Drivers Hasten to Laud Saugus’ Repaved Track

Saugus Speedway’s one-third-mile asphalt oval always has been as flat as a pancake. Now, it’s as smooth as glass.

And that might pave the way for several track records to be shattered tonight when Saugus’ main-attraction Sportsman and Grand American Modified divisions hit the road on the official opening night of the track’s six-month season.

Pro Stock oval and figure-eight heat races are also on the program, which begins at 7.

To the delight of drivers in the speedway’s six racing divisions, the track was repaved last month for the first time since 1969 and for only the second time since it first was paved shortly after World War II, according to promoter Ray Wilkings.

“We’d have to patch it every year,” Wilkings said. “The turns were pretty rugged.”

Now, it’s smooth speeding all around.

“Just practicing on it, the big impression I get is that it’s so smooth,” said Dave Phipps of Simi Valley, two-time defending Grand Am champion and a three-time Sportsman champion. “The tires stick to the ground a bit better and you can step on the gas harder. All the drivers are going faster. I suspect that all the track records will fall Saturday night.”

Phipps and other drivers estimate the new surface immediately will pare as much as three-tenths of a second off qualifying-lap times--a significant amount, considering one-lap standards historically have been lowered by as little as a few hundredths of a second.

Gary Sigman of Carson, defending Sportsman champion, said he already has clocked in under the division’s qualifying record of 16.36 seconds (73.35 m.p.h.), set by Joe Heath of Northridge last August.

“We’ve already been practicing under the track record,” Sigman said. “We expect to race much faster. Everybody’s car is going faster, so everybody is trying to push it to the limit.”

That approach should be tested in Saugus’ non-banked turns, which some drivers insist actually slope down toward the outside wall.

As an equalizer, track officials have, for the past two seasons, applied a traction compound--auto racing’s version of pine tar--to the outside lane to aid drivers attempting to pass on the outside. But this season, the substance will not be applied.