Saugus Speedway Racing Program.

Saturday, July 5, 1980.

Orange spot color cover, else blue, 28 pages.

Cover: Roman Calczynski, Van Nuys; No. 9 Buick.

Driver profile: Mike Barnett.

Feature: Willard Wins Saugus 150.

Photos, in order of appearance: Calcynski, Hornaday, Smalley; Dale Herron; McAlister, Calcynski; Mark Christopher; Ron Hornday Jr. with trophy girl, Lynne; Mike Smalley (Canyon Country); Tim Kerbrat, Bill McKnight; L.A. Woodside, Dave Sherman; Covan, Phipps, Miller; Stansberry, Garrison; Joe Astone; Jim Gardella. .

Previous week's attendance: 5,924 (paid_

Driver Profile: Mike Barnett

One night, Mike Barnett came to Saugus to watch some of his friends race. He later said to himself... "Self, if they can do it, so can I!" That was in 1977, the first time Mr. Barnett ever set foot in a race car. At the end of that first season, Mike walked away with "Rookie of the year" honors in the street stock class.

Born and raised within 20 miles of Saugus, Mike's graduate of Hart High in Newhall, class of '71. Come to think of it, he never mentioned the year he graduated. I just added 18 years to his birth date, January 24, 1953, and came up with '71! Mike's been a plumber for the past six years with Newhall/Valencia Plumbing. Wife Arleen and Mike have three children: Michelle, 9, John, 7, and Jamie, 2.

The number 84 Sport man Mike is driving is owned by Eleanor Pfleuger. The new car is a 74 Camaro with a 350 C.I. Chevy engine under the hood. It's on its fourth engine so far this year, so obviously, Mike is not having an easy season in 1980. Crew chief is Bill Morton and Richard, Pollock, Animal, Doug and Bill make up the rest of the team. When I asked the question concerning unfortunate experiences, Mike simply says he hasn't had any. No flips or totaled cars in his racing career and having raced at Lancaster, Pearsonville, Ascot, Bakersfield and Corona as well as Saugus, I call that incredibly good luck. Even though money, (lack of it) and equipment have been letting him down, it would seem lady luck has been with him behind the wheel. There's always a brighter side, right, Mike?

I mentioned the lack of money! That's something that has happened to Mike, to me, and to many people for many years. Mike has run out of money two years in a row. He ran only half the '78 season and finished 9th in Street Stocks. In '79 he moved up to Sportsman and still ran only half the year and finished 7th.Who knows what he might do running the entire season, competing in very race. With the right support and financial backing, he'd love to drive a Modified and maybe go on to NASCAR.

Our best of luck to Mike and keep the "shiny side up!"

"Irish"

Willard victor in Saugus 150

Super Track Scene by Lyn Pherigo

It was a Fourth of July weekend Mike Willard will never forget! Willard, the '79 Modified rookie driver at Saugus Speedway, drove the Falconer & Sons Camaro to victory in the Holiday "open comp" Saugus "150". He led the last 74 laps and finished ahead of Jim Ward, Bakersfield, Jim Insolo, Mission Hills, and Steve Starr, Woodland Hills. The checkered flag signal of victory was very timely for Willard. His right-front tire was going flat as he accepted the winner's trophy from Cindy Lee Moore, the holiday event trophy queen.

Qualifying runs for the 150-lap event were alone worth the price of admission. The sixteen second barrier was not broken once, but four times and seven drivers bettered the old "open comp" record of 16:20.

Arleta's Dan Press, '78 Saugus champion and current point leader nailed down the pole position with a super-fast time of 15:75 around the flat, third-mile paved oval. Willard, by virtue of his 15:90 clocking, occupied the other front-row position. Jim Robinson, Sylmar, '77 Saugus champion and current Winston Western Grand National point leader, logged a 15:95 and Jim Ward, outstanding driver from Bakersfield turned a 15:98.

With the wave of the green stqrting flag by veteran Saugus starter George Ayers, Press took the lead into the first turn followed by Robinson, Willard, Jim Insolo, Mission Hills, Ward and Don Wilson, Arvada, Colorado.

At the 10-lap mark, Press, Robinson, Willard, Insolo and Ward had pulled away from the rest of the field by a quarter-lap and Cliff Garner, Los Angeles, had moved into sixth.

Insolo, former Saugus and Winston Western champion, and Ward were battling for fourth with Ward winning the duel and moving ahead of Insolo on lap sixteen.

Press, Robinson and Willard lengthened their lead to a quarter-lap at the 30-lap mark, followed by Ward, Insolo and Steve Starr, Woodland Hills, who had moved into sixth ahead of Garner on the 21st circuit.

The front-running trio maneuvered through slower traffic with Press leading the way. Sixteen second lap clockings through traffic were recorded and timings neared 15:50 when the way was clear.

Willard, moving inside of Robinson in the back chute, got by in the third and fourth turns replacing the former champion in second on lap forty-six.

Press managed to build up an eight car-length lead over Willard by the 55th circuit. Robinson was several car-lengths back in third, Ward was a half-lap behind in fourth and Insolo and Starr followed in fifth and sixth.

Willard slowly cut the lead of Press, who was experiencing braking problems, and by lap 72 it was a "bumper to bumper" battle for the lead. On the final lap of the first 75-lap segment, Willard nosed inside of Press coming out of turn four but Press beat him to the finish line by about eight inches. They were followed by Robinson, Ward, Starr and lnsolo, who lost fifth position to Starr when he spun in turn one on lap 73. The six cars were the only ones still running on the lead lap.

Press led the contingent back to action after the mandatory 20-minute pit stop but both Willard and Robinson overtook him in the back straight-a-way on the 76th lap.

Insolo reclaimed fifth from Starr on lap 82 and Press got around Robinson to regain second position on the 89th circuit.

Ward maneuvered past Robinson to take over third on lap 121 and the 125th lap rundown was Willard in first, eight car-lengths ahead of Press followed by Ward and Robinson. Insolo and Starr were one lap down in fifth and sixth.

Robinson's engine "let go" in the third turn of lap 134 bringing out the red "stop everything" flag. Robinson ended up in the crash wall between turns three and four, Don Lindner, Reseda, spun into the wall in spilled oil and Press broke his steering gear box colliding with Willard in the "panic stop".

Willard led the re-start with Ward in second. They were the only cars still running on the lead lap. Insolo and Starr remained in third and fourth, still one lap down.

Sixteen laps later a happy, but very tired and sweaty Mike Willard had won the biggest race of his young career. The 28-year-old driver, in only his second year of super slack racing, collected $3,545 of the $17,000 plus purse for his efforts. He also won the earlier trophy dash charging from his fifth starting position to win the six-lap event. "This has been a fantastic night here at Saugus," he said afterwards, "It's going to give me so much more confidence in future races!"

Ward, in only his second visit to Saugus, came in second, collecting $1,700 plus contingencies. Insolo was third, Starr, fourth, and Garner finished fifth. Bryan Brown, Bakersfield, came in sixth and Press, whose pit crew made a fast repair came back to finish seventh, only five laps down.

John Covan, Simi, current Saugus Sportsman champion, won the 25-lap "consy" race with Gary Manlow, San Diego, second and Larry George, Ventura, third.

KLAC, the racing station, was on hand for live coverage of the full race program and nearly 6,000 short-track race fans jammed the stands. Next July Fourth weekend will probably see the second running of the Saugus "150" and more than likely it will become a feature "open comp" race similar to the season-ending Saugus "330."

The future Saugus Speedway was built originally as a rodeo arena in 1927 by Roy Baker, brother of shoe magnate C.H. Baker.

Roy Baker purchased the 40-acre property east of Bouquet Junction in 1923 for the purpose of breeding and selling show and pleasure horses. To that end he imported saddle brood mares from Kentucky and studded them with a pedigreed, chestnut-colored saddlebred stallion named Peavine McDonald (b. 1910), which sired five pedigreed mares and four pedigreed colts between 1920 and 1936. Baker advertised that he had 2,500 acres of grazing land and also offered training and boarding services for outside horses.

Probably to attract horse buyers to his ranch in faraway Saugus, Baker staged rodeos. Some references suggest he built a 12,000-seat arena in 1924, but this is dubious. (Promoter Bob Anderson organized a local rodeo in 1924, but its exact location is unclear, and it wouldn't have had grandtands.) Anderson did hold the annual rodeo on Baker's property in April 1926. That December, Baker and Anderson started construction on a new stadium, complete with partially covered grandstand seating and a quarter-mile oval track. When it opened May 1, 1927, it seated 18,000 fans, and thousands more had to be turned away for lack of room.

Over the next decade, ownership of the arena would change hands three more times.

As with a majority of the American populace, Baker was hit hard financially by the Great Depression of 1929 and was forced to sell the stadium to cowboy actor Hoot Gibson in 1930. Gibson continued to hold rodeos at the stadium and drew a Hollywood crowd including famous actors such as William S. Hart, Harry Carey, Tom Mix, and John Wayne. He also used the stadium as a movie set or leased it to other companies for film making.

But Gibson felt the effects of the Depression, as well. In September 1933 he appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom and pleaded poverty, saying he had no assets with which to repay a $2,500 loan. He testified that he owned a one-third interest in Hoot Gibson Inc., which owned the Saugus rodeo, and that it was in arrears.

In 1934, Gibson sold the stadium to Paul Hill, owner of the Western Livestock Stockyards, who continued to call it the Hoot Gibson Rodeo. As with his predecessors, however, the stadium brought Hill financial hardship when it was hit by the Great Flood of March 2, 1938. Heavy rains that year caused a river of water to flow down Soledad Canyon and filled the ranch home and arena with mud and debris. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the "old buildings ... collapsed during the March floods" and the arena was built anew.

Nonetheless, Hill lost the ranch sometime after the April 1938 rodeo. According to Reynolds, the property was repossessed by the bank. In 1939, ownership passed to William Bonelli, and it was renamed Bonelli Stadium.

Bonelli, a professor of economics at Occidental College, continued the annual rodeo tradition for a number of years but introduced auto racing in 1939 on a more frequent schedule; ultimately auto racing became the primary draw and Bonelli renamed the arena Saugus Speedway. Occasional rodeos and circuses continued until at least the late 1960s, auto racing until 1995. The facility was sometimes used for concerts before the grandstands were removed in 2012 (the originals had been replaced in 1955). The venue continues to host an outdoor swap meet.