MOTOR RACING / JERRY CROWE : Spangler Makes Economy Run at Driving Future

Lack of a significant bankroll has not prevented Keith Spangler of Northridge from gaining notice on NASCAR’s Southwest Tour, which makes a stop Saturday at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino.

Despite having missed the season opener at Phoenix in February, Spangler, 23, has climbed to ninth in the overall standings of the All-American Challenge series for late-model stock cars.

“It’s been going pretty good,” said Spangler, a tour rookie who wouldn’t be able to race on weekends if he didn’t work during the week cleaning pools and helping out with repair work in his father’s garage.

“We’ve been finishing, and I haven’t really done too much (damage) to my car, so it’s been a good season for me because I don’t have a lot of money.

“I’m running against guys who have a lot bigger budgets than I do. We’ve been going week to week. But I can’t complain. It seems the more I race, the better I do.”

In three of his last four starts, Spangler finished seventh, eighth and fourth.

He started on the pole at Saugus last month but lost a probable top-five finish when his 1992 Pontiac Firebird was bumped from behind and he spun out with about three laps to go.

“He’s doing great,” said his father, Loren, who builds his son’s cars at his Northridge shop.

Spangler is a third-generation driver. His grandfather, Caleb Spangler, started racing at Saugus in 1963, Loren Spangler in 1976.

“I started him racing when I was racing,” his father said. “He was just a little kid. I started him racing quarter midgets when he was 7 years old. We went from there to Go-Karts. And then when he was 16, I got him a stock car.”

By last year, the 1988 Granada Hills High graduate longed for a new challenge.

“There’s only so much you can do at one track,” said Spangler, whose grandfather and father raced outside of Saugus only occasionally. “I’d won main events there, and won all the awards you can win. I had never won a championship, but I came really close one year. In ‘89, I lost by one point at the end of the season.”

His first season on tour has been a learning experience.

“I knew it was going to be a tough go,” he said. “Most of the tracks we go to, I’ve never seen. It’s fun. It’s a challenge. You go to a track and learn something you’ve never done before.”

Said his father: “When you step up from sportsman (class) to the tour, you’ve got to learn all over again because the tour cars are a lot different than the sportsman cars, in my opinion. They’re a lot faster.

“When you run at one track, you learn the track. It’s a weekly thing, so you don’t really have a learning curve. Each time you race a tour car, it’s at a different track. So, the setups are different, tires are different. It’s a different atmosphere.”

Spangler, though, seems to have adapted pretty well.

Before racing last month at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Spangler had not driven on a road course. Despite starting 40th in the Budweiser 200, he finished eighth.

His goals are to finish among the top 10 in the final standings, win a race--Saturday’s Coors 100 is the eighth in the 18-race series--and challenge for rookie of the year.

And beyond that?

“He’s fully focused on taking it as far as he can go,” his father said. “He wants to go to the Winston Cup ranks. That’s the ultimate deal. Right now, we’re a lot closer than we were.”

Motorsports Notes

STOCK CARS--Sportsman, Grand American modifieds and street stocks will race Saturday at Saugus Speedway. Also scheduled is an ego challenge. . . . Street, pony, mini and IMCA modifieds will race Friday night at Ventura Raceway. . . . Stocks are scheduled to race on Saturday at Bakersfield Speedway and Blythe Speedway. . . . Winston West drivers will be at Shasta Speedway in Anderson, Calif., for a 200-lap main event Saturday night. Defending series champion Bill Sedgwick of Acton won last year’s race by a narrow margin over Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale. . . . Stocks will return to action Saturday night at Cajon Speedway in El Cajon after a rainout two weeks ago and last week’s scheduled night off. . . . Round 5 of the Kragen championship series for late models is set for Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway.

MOTORCYCLES--Speedway bikes will race Friday night at Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. . . . Grand Prix racing is scheduled Saturday and Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway. . . . Vintage short-track motorcycle races will be run Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

OFF ROAD--The fourth event of the LaRana Desert Racing schedule will be held this weekend at Lucerne Valley.

SPRINT CARS--The California Racing Assn. tour will make a stop Saturday at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.