Putting It Together : County Program Paves Way for a Troubled Youth to Work as Mechanic for Saugus Driver Spangler

Jimmy Orosco hardly knew where to find a race car’s gas tank, let alone how to paint it.

But Orosco, a wide-eyed 17-year-old from Palmdale, carried out his first assignment and gamely prepared for the next grimy task.

From there, he changed tires, tightened lug nuts and learned about assembling the car’s suspension. Sanding, painting, mounting one contraption after another--like a kid with an Erector Set, Orosco slowly began to develop his mechanical ability.

And slowly, Keith Spangler’s 1992 Ford Thunderbird began to take shape.

Recently, after six months of painstaking construction, the car was ready to hit the track in Saugus Speedway’s Sportsman division.

Spangler of Northridge, a Saugus veteran of five years, missed winning the Sportsman division title by a single point in 1989 and has not come close to winning it since. In fact, the 22-year-old has not competed regularly since June, 1991, when he was involved in a crash at Saugus that left him without a vehicle.

Spangler’s hiatus, however, officially will come to an end this weekend when he and his crew motor to San Diego with the Thunderbird to compete in the Sportsman division races at El Cajon Speedway.

“It’s been a really slow process,” Spangler said. “The money’s been slow and we’ve only been able to work so fast. But it’s been worth the wait.”

For Orosco, the experience has been worth a lot more.

Orosco, who was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon when he was 15, began working with Spangler in February as part of a fledgling program initiated by Spangler’s father, Loren, in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

Twice a week, Orosco, now a member of the Gang Alternative and Prevention Program offered by the L. A. County Probation Department, drives to Spangler’s home with a county probation officer for a four-hour meeting of mechanics spent working on Spangler’s car.

For Orosco, a senior this fall at Highland High in Palmdale, automotive engineering has proved to be a difficult endeavor, but a valuable one toward developing the self-esteem needed to reassemble his life.

“It was just a rusted old frame when we started,” Orosco said of the car, his voice filled with pride. “I started with them from the floor. Little by little, it started to grow.”

At the same pace, Orosco has become a valuable addition to the racing team.

“We had him doing the basic beginner stuff when he started,” Loren Spangler said. “There’s so much for him to learn. But the longer he stays with us, the more he learns.”

Orosco plans to be among the entourage this weekend. The trip will serve as the first slice of a reward for his efforts.

“This whole thing has been an opportunity for me because I’ve never done anything and I’ve never gone anywhere,” he said.

“Most of the time, I’ve been stuck in jail. I’ve never been to San Diego. I’ve never been anywhere. People laugh at me when I tell them I’ve never been to Magic Mountain.”

On the day before his 14th birthday, Orosco was arrested near his home in South-Central Los Angeles, although he maintains that he was guilty of only being in the wrong place at the wrong time and that a gang-member friend actually was the one brandishing a handgun in a crowded parking lot when police arrived.

Orosco was convicted and sentenced to Camp Munz, a work camp for juveniles in Lake Hughes. Since his release in March, 1990, he has remained on probation, moving to Palmdale in an effort to distance himself from inner-city gangs.

Orosco lives with his girlfriend and their two daughters, ages 2 and 10 months.

“My life is hard,” Orosco said. “I just gotta hang in there.”

Orosco’s redirection can be traced to the friendship that began a few years ago between Loren Spangler and Michelle Guymon, an L. A. County probation officer at Challenger Memorial Youth Center, a juvenile correction facility in Lancaster.

“Loren and I would talk about a program we might do to keep kids out of trouble and give them something to do,” Guymon said.

Guymon knew about troubled youths. Spangler knew about cars. Ray Schmid, a juvenile crew instructor at Challenger Memorial Youth Center who sometimes assembled beat-up cars and drove them in destruction derbies, knew about both.

Together, the trio formed an idea and submitted a proposal to probation department administrators. Upon approval, Guymon and Schmid began screening probationary youths with a willingness to wield a wrench. Through GAPP counselors, they met Orosco.

Recently, two members of the Challenger Youth Center also began working with the Spanglers, but the center requested that their names not be released because of their ages.

“We thought it would be an ideal situation to build the self-esteem of these kids by teaching them all the skills that go with being a part of a racing team,” Schmid said. “I know what it’s actually like to build a race car, and how exciting it can be when you win and how discouraging it can be when you lose and how good it feels to be a part of a racing team.

“Jimmy’s enthusiasm from the beginning has been very exuberant. He was willing to learn and take instruction on everything they would give.”

In recent weeks, Spangler has driven the car at Saugus in afternoon practice sessions.

Last Saturday, Spangler made his first scheduled appearance with the Thunderbird, driving to a heat race win. But the evening’s main event, as well as the results of trophy dashes and heat races, were scratched after rain forced an early end to the proceedings.

The team’s official debut will be at El Cajon Speedway.

“I’m going to be excited,” Orosco said. “And I’m going to be ready. I know some stuff and I’m learning some more stuff. Whatever they assign me to, I’ll do it.”