive to win.”

He might not be driving at all unless he lands a ride soon, though. In the meantime, Heath said he has no immediate plans for his No. 37 car. The Sportsman division will take a break from racing tonight and will not return until June 15. That gives Spangler another week to land a ride and Heath another week to land a driver.

How does Heath plan to spend his week off? “I’m taking my wife and my kid--we’re going to Disneyland,” he said.

The family might do well to steer clear of Autopia, Disneyland’s version of race-car driving.

Tune in: The NASCAR Southwest Tour will get some rare national coverage today. The Kodalux 200 will be broadcast live on ESPN at 1:30 p.m. from Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Defending winner Doug George of Atwater, Calif., will race along with Southwest Tour notables Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale; Jon Paques of Albuquerque, N.M.; and longtime racer Hershel McGriff of Portland.

On Sunday, the prestigious Winston Cup will combine with the Winston West to race in the Banquet Frozen Foods 300, which will be televised on ESPN at noon.

Last year, 1989 Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace won that race, but Winston West drivers left their mark when Bill Schmitt of Redding and Terry Fisher of Sandy, Ore., both finished on the lead lap of the 74-lap race. That marked the first time two Winston West drivers had finished on the lead lap of a combined event.

All this should be of interest to Saugus Speedway fans--the Winston West barrels into town next Saturday.