Checkered flag goes up and it's Jim Insolo for the win with Jim
Robinson
second. It was a great race as usuall and me and dad end up talking about what hapened on the track all the way home.  I will never forget those day's with the loud sound's of engines to  the the smells of racing gas , rubber and  hot dog's to the  the sight's of brightly colored cars, to pictures at the photo  booth, to girls  flirting at the food booth's.  It is to bad Saugus Speedway had to close but i am thankfull for the time i got to spend there at a important time in my life.
Opening ceremonies, at  7:00 the first cars line up for the trophy dash, usually it was the modified or sportsman to kick off the night. Before the trophy dash would start though, the crowd would stand for the star spangled banner first.  Depending on the race there would be 4-6 cars inverted for a 6 lap trophy dash. Each devision would get their trophy dash in 1977 there was only two, sportsman and street stock.
If you are going to a race like Saugus or anywhere else you need to pick a driver you know, a car that has your favorite colors on it or just pick a car with your favorite number on it. A race is no fun unless your rooting for your driver or against a driver that hit your driver. My favorite driver at Saugus was
Oren Prosser
, he was very aggressive and usually ran up front. My cousins favorite driver was Jim Thirkettle, so when he would go with me things would allways get interesting because both these drivers were very fast.
We would leave  around 11:00  and get to the track around  1:00.  The pit gates would open around that time depending on the race schedule.  Since my dad had to meet the crew in the pits he would drop me off at the front gate so i could watch from the stands.  The first  thing i would do is get my
ticket at the ticket booth
so i could get in, Tickets were around  $4.00 at the time. I would then get a program which was about $1.00. About this time practice would start and i could watch that or just check out the new photos from the weak before at the photographers booth (Rob Parker).  I was there so early i could pick any seat, i usually would sit at the very top of the grandstands on the backstretch.
It's saturday morning  in october 1977,  i'm 13 years old at the time.  My dad has allready left to meet the guy's at the garage to load and prepare their racecar.  My mom would go visit  grandma and grandpa  (her parents) for the day.  I would have to decide either to stay there with mom or go to the races with dad, needles to say i was at the races allmost every saturday at saugus. Dad would stop by and pick me up on the way to the track, mom went  every now and then.  If i was lucky my cousin would go and that was when it was the most fun.
Special thanks to Lyn Pherigo
SAUGUS  SPEEDWAY
60's -- 70's -- 80's -- REVISITED
IT'S  SATURDAY  TIME  TO GO TO THE RACES!
It's saturday morning  in october 1977,  i'm 13 years old at the time.  My dad has allready left to meet the guy's at the garage to load and prepare their racecar.  My mom would go visit  grandma and grandpa  (her parents) for the day.  I would have to decide either to stay there with mom or go to the races with dad, needles to say i was at the races allmost every saturday at saugus. Dad would stop by and pick me up on the way to the track, mom went  every now and then.  If i was lucky my cousin would go and that was when it was the most fun.
We would leave  around 11:00  and get to the track around  1:00.  The pit gates would open around that time depending on the race schedule.  Since my dad had to meet the crew in the pits he would drop me off at the front gate so i could watch from the stands.  The first  thing i would do is get my
ticket at the ticket booth
so i could get in, Tickets were around  $4.00 at the time. I would then get a program which was about $1.00. About this time practice would start and i could watch that or just check out the new photos from the weak before at the photographers booth (Rob Parker).  I was there so early i could pick any seat, i usually would sit at the very top of the grandstands on the backstretch.
Around 4:00 time trials start (qualifying),  I would watch and write down all times for modified and sportsman classes in the program so i new what the line up would be before hand.  My dad told me to watch out though because some drivers would try to go just fast enough to make it in the main event safely so they could get a better start spot. At Saugus Speedway they started the entire field of cars inverted for the main, so the fastest car allways started last. This is one reason some of the most aggressive drivers in california came from Saugus Speedway.
If you are going to a race like Saugus or anywhere else you need to pick a driver you know, a car that has your favorite colors on it or just pick a car with your favorite number on it. A race is no fun unless your rooting for your driver or against a driver that hit your driver. My favorite driver at Saugus was
Oren Prosser
, he was very aggressive and usually ran up front. My cousins favorite driver was Jim Thirkettle, so when he would go with me things would allways get interesting because both these drivers were very fast.
Opening ceremonies, at  7:00 the first cars line up for the trophy dash, usually it was the modified or sportsman to kick off the night. Before the trophy dash would start though, the crowd would stand for the star spangled banner first.  Depending on the race there would be 4-6 cars inverted for a 6 lap trophy dash. Each devision would get their trophy dash in 1977 there was only two, sportsman and street stock.
Heat races start next with the slower cars in a first heat with faster cars in the last heat. The fastest cars would rarely even go out in these races so they would not have to worry about damaging their cars. The slower cars would work on their set ups for the mains. This is the time where i would usually go get a hot dog and coke to beat the crowds for intermissions. Since I got to the track around 1:00 - 2:00 i was plenty hungry by then. The hot dogs were the same brand as the dodger dogs so if you ever had one you know how good they were.
Saugus Speedway is like no other track  i have been to, the track is  a very small Quarter mile track  that if you pour water on the track it would go towards the  outside wall it's so flat. The grandstands were very close to the track so when the cars hit the wall you could fill the jolt in the stands, you were apart of the race instead of just watching it from a distance like you do at a half mile track. When you left after the races your ears would be ringing for a day or two afterwards because the cars were so loud and you are so close to the action.
Time for the mains,  the main events usually ran for 40 laps  and since the fast guys started in the back with the whole field inverted, the driver's in the back had to do some crazy driving to get to the front in 40 laps.  On a typical night you would have at least 5 yellow flags per night and plenty of red flags during the season. Ive never seen more cars go over each other or over the wall than ive seen at Saugus.  I think the drivers enjoyed the track alot more than the owners and pit crew. no cars would leave the track without a few dents.  There were special events like the 330  and fall spectacular races that were over 100 laps with some big purses to draw most of the drivers in california,  those races showed just how tough Saugus was to drive because i don't seem to remember anyone beating the local driver's  at those big races.
Checkered flag goes up and it's Jim Insolo for the win with Jim
Robinson
second. It was a great race as usuall and me and dad end up talking about what hapened on the track all the way home.  I will never forget those day's with the loud sound's of engines to  the the smells of racing gas , rubber and  hot dog's to the  the sight's of brightly colored cars, to pictures at the photo  booth, to girls  flirting at the food booth's.  It is to bad Saugus Speedway had to close but i am thankfull for the time i got to spend there at a important time in my life.
By,  Everret O'Neal