Cromsigt Cements Victory in Opener at Saugus

Gerrit Cromsigt of Palmdale got off on the right track Saturday night at Saugus Speedway, speeding to the first main-event victory of the season in the 25-lap Street Stock oval main event.

The opening-night program was cut short because of rain. Main events for Mini Stock, Street Stock figure-eight and the track’s new Pro Four Modified division will be rescheduled.

Cromsigt, who dropped out of the Pro Stock points race midway through last season for financial reasons, re-emerged in a Street Stock and glided across the freshly paved one-third-mile paved oval.

Cromsigt took the lead for good on Lap 7 and held off a charge by John Schultz of Valencia to win by a car length.

“This track is an easy three- to four-tenths (of a second) faster,” Cromsigt said. “Last week in practice, I was four-tenths faster in this car than I had ever gone. This track is very smooth.”

Schultz said the same after starting 14th in the 30-car grid and charging into second place on the 17th lap.

From there, Schultz, a part-time Street Stock competitor last season, closed the gap and spent the final few laps on Cromsigt’s bumper.

“Once I got into second place, it took me about six laps to run him down,” Schultz said. “Gerrit’s a good driver and he has a lot of experience, but if I had a few more laps I could have passed him. Good race.”

Edward Dazzo of Sun Valley finished third and Greg Benner of Whittier finished fourth.

Trophy-dash winners included Dazzo (Street Stock oval and figure-eight), Tim Mitchell of La Crescenta and John Petsco of Newbury Park (Mini Stock), and Kenny Smith of El Monte (Pro Four Modified).