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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Let's
Race At Hoot's Place by Norm Bogan |
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About
forty miles north of downtown Los Angeles, was a settlement of small ranchos and
oil fields. Founded by a man named
Henry Mayo Newhall, who named one of the small communities after his family and
the other after his Massachusetts hometown of Saugus. Many early western movies
were filmed at the nearby Vasquez Rocks. The area became popular with the stars
that established homes or ranches in the vicinity, away from the big city
hubbub. William S. Hart developed a
large spread, with his home atop a peak, so he could see for miles in this clear
semi-desert climate. Gene Autrey's
famed Melody Ranch was built in Placerita Canyon.
In
1924, Hoot Gibson set up a ranch and rodeo grounds along the railroad and
Soledad Canyon Road. Over the
years, many shows were held and the crowds came from the city to witness the
events. Newhall and Saugus were
still sort of old western towns, with many of the residents having migrated from
Texas and Oklahoma to work in the nearby oil fields. Eventually, the Bonelli family purchased Hoot Gibson’s place and in 1939 a quarter mile dirt track was built. Bonelli Ranch Stadium hosted a myriad of events, showcasing the popular midgets and hot rods (roadsters). Later, the track was expanded to one-third mile and in 1954, the surface was paved and the name changed to Saugus Speedway. The paved track brought on the transition to stockcars, which was the primary format through 1995, when the track was closed. Saugus
Speedway grew and gained in popularity, much the same as the rodeo grounds
before it. The adjacent San
Fernando Valley had boomed during the 1950s and with little or no professional
sports nearby, auto racing was a great Saturday night diversion.
Regular weekly crowds of about 5000 were normal. I
first visited Saugus in 1965, with my Sylmar neighbor.
I was impressed with the smooth operation of the show, running three
classes of cars and getting the crowd out at a decent hour.
The show moved along well and so did the announcer Joe Volkhomer, who had
a great Brooklyn accent and told "Mother in-Law" jokes. Sportsman cars
were the headliners. They ran 405
cu. in. engines with four-barrel carburetors and ten-inch tires.
Some of the leading Sportsman drivers were Ron Hornaday, Frank Deiny,
Walt Price, "Steady" Eddie Gray, "Roarin" Oren Prosser, Clem
Proctor, Don Noel, Marv Heines and "Wild" Bill Foster.
Most of the cars running were '50 Olds, '55 Chevys or '57 Fords. The Cadet class was a step down from
the Sportsman. The cars were pretty much the same, except they ran
eight-inch tires, two-barrel carburetors and 340 cu. in. engines.
Stars in this class were Andy Anderson, Carl Stronberg and Bob Kauf.
The lowest class was the Novice class. These
cars were the equivalent of today's Hobby stock cars. They ran flathead V-8 or in-line engines, stock tires with a
racing cap and not many other alterations, except safety equipment.
Ray Dilger had a Buick, Jim Skinner was in a Hudson, Sonny Easley tooled
a Mercury, Wayne Hooper and Jim Gilliam ran Chevys.
Many drivers moved up through the classes as their skills improved and
they gained greater financial backing. Since
those days, many of the Saugus drivers have gone on to race on the Southwest
Tour, Winston West and Winston Cup. To
name a few: Jim Insolo, Jim Thirkettle, Jim Robinson, Johnny Anderson, Dan
Press, Lance Hooper and Ron Hornaday Jr. Saugus
was a unique track, because it was so flat.
It was said that you could pour water on the inside of turn two and it
would flow to the outside wall. Nothing
like reversing banking, eh! Drivers
who were successful at Saugus, tended to do well at other tracks throughout
Southern California, while many journeyman racers from other tracks tore their
hair out trying to come up with the right set up. A
couple of recollections are the weekly arrival of a busload of Seabees from Port
Hueneme to enjoy the races. Also,
when Marv Heines was running a Hudson, he still had a radio in the dash and
would line up for the feature, "grooving to the tunes".
Gabby Garrison, a hardcore MOPAR campaigner, competed until he was around
71 years of age. Chaining the car
to an old oak tree in the pits and accelerating to the end of the leash was the
method of accomplishing minor frame straightening. When
I first arrived at Saugus, the main grandstand was covered like most fairgrounds
and the noise reverberating under that roof was nearly deafening.
Later the roof was removed, the pits were paved and concessions improved.
Car classes changed over the years to include Four-Bangers, Figure Eights
and Modifieds. Tony
Coldeway was the promoter, when I started at Saugus, but after a near fatal car
accident, he turned the track over to Marshall Wilkings.
Wilkings was responsible for most of the track improvements.
Upon his passing, his son, Ray took over management of the track until it
closed. A
few more driver names from the past were; Doug Clark, "Sad" Sam
Stanley, Tru Cheek, Mike Fortier, Bob Kindoll, Bob Sedgeman, Ken Sapper, Norm
Wareberg, Don Fischer, Fred Pierce, Conny Burdett and Hal Needham, Director of
"Smokey and the Bandit", who raced a Walt Price prepared Sportsman
Car. Don't forget the Whiteman
brothers, Marv and Gary, in their Studebakers. After 56 years, Saugus Speedway went silent. The Swap Meet and Metro-Link Station are still there, but the racing is gone forever. Over the past ten years, the burgeoning city of Santa Clarita was encroaching on the track and most felt it was only a matter of time, until the politicians would shut down the facility. They have taken away another track, but we still have those golden memories of many a Saturday night at the races. |
