Phipps Posts 50-Lap Victory on His Busy Night at Saugus

Dave Phipps of Simi Valley, starting on the pole position, won the first of two 50-lap races in the annual Winston 100 on Saturday night at Saugus Speedway.

Earlier in the night, Phipps, a three-time champion at Saugus, won two trophy dashes and took third place in a Grand American Modified main event. He spent the evening sprinting between the pits and the back chute, racing all the while.

But his prize of the night was the first 50-lap event, a race in which he felt--literally--bumper-grinding pressure from Doug Renno of Canoga Park for 39 laps, then felt the same heat from Sportsman points leader Lance Hooper of Palmdale for the final 11.

The second 50-lap race was all Hooper. Starting on the outside of the front row, he bolted to the lead and felt nary a challenge in taking a giant leap toward his first Sportsman championship before a crowd of 5,606.

Phipps, who had earned the pole position, took third after Rod Johnson of Canyon Country passed him for second place on Lap 45. Former Saugus great Oren Prosser unofficially finished 15th and 12th in both 50-lap races.

Phipps won the first 50-lap event by fending off the competing fenders, despite the fact that hot and worn tires left his car handling a little loose in the last half of the race.

“Boy, that was a white knuckler all the way,” Phipps said while his crew worked frantically to prepare for the second 50-lap race. “Oh, man, was (Renno) giving me pressure. And then Lance took a long time to catch me, but when he did. . . .”

In a 25-lap Outlaw Mini Stock main event, recent Burbank High graduate Frank Deiny Jr. of Burbank took the checkered flag.

In a 12-lap Grand American Modified main event, newcomer David Pera of Canyon Country started on the pole and raced away for his first main-event win.

The excitement came in the race for second, as Phipps battled Chris Hamilton of Hanford, who entered the evening six points behind Phipps in the standings. Hamilton took second, Phipps third.