MOTOR SPORTS: SAUGUS SPEEDWAY MEMORIES ABOUND.

Byline: Tim Haddock Staff Writer

Auto racing historian Harold Osmer and Lyn Pherigo have put together a collection of photos and stories about Saugus Speedway from 1979 to 1995. It chronicles all-star events that paired NASCAR Winston Cup drivers with local Saugus Speedway drivers, NASCAR Southwest Series, Winston West Series and the only Craftsman SuperTrucks race ever run at the little third-of-a-mile concrete oval.

The introduction by Lyn and Anne Pherigo, written in 1982, gives a fairly extensive history of Saugus Speedway. It details how it went from a rodeo arena in the 1920s, to a dirt track in the 1940s and 1950s that hosted eventual Indianapolis 500 champions, to a concrete oval that was home to some of NASCAR's Southwest Series and Winston West stars.

But this book, ``Saugus Speedway Scrapbook: The Later Years, 1979-1995,'' focuses on the champions and races of the last 16 years of the track's existence as a stock car racing facility.

Flipping through the pages brought back some fond memories: Sean Woodside and Pat Mintey Jr. banging fenders in the Sportsman class; Dave Phipps dominating the Grand Am division for so many years; Gerritt Cromsigt being able to build the best street stocks anyone at Saugus Speedway had ever seen.

Maybe one of the greatest and saddest moments at the track was when it played host to the NASCAR Craftsman SuperTrucks, as it was originally called, in 1995. It was great because it brought the first nationally televised audience, a cable telecast on TNN, to Saugus Speedway. It was sad because it ended up being one of the last times anyone got to turn a lap in a stock car at the track.

Saugus Speedway closed to stock car racing for good later that summer.

Ken Schrader won the race, a 200-lapper run on April 15 ,1995. The race brought out NASCAR stars such as Geoff Bodine, Mike Skinner, Bill Sedgwick and Ron Hornaday Jr., a two-time Truck Series champion.

But the Truck Series wasn't the only time top NASCAR drivers competed on the track. The Race of Champions, run on July 9, 1988, brought out some of the rising stars of NASCAR. Michael Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Ernie Irvan and Davey Allison teamed with Saugus Speedway regulars in an all-star exhibition. Irvan and three-time Saugus Speedway champion Ken Sapper won the Race of Champions.

Stock cars weren't always the only cars raced at Saugus Speedway. It became a NASCAR track in 1986 but played host to a number of USAC events as well during the 1980s. Gary Bettenhausen won a USAC Supermodified race at Saugus in 1986. And a very young Tony Stewart won a USAC race at Saugus in 1994.

All totaled, the book lists all 1,738 main events run at Saugus Speedway from 1979 to 1995 and lists all 348 main-event winners. The photos tell the stories of past champions. They also capture some of the crew and staff who made weekly racing at Saugus Speedway a success for so many years.

To order a copy of the book, write to: Harold Osmer Publishing, P.O. Box 4741, Chatsworth, CA 91313. Books are $47.50, or $90 for two. To find out more about the book and Harold Osmer Publishing, visit the Web site: www.saugusspeedwayscrapbook.com.

--USAC Wester Racing awards: Troy Cline of Santa Clarita won the USAC Western Racing Series most-improved-driver award Sunday in Las Vegas.

USAC honored all its western region champions at an awards banquet at Binion's Horseshoe Hotel and Casino.

Tony Hunt of Fair Oaks was honored as the USAC Western Sprints champion; Danny Ebberts of Canyon Lake was honored as USAC Western Midgets champion, and Walt Johnson of Sun Valley was honored as USAC Three-Quarter Midget champion.