MOTOR SPORTS: WINSTON WEST TOP FIVE IN REACH FOR WOODSIDE.

Byline: Tim Haddock Staff Writer

Saugus High graduate Sean Woodside has his sights set on the top five in the NASCAR Winston West season points standings.

Right now, he's on the outside looking in. Woodside, the Winston West champ in 1999, is sixth in points with one race to go, the season finale Food 4 Less 300 at Irwindale Speedway on Nov. 10.

Woodside, who drives for Valencia-based Walker Motorsports, hopes his recently won NASCAR Super Late Model championship at Irwindale Speedway can help him do well in the Winston West season-ender.

``Winning the Irwindale championship just may help us in the Winston West race,'' Woodside said. ``We must have learned something with all that seat time. Hopefully, it will give us what we need to reclaim our top-five spot in the points.''

Woodside has shown that he is fast enough to win races this year. He won four pole awards in addition to recording five top-fives this season.

``It has been great to be a part of this team this year,'' Woodside said. ``We have had some good success and have pulled together a team that has made a strong presence within the series in its first full season.''

--Luyendyk entered in Winston West race: Arie Luyendyk Jr., son of two- time Indianapolis 500 champion Arie Luyendyk, will make his NASCAR Winston West debut at Irwindale Speedway in the Nov. 10 race.

Luyendyk Jr. will be racing a Roush Racing-prepared No. 92 Triton Realty Motorsports Ford Taurus.

Luyendyk Jr. will compete in the 2002 Winston West Series as well as selected NASCAR Busch Series and Winston Cup events.

--Drake released: Jay Drake of Val Verde, who finished second in the USAC Sprint Car series, was released from a hospital in Indiana last Saturday.

Drake, who was involved in a crash during a USAC Dirt-Track Midget race in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 20, left Indianapolis Methodist Hospital to recuperate at home. He has a broken left arm and collarbone.

Drake also suffered a head injury in the crash. Those who wish to send him cards or letters can write Drake at P.O. Box 24262, Indianapolis, IN 46224.

--Southwest Series season finale: The NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series will wrap up its season at Tucson Raceway Park in Arizona today with the Ray Judy 150.

Bob Lyon of Agua Dulce will most likely finish in the top five in points. He has 1,870 and is fourth with a six-point lead over fifth-place driver Nick Joanides, a former Saugus Speedway star from Woodland Hills.

Craig Raudman of Bakersfield wrapped up his first Southwest Series championship last week at Phoenix International Speedway. He finished 30th in the race. He has a chance to break Lance Hooper's pole award record set in 1995. Raudman, who has won a record five consecutive poles this year, can break Hooper's mark of eight if he wins the pole at Tucson.

Tucson has been a favorable track to area drivers. M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park, who was leading the Southwest Series before an accident at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma ended his season prematurely, won at Tucson in 1998.

Kanke still holds the track record for the fastest 150-lap race at Tucson set Jan. 18, 1998. He also won a Southwest Series race at Tucson in 1997. Lyon won at Tucson in 1993 and Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale, who drives the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, won two races at Tucson, in 1994 and 1995.

NASCAR

Featherlite Southwest Series

Ray Judy 150

Site: Tucson, Ariz.

Track: Tucson Raceway Park ( 3/8-mile paved oval)

Schedule: Today, race (2:30 p.m.)

Distance: 150 laps/56.25 miles

Posted awards: $36,800

Last year: M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park won the pole but started sixth in an inverted starting grid. Auggie Vidovich Jr. took the lead on the first lap and led all 125 laps.

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NASCAR (see text)