SAUGUS SPEEDWAY : Woodside Is the Main Man for the Third Time in a Row

Sean Woodside moved into the lead on the sixth lap and pulled away for his third consecutive Sportsman main event victory Saturday night at Saugus Speedway.

“The car was awesome tonight,” said Woodside, who entered the night with a two-point lead over Pat Mintey Jr. atop the standings. “It was really hooked up. Anyone in the stands could have driven it and won tonight.”

Woodside wasted little time proving his point. Just seven laps into the race, the Saugus resident shot past Lee Ladd of Thousand Oaks and pulled away.

Ladd was second, followed by Simi Valley’s Craig Rayburn and Gary Sigman of Carson.

Mintey, who last week vowed not to return to Saugus after an incident involving Woodside during the main event, did not race.

In the Pro Stock division, Gerrit Cromsigt of Pine Mountain Club broke the track record during qualifying and went on to win both the oval and figure-8 main events.

In the 25-lap oval feature, Cromsigt was outside on the third row in an inverted start, but quickly showed the speed that enabled him to post a 17.54 qualifying time, which broke Scott Dinger’s track record mark by .08 seconds.

Six-lap trophy dashes were won by Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills (Sportsman), Richard Smith of Reseda (Pro Stock oval) and Rusty Stewart of North Hollywood (Pro Stock figure-8).