Saugus Speedway Racing Program.

Saturday, July 26, 1980.

Cyan spot color cover, else black, 28 pages.

Cover: Don Linder.

Driver profile: "Roaren Oren" Prosser.

Feature: Prosser Wins Third Straight at Saugus.

Photos, in order of appearance: Lindner, Prosser, Mike Willard, Dan Press, Hans Wesski, Ken Davis, Bryan Brown, Dana Wickersham (trophy girl), Ken Sapper, Gary Pike, Walt Price Jr., Dan Pacheco, Ken Richter, Jim McAlister, Bill McKnight, Mike Barnett, Roman Calczynski, Bill Sedgwick, Mitch Thompson, M.K. Kanke, Scott Klassen, Luke Koback, Dale Herron.

Previous week's attendance: 6,562 (paid)

Driver Profile: "Roaren Oren" Prosser

Being fairly new to the Super Track scene myself, I imagine much has been written about the "wizard of Saugus Speedway" Mr. Oren Prosser. The only five-time champ, Oren won the top division crowns in '64, '69, '70, '71 and '72. The name "Roaren Oren" fits him like no other. Many people have told me of his ability to put a race car in places where they shouldn't go, and still get away with it. Thus far this season, Mr. Prosser has displayed his ability in the Bryan Miller Camaro, many times over.

Oren was born in Long Beach on September 1, 1940, and he's a graduate of San Fernando High, class of '59. We never did get around to just exactly when he first started racing, but the number 18 seems to ring a bell. In Oren's words, "Racing has given me the chance to meet more people, see more country and earn more money than I ever dreamed of." He was reluctant to talk about any really bad racing experiences because according to Oren, "Racing has been good to me." Having won the Permatex race at Riverside two years in a row, '73 was not his year. In that one, he stacked up a car and broke a leg in 21 places, but he and the rest of are fortunate he's still around to talk about it.

Oren's current ride is the Bryan Miller Camaro with a Jackson chassis and Fischer small block motor. Bryan is crew chief and John & Carl Moore, Donnie Shirer and Bob Wang make up the rest of the number 8 crew. By the way, if you're in the neighborhood of Balboa and Sherman Way, stop in at Prosser Automotive ... The coffee pot's on there too.

Oren and his wife have parted company, but the rest of the family includes Doreen, 17, "O.J." (Oren Jr.), 16, and Lisa, 11. I think they've also become dirt track fans, having been to the Ventura track 3/4 midget races several times this season.

The past few years have been rather dry for "Roaren Oren." After winning the '75 Saugus "330," everything kind of "blew up!" Hopefully it'll get better from here on. Thanks for your time, Oren, and best of luck to you from your many fans at the "Super Track."

"Irish"

Prosser Wins Third Straight at Saugus

Super Track Scene by Lyn Pherigo

Five-time champion Oren Prosser roared to his third straight regular season Modified main event victory Saturday night at Saugus Speedway. A packed house of 6,562 race fans enjoyed a perfect balmy evening as a full moon beamed down weaving its black magic, particularly during the Modified feature race. Eleven yellow and two red flag interruptions made for a "stop and go" situation in the 40-lap event.

Sam Price, Sun Valley, led the first two laps from his pole starting spot, then Ken Davis, West Covina, took over for the next four circuits with Prosser going to the front on lap seven.

Reseda's Mike Willard moved into second behind Prosser on lap nine and during a "race to the yellow" through crashed cars blocking the track beat Prosser to the line to take the lead on lap fourteen. The lead was short-lived, however, for Prosser maneuvered past Willard in the second turn and regained the lead on lap eighteen.

At the 20-lap half-way mark, Prosser was leading Willard with Davis in third. Mike Fortier, Granada Hills, former champion, was running in fourth and Jim Robinson, '77 champion, was in fifth.

Prosser, Willard and Press ran the last 20 laps "bumper to bumper" finishing in that order. Robinson moved in to take fourth, Hans Wesski, Simi, was fifth and Davis came in sixth.

Press set a new one-lap qualifying record of 15:99, the first time the sixteen second barrier has been broken during a regular season program. Bryan Brown, Bakersfield, won his first-ever trophy dash. Prosser and Press also won heat races.

Roman Calczynski, Van Nuys, current Street Stock champion, took both ends of the stocker events. The victories marked the 13th and 14th stocker feature wins of '80 for Calczynski and pushed his point lead total to "uncatchable."

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.