MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Gilliland Knows Tricks of Saugus

Butch Gilliland has been competing in NASCAR Winston West late model stock car races for eight years, and the Anaheim driver figures Saturday night at Saugus Speedway might be the time for his first victory.

After six races, Gilliland is second in points to Doug George of Atwater, Calif., 969-940. Rookie Ernie Cope of Spanaway, Wash., is third with 931, and one of the three will collect a $2,500 bonus after Saturday night’s Valencia 200. The bonus goes to the leader at the halfway point of the Winston West season.

“I’ve had a lot of experience running at Saugus,” said Gilliland, who owns a truck repair business. “I consider it and Mesa Marin [in Bakersfield] as my home tracks. Saugus is tricky for guys who haven’t seen it much, so I’m in a good position to get the bonus and my first win too.”

The 66.6-mile race will be 200 laps around a flat one-third-mile paved oval. Qualifying will start at 5 p.m., racing at 7.

Gilliland, 38, who has driven a Chevrolet owned by his wife, Laurie, in past seasons, joined the Bill Stroppe Motorsports team out of Long Beach this season. He replaced P.J. Jones, who left to drive in the NASCAR Supertruck series, in Stroppe’s Ford Thunderbird. Going into the July 4 race at Portland Speedway, Gilliland was the points leader.

“We had five flat tires at Portland and were lucky to finish 10th,” Gilliland said. “The track was in bad shape. It was patched up two days before the race, but during the day the patches came out and left huge holes that chewed up the tires.”

Cope won at Portland when Jim Bown and George, who were leading, crashed into each other on the final lap.

“They had me beat, but I’ve lost races like that at the end too,” Cope said. “I saw them spinning, so I just picked a hole and jammed it in third gear so I wouldn’t bog the car. I barely had enough room on the bottom before George started rolling backward.”

Gilliland’s highest finish was a third at Tucson, but consistently high finishes have kept him near the top of the points. He has earned $20,460 this season.

He also drove on the Supertruck series during its West Coast swing and plans to rejoin it later in the year. Driving for the Ultra Custom Wheels team, Gilliland set a track record during qualifying for the opening truck race at Tucson, and was leading when a bracket broke in the rear end.

In the Saugus truck race, won by Winston Cup veteran Ken Schrader, Gilliland finished seventh.

Also on the Saturday night program will be street stocks on the oval and Figure 8 courses and a train race.

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Motor Racing Notes

MIDGETS--Billy Boat, who broke Sleepy Tripp’s U.S. Auto Club Western States consecutive victory record with No. 6 two weeks ago at Calistoga, will be in pursuit of another record Saturday night in the Skoal USAC 30-lap main event at Ventura Raceway. The Arizona driver will be trying to equal the overall USAC record of seven in a row by A.J. Foyt in Indy cars in 1964 and the late Billy Vukovich in supermodifieds in 1986. Tripp, winningest Western States driver ever, will be after No. 99 in his long career. Also on the Ventura program will be a three-quarter midget main event.

STOCK CARS--Cajon Speedway will celebrate its 34th anniversary Saturday night with a NASCAR Winston Racing Series program of sportsman, street, pony and bomber stocks. Jack McCoy won the first Cajon race in a Buick-powered modified. . . . Street stocks and dwarf cars will race Saturday night at Sunrise Valley Raceway in Adelanto.

MOTORCYCLES--Defending world Superbike champion Carl Fogerty of Great Britain heads an international field entered in the Toyota U.S. World Superbike championship July 23 at Laguna Seca. Fogerty, who rides a Ducati, has won seven of 12 races this season. . . . Speedway motorcycles will race Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa and Glen Helen Speedway in San Bernardino and Saturday night at Speedway USA in Victorville. . . . Sidecars will compete in a motocross Saturday night at the L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale.

RALLY--Southern Californians dominated the SCCA/Michelin Pro Rally last week near Prescott, Ariz. Harris Done of Los Angeles and navigator Larry Scott of Escondido became the first two-wheel-drive winner in seven years. They drove a Mazda RX-7 to win by one minute over Bill Malik of Burbank and Roine Anderson of Santa Clarita, in a Volvo 240.

MISCELLANY--The Southern California Timing Assn. will hold a speed outing Sunday at El Mirage Dry Lake. . . . The fifth annual Chino Challenge destruction derby will be held Saturday at the Chino Fairgrounds.

NECROLOGY--Andy Dishong, veteran starter of Mickey Thompson, High Desert Racing Assn. and SCORE off-road races, died of cancer last Sunday in Las Vegas. Dishong, 61, moved to Las Vegas from Sylmar after retiring four years ago. He is survived by wife Linda and five children.