Saugus Speedway Racing Program.

Saturday, September 20, 1980.

Orange spot color cover, else black, 28 pages.

Cover: John Covan, Ron Hornaday Jr.

Driver profile: Bruce Erickson.

Feature: Willard Wins Grand Prix and Championship at Saugus.

Photos, in order of appearance: Covan, Hornaday Jr., Erickson, Tom Reilly, Mike Barnett, Roman Calczynski, Mike Dimarzo, Jim Smelser, Jim Ayers, Mark Christopher, Allen Thacker, Gary Johnson, Gabby Garrison, Joe Astone, John Lux, Steve Colbert, Dave Shearman, Jim Kent, Bill McKnight, Mike Smalley, Ron Miller, Frank Bulot.

Previous week's attendance: 4,536 (paid)

Driver Profile: Bruce Erickson

For the past twenty years there has been an "Erickson" at the "Super Track." From 1960 to 1972 Erickson Auto Parts sponsored the trophy dash, giving trophies and jackets to the winners. Tonight's featured driver is a younger Erickson, #90 Sportsman driver, Bruce.

Born April 20th of 1949 in Monterey Park, California, Bruce Erickson graduated from Grant High School in Van Nuys, class of '67. This season is only the second at the Super Track for Mr. Erickson. His first season in a Sportsman car, since last year he raced a street stocker, only seven races however. He figured to learn more about racing in general with a faster Sportsman car so rather than stay in street stock class, they built the current #90 Chevelle. It wasn't finished until half of the '80 season was over, and the first night out the throttle stuck, and Bruce ended up in the turn one crash-wall with extensive damage to the new car. It was fixed and back the following week and Bruce won the Sportsman main event that night. He's been in almost every trophy dash this year, and after only nine races, Mr. Erickson in now in seventh place in points. Duties concerning the car rest with Bob Putnam, Terry Langhart, Sam Hill and Rob.

Bruce has an extensive background in drag racing. He held the "American Hot Road Association" Modified production class record for three years. Drag racing and stock cars at Saugus Speedway are the only forms of racing Bruce has done. When I asked about plans for '81 Bruce was very definite, the owner, crew and driver have already made an all-out commitment to go after the championship in a Sportsman car and possibly move up to Modified after that.

Bruce and wife Vickie have been married nine years and have one son, Dustin, eleven months old. They met at work over ten years ago and have been together ever since.

Bruce had an interesting observation when I asked what he would say to the fans on the "mike." He wanted to thank all the fans and Super Track supporters, and also, "I wish there was a way to give every fan a ride in a race car around the track." I know a lot of people who wish they could do just that! Thanks Bruce, for the chance to get to know you better.

"Irish"

Willard Wins Grand Prix and Championship at Saugus

Super Track Scene by Lyn Pherigo

Reseda's Mike Willard, the '79 Modified Rookie of the Year, collected the "gold and glory" Saturday night at Saugus Speedway. The "gold" came in the form of $2,000 for his winning effort in the 100-lap grand prix, and the "glory" was the 1980 SAUGUS SPEEDWAY MODIFIED CHAMPIONSHIP!

Willard started the evening with only a 65-point lead over '77 Saugus champ Jim Robinson of Sylmar, who was third in the point standings. Nineteen seventy-eight champion Dan Press of Valencia, who led the points race all the way until his "season-ending" crash two weeks ago, held down the second place position ten points behind Willard. Press, however, would only be a spectator, and the battle for the title would be a Willard-Robinson affair.

Willard, first to qualify for the hundred lapper, turned in a fast 15:91 in Falconer & Sons Camaro, breaking the 15:98 record that Robinson had set two weeks ago. Robinson, showing he was going all out for his second title, pushed the Oval 3 Enterprise Monza to a new track record of 15:84 around the third-mile, flat paved oval of Saugus Speedway.

Robinson and Willard, by virtue of their record-breaking fast times, would "sit" on the front row of the 24-car starting field. The battle for the 1980 Saugus Modified championship would be "up front," just as it should be!

Robinson led the first lap with former Saugus and Winston Western champion Jim Insolo of Mission Hills moving into second from his inside-second-row starting position. Willard was third, followed by Ken Sapper, La Crescenta, Chris Robinson, Simi and Steve Starr, Woodland Hills.

Sapper moved ahead of Willard on lap nine, but two circuits later Willard regained the third spot as Robinson and Insolo dueled for the lead.

At the 40-lap mark it was still Robinson and Insolo battling for the lead, with Willard in third, followed by Sapper, Chris Robinson and Starr, but two laps later Insolo moved into the lead when Robinson went "wide" in turn three.

Six laps later, Robinson spun in the same third turn, slightly grazing the crash-wall, and a lap later went to the pits, ending his bid for a second title.

Willard slowly closed on the leader and on the 58th lap moved inside and around Insolo on the fourth turn. He won by a half-lap over Sapper who got by Insolo on the 78th lap. Insolo held on for third, all three cars on the lead lap. Starr finished in fourth, one lap down, Chris Robinson was fifth, two laps back.

Walt Price Sr. of Sylmar, came in sixth, Bryan Brown of Bakersfield was seventh, Don Lindner, Reseda, eighth, current champ Tru Cheek of Sylmar, was ninth and Greg Scates, Newhall, finished tenth.

About Saugus Speedway

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.