Conrad Travels Wire to Wire for Victory at Saugus

Saturday night at Saugus Speedway, Arcadia’s Neil Conrad flew to his first victory of the season in a 25-lap oval main--a wire-to-wire win aided greatly by the presence of just one yellow flag.

Conrad started on the pole in the Hobby Stock main event and soared ahead of the field until Lap 19, when a yellow was waved after a bang-up in the back. That gave second-place driver Richard Ingram of Hesperia and third-place driver Auggie Iannolo of Canoga Park hope to catch Conrad, who had held a good-sized lead.

Conrad, a firefighter, doused any challenge and won the 25-lapper with Ingram second and Ron Cerven of Lancaster third. Cerven passed Iannolo after the yellow.

The 40-lap Sportsman main event was raced after press time.

The 20-lap Outlaw Mini Stock main event was a showcase for 1991 Burbank High graduate Frank Deiny Jr., who started last and wove his way to the win, holding off current points leader Kenny Smith of El Monte. Smith pressured Deiny, but the 18-year-old hung on. Deiny also was fast qualifier earlier in the day.

Saturday night was also a good one for Mini Stocker Rock Ake Jr. of Moorpark. Not only did Ake set a track record in qualifying, but he won the 15-lap Mini Stock main event after starting eighth.

Ake moved up to second, then pressured leader Greg Walker for 11 laps. On Lap 11, Ake was rewarded, as Walker was black-flagged into the infield for blocking the track and Ake raced to the win. Rick Pianelli of Downey took second and Gregg Symonds of Agoura Hills took third.

In the 15-lap Jalopy main event, Walker of Acton took the lead on Lap 1 and led all the way to Turn 4 of Lap 15, when Dick Leighton of Pacoima made a bid for the win. Both cars swerved coming out of the final turn and crossed the finish line at almost the same instant. Walker was proclaimed the winner.

Lance Hooper of Palmdale continued a season-long hot streak with a win in the eight-lap Sportsman fast heat. Other fast heat winners included Ron Katz of Simi Valley (Outlaw Mini Stocks); Victor Griffin of North Hollywood (Hobby Stock oval); Harrison Bartholomew of North Hollywood (Jalopy) and Pat Garrett (Hobby Stock figure eight).