Michels Wins Crash-Marred Saugus Race

Saugus Speedway became a crash course Saturday night.

The 25-lap Pro Stock oval main event, the top event on the undercard of the NASCAR Winston West 200-lap race, was shortened to 12 laps after three severe crashes caused lengthy delays and at least five drivers to leave the track.

Surprisingly, no one was seriously hurt. When the smoke cleared, Rip Michels of Arleta edged Terry Custer of Northridge for his first main-event victory of the season, before 5,845.

The Winston West main event, the series’ only visit to Saugus this season, was still in progress at press time.

The Pro Stock main was halted three times in the first six laps, twice because of red flags, which require all cars to stop immediately.

On Lap 3, Duncan Moran of Los Angeles spun 180 degrees on Turn 3 and collided head-on with Scott Dinger of Simi Valley. Both cars left the track, Moran’s being towed at both ends.

The race was stopped twice more in the next three laps because of crashes involving Gerrit Cromsigt of Palmdale and Rick Crow of Canyon Country.

Michels, who entered the race third in the points standings, attributed the crashes to the starting order, which placed the fastest qualifiers in the rear of the grid.

“All those slow guys were in the way,” Michels said. “When you start in the back, you pretty much gotta stay out of trouble and gain positions.”

Said Custer: “It looked like somebody was going to get hurt out there. You might have your enemies out here, but you don’t want to see anybody get hurt.”

Ed Horst of Reseda finished third and Brian Bozile of Sunland took fourth.

In Winston West qualifying, Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale, a former Saugus Modified division champion and winner of the NASCAR Southwest Tour main event at Saugus in April, set a track record with a one-lap time of 16.175 seconds.

“I love Saugus,” said Hornaday, who received the loudest ovation upon being introduced. “I love the track, the fans, the side-by-side racing. It’s the toughest place to drive that we run. But I love it. It’s my home track.”

Hornaday broke Bill Sedgwick’s record of 16.446 seconds, set in 1990. But Hornaday wasn’t the only driver to better the track standard.

Bill Schmitt of Redding, Calif., a four-time Winston West champion, drove a 16.212-second qualifying lap. Sedgwick of Granada Hills posted a time of 16.258 and Rick Carelli of Denver clocked 16.321.

In all, 14 drivers qualified for the Winston West main event.

In other races, Michels won the 20-lap Pro Stock semi-main event to lead four drivers who advanced to the main event. Dinger, Horst and Cromsigt also advanced.

Victor Griffin of North Hollywood won the eight-lap C main event.

In Pro Stock heat races, Brian Mumford of Simi Valley and Dinger recorded eight-lap oval victories. Dusty McDonald of Simi Valley and Brian Kelley of Arleta won eight-lap figure-eight heats.