Saugus Speedway Racing Program.

Saturday, May 11, 1991.

Yellow spot color cover, else black, 36 pages.

Cover: Terry Johnson, Brian Jones.

Driver profile: Jim Marlewski.

Feature: Rod Johnson Scores First Win of 1991.

Photos by Spider Hruska, Rob Parker, Gary Thornhill: Marlewski, Rod Johnson, Jerry Johnson, John Higgins, Keith Spangler, Mindy Drake, Lee Baumgarten, Wally Crowder, Mark Miller, Kelly Colgan, Pat Garrett, Eric Sunness, John Fleming, Scott Wade, Ken Sapper, Dave Phipps, Gary Sigman, Bob Faieta, Rich Ingram, J.R. Ybarra.

Previous week's attendance: not listed.

Driver Profile: Jim Marlewski
By Virg Kilpatrick

"Driving a Grand American Modified is more thrilling than any car I've driven yet." Those are the words of our featured driver tonight, Jim Marlewski. This Cleveland, Ohio, native was transplanted in Southern California in 1966 at the age of 16 years. They arrived driving a station wagon and pulling a trailer. After a couple of years in the Army and a marriage, Jim and wife Patti bought a home in Simi Valley.

"I guess my first experience was a Demo Derby back in Cleveland at 14 years old. My Mom signed the waiver for me. The first race was on dirt at Indian Dunes in a borrowed car and I rolled it! It came down on all four wheels, I finished the race, the crowd went nuts ... I was hooked on racing."

Jim drove for Pete Andelman in '86, '87 & '88, taking Rookie-of-the-Year in '86. In 1989 Patti became "owner of record" of the cars he drove as she is now for the Grand American Modified. Jim's always finished in the top 10 and hopes one day to be the Top No l ... very soon.

"Thanks to my sponsors and all sponsors who don't get enough credit." Lee Ladd, D&L Signs, Superlative Maintenance, All Weld, Simi Valley Auto Wrecking, Di-Tech International, Mobile Welding Supply, Jaymar Engineering, Custom Cars Unlimited, and Spangler Fabrication. "Patti, Tricia, and Jon are my biggest cheering section, and they make it all worth it," says Jim.

Thank you, Jim, and here's to a great season in the new division ... maybe we'll have a couple dozen by the end of the year. This is a "building" year for this new division and it takes a while for the teams to build their cars and get established and obtain sponsors.

"Irish"

Rod Johnson Scores First Win of 1991

Tad Meyer's Race Recap, Saturday, May 4, 1991

Rod Johnson led every lap in the NASCAR Sportsman main event for his win of the year last Saturday at Saugus Speedway.

Rod Johnson started on the outside of the front row for the 40-lap NASCAR Sportsman feature but outran pole sitter Jerry Johnson just after the green to take the lead. Rod Johnson would never be challenged throughout the race as he drove to victory. Point leader Keith Spangler moved to fourth behind just behind Jerry Johnson and John Higgins on lap twelve, but Spangler could never find his way farther forward with Jerry Johnson ending up second with Higgins third and Spangler fourth. Gary Sigman took fifth following a last lap pass.

Hobby/Jalopy

Auggie Iannolo led from the pole in the 25-lap NASCAR hobby stock feature while Wolff started eleventh. A red flag on lap seven was caused when a car dumped liquid on the track, and for the restart, Iannolo was still leading with Richard Ingram second, Wolff third and point leader Mark Miller fourth. Wolff took second and then on lap nine passed Iannolo for the lead. A lap later Miller took over second and they were later joined by Robert Vigil in third. The lead trio ran out front with Wolff holding on for the win with Miller and Vigil just behind. Neil Conrad was fourth with Ingram fifth.

Clay Forsythe moved to the lead just after the start of the 15-lap NASCAR jalopy feature with Berry in second. Jerry Carfley took over second on lap six, dropping Berry to third. On lap eleven, a four-car battle for the lead saw Forsythe drop off the lead and Carfley and Jeff Saelid come together and spin giving the top spot to Berry. A final caution came out on lap fourteen and on the restart, fourth-running Carfley jumped the start and came through to run into second running Joey Gerdano who went sideways and collected third running Miranda Drake. The red and checkered flags came out together. Berry got the win with Gerdano still credited with second. By reverting to the previous lap, John Fleming and Forsythe were third and fourth despite the fact that they pitted under the lap fourteen yellow. Drake was credited with fifth.

For the 15-lap NASCAR hobby stock/jalopy feature, Iannolo took the lead after the start from the outside of the front row and led the first seven laps before falling back to fourth just before a red flag on lap eight. Ingram had taken the lead, but after racing under the red was put to the rear giving the lead to Wade. Wade would lead the following laps for the win. Edward Dazzo was second with Iannolo third, Kelly Colgan fourth and Wolff fifth.

Results from May 11, 1991

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.