Hooper Wins Saugus Main After Inquiry

In one of Saugus Speedway’s wildest finishes, Lance Hooper of Palmdale completed a stunning comeback to win the Sportsman Division 40-lap main event after a post-race inquiry of 15 minutes Saturday night before a crowd of 5,009.

Hooper, who started 23rd in a 24-car field and had to race in his first “B” main earlier in the evening just to qualify for the “A” main, drove a punishing and impressive 40 laps and was racing in third place heading into the final turn.

But there, points leader Keith Spangler of Northridge, who started 14th but had moved to second, rammed his car into leader Dave Phipps of Simi Valley on Turn 4, causing Phipps to spin out. Spangler raced to the checkered flag, with Hooper second, Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill third and Gary Sigman of Carson fourth.

Confusion reigned. Was Spangler to be punished?

A post-race inquiry, sure enough, bumped Spangler from the winner’s circle. He was placed behind Phipps, who finished far back in the pack, depending on further scoring inquiries. Mintey was awarded second and Sigman third.

The main-event win for Hooper was his second of the season--and certainly his most unlikely.

Chris Hamilton of Hanford pulled a hat trick of sorts, winning the 12-lap main event, the eight-lap fast heat and the six-lap trophy dash to make some headway on his fourth-place standing.

“Yeah, we finally put one together tonight, didn’t we?” Hamilton said.

Points leader Phipps bounced back from an accident earlier in the evening and sneaked into second place past Gary Sigman of Carson on the final turn in his Grand American Modified.

Phipps, though, may not have to worry about Hamilton’s competition in the future.

Hamilton, the national rookie of the year in 1990, said that he has yet to drum up any local financial support and the trek from Hanford to race at Saugus is tough on the pocketbook.

“Things are tight everywhere, so we don’t know when we’ll be back,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully it’ll be soon.”

In the Stuntmen Division, which requires two riders per car and that one rider be a member of the Screen Actors Guild or the American Federation of Television Actors, Bruce Dorn of Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Ray Wise, better known as the man who killed Laura Palmer on the television series “Twin Peaks,” won the 12-lap main event.