Woodside, Sedgwick Are Returning Home as Road Warriors

The Snap-On 250 NASCAR Winston West race at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday will have a familiar look because the two hottest drivers on the tour are from the region.

Sean Woodside of Saugus and Bill Sedgwick of Acton return from Portland Speedway after the Grainger 200 last Saturday with accomplishments.

Sedgwick overcame an early three-lap deficit to capture his first victory and moved from 10th place to seventh in the points standings.

Woodside reclaimed first place in the points standings with his sixth-place finish at Portland, where he started on the pole and led 148 laps before yielding to Sedgwick.

It was the fourth consecutive top-five finish for Sedgwick, including a second-place finish June 19 at Irwindale when Steve Portenga passed him coming out of turn four on the final lap to win by 0.101 seconds.

“This is a lot of fun, but it’s not as easy as it used to be,” Sedgwick said. “We’ve led the last three of four races. In the past, when I got the lead you could give me the money and the trophy. It’s not that way anymore. It’s more competitive now.”

Woodside finished 13th in the June race at Irwindale after posting the fastest time in practice.

“That race probably brought our team together and got everybody motivated, and we’ve been real strong ever since,” Woodside said. “It was kind of an eye-opener for us.”

Woodside has completed 1,444 of the 1,500 laps in the first nine races and led 337 laps. He holds a commanding 11-point lead for the Gatorade Front Runner award, leads the series in earnings with $61,785 and has given Fischer Engines a 20-point lead in the Clevite Engine Builder Award standings.

Sedgwick has accumulated 685 of his 1,176 points in the last four races, giving him an 86-point lead over Portenga in the second leg of the standings.

He started the season with a third-place showing in the West Series 200 at Tucson Raceway, but was plagued by mechanical problems the next four races.

“You just deal with things as they come up and get the bugs ironed out,” Sedgwick said. “We’ve stepped up the engine program, servicing it after every race and not taking anything for granted.”

This is not the first taste of success for either driver.

Sedgwick won consecutive Winston West points championships in 1991 and 1992.

Woodside finished second in the Winston West series in 1997--with Sedgwick serving as a spotter--and in 1998.

“I probably want the championship as much as anybody else because I’ve been bridesmaid the last two years,” Woodside said. “I’m not really worried about the points right now. I have to go to Irwindale and win the race. If you go win, the points fall where they’re supposed to.”

Sedgwick, who left the Winston West tour in 1995 to compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series, also has had success as a mechanic. He was crew chief in 1994 for Ron Hornaday, who finished second in the Winston West points standings.

Sedgwick has been wearing both hats this year for car owner Tim Buckley--driving in Winston West races and serving as crew chief for Austin Cameron, 1998 Winston West rookie of the year, in the Craftsman Truck series.

“I like driving, and I like winning,” Sedgwick said. “If it looks like I’m not cutting it on the race track, I’d rather work on it than drive.”

Woodside grew up watching Sedgwick race, and realizes he will provide formidable opposition.

“I think he’s getting comfortable in the car again, and it looks like he’s back to his old ways,” Woodside said. “That makes everybody step it up a notch.”

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Cory Kruseman of Ventura finished seventh in the 35-lap Sprint Car Racing Assn. main event Saturday at Santa Maria Speedway.

Kruseman is third in the points standings, 49 points behind leader Richard Griffin of Silver City, N.M., and 29 points behind Rip Williams of Yorba Linda.

T.K. Karvasek of North Hills moved 12 points closer to Mike Price of San Pedro in the Street Stock points standings at Irwindale by sweeping the two 25-lap main events and the six-lap trophy dash Saturday.

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Driving eight laps at just under 150 mph on California Speedway’s two-mile paved oval was even better than riding along for three laps at more than 165 mph, which I reported last week.

Believe it or not, it proved to be a very relaxing and comfortable experience.

It was strictly a matter of trusting that the car was designed for that type of activity.

Most of the local race tracks have racing schools and experiences available.