In the second full event of the Red/White/Blue modified mini series, Todd Coburn of Lakeport padded his points lead in both the Red/White/Blue series and the Northern California Racing Association championship battle with his feature victory at the Lakeport Speedway Saturday night. Coburn is the seventh different winner in the modified division in 7 weeks of competition.
In mini stock action Rod Gard of Lower Lake collected his second consecutive main event. Fourteen year old Colby Hicks of Grass Valley won both the trophy dash and the 20 lap feature in the new L.A. Cruiser class. And Richie Schwarm of Ukiah made it two-in-a-row in the Guy Strohmeier Auto Center bomber division. Schwarm also set fast time of 15.157 seconds.
Coburn started the modified 30-lapper in the front row along side of Mike Smithhart and took the initial lead. Aaron Hicks followed Coburn’s line to the front with Derrick Crayford and Bob Strauss all gaining position in the outside groove. As the top four settled into single file format, the battle in mid-pack saw Terry McIntire on the outside of Gary Lowblad running side-by-side for more than 20 laps before McIntire finally pulled back in line behind Lowblad. The race ran non-stop with Coburn the happy winner over Hicks, Crayford, Strauss and Lowblad. Rounding out the top ten were McIntire, Mike Sullivan, David Furia, Thomas Wright and Darin Knight.
Furia set fast time over the 14 car field with 12.930 seconds. Crayford won the trophy dash and heat wins went to Coburn and Hicks.
The mini stock feature saw James Devries and David Aceves jockey back and forth for the lead the first four laps while Mike Mihos was running a strong third. Devries’ car slowed, allowing both Aceves and Mihos to pull ahead on six just before the race was slowed for a Dusty Barton spin. Mihos lost ground on the double-file restart giving the second slot to Richie Schramm, Jr. Both Gard and points leader Kelly Gray were working their ways through traffic, and Gard powered past Aceves and into the lead on the 13th curciut.
As Gard pulled away, Gray picked off the front runners and set his sights on Gard. With no more caution periods, the luck was with Gard where the drove the remaining distance for the win. Gray caught up in the closing laps to finish a close second with Barton rebounding to take third. Aceves finished fourth ahead of Jay Strugnell. Rod also won the trophy dash, Gray set fast time of 13.878 and won the fast heat, and Mihos was the other heat race winner.
The L.A. Cruiser division supports the youngest and the oldest driver at Lakeport Speedway, and this weekend the race went with the youth. Colby Hicks, who only has about five hours behind the wheel of any automobile, nipped Lauenroth at the line in the dash, boosting his confidence for the upcoming main event.
Any leader in the cruiser division can only lead one lap before he must "move-it-on-over" to the outside lane. This creates numerous leader changes with George Reihl out in front the first five rounds, Colby Hicks leading five and six, Aaron Hicks out in front twice in the event and back again to Reihl. But the final lap saw the youngster out in front with Colby Hicks the elated winner. Aaron Hicks finished second with Reihl third and Paul Lauenroth fourth.
Bomber action began with Adam Oubre smacking the turn four wall hard on only the fourth lap to bring out the first of two yellow flags. When racing resumed, Richie Schwarm took the lead away from Robert Byers and three rounds later Scott Griffin picked off Byers. Eric Johnson was next to try Byers, but when Johnson pulled along side, Byers’ car pushed high and the rear of his car touched the Johnson car. The impact shot Johnson hard into the turn two concrete ending his run with severe damage to the #57.
Schwarm held off Griffin’s challenges the remaining laps to win the race. Griffin was a close second with trophy dash winner Willie Stephens third, Byers fourth and Jon Waner fifth.
Heat wins went to Byers and Johnson.
The Robinson Rancheria Casino & Bingo North State Tour Cars will be at the Lakeport Speedway this Saturday night. It is the first of two events for the high powered late models at Lakeport in 2005. For more information about the North State Challenge Series call the speedway at (707) 274-2844.
6/4/2005 _ Lakeport Speedway Results...
NCRA MODIFIEDS
Heat 1_ Todd Coburn, Jeremy Nowlin, Thomas Wright, Mike Sullivan, Mike Smithhart, Mike Linnell.
Heat 2_ Aaron Hicks, Lance Blacker, Derrick Crayford, Gary Lowblad, David Furia, Bob Strauss, Terry McIntire.
Main Event "A"_ Todd Coburn, Aaron Hicks, Derrick Crayford, Bob Strauss, Gary Lowblad, Terry McIntire, Mike Sullivan, David Furia, Thomas Wright, Darrin Knight, Lance Blacker, Mike Smithhart.
Time Trial_ David Furia (12.930), Bob Strauss, Terry McIntire, Derrick Crayford, Gary Lowblad.
Trophy Dash _ Derrick Crayford, Terry McIntire, Bob Strauss, David Furia.
NCRA MINI STOCKS
Heat 1Michael Mihos, David Aceves, James Devries, Mike Bray, Fred Schmidt.
Heat 2_ Kelly Gray, Rod Gard, Dusty Barton, Rich Schramm Jr., Jay Strugnell.
Main Event "A"_ Rod Gard, Kelly Gray, Dusty Barton, David Aceves, Jay Strugnell, Rich Schramm Jr., James Devries, Fred Schmidt, Mike Bray, Michael Mihos.
Time Trial_ Kelly Gray (13.878), Rod Gard, Dusty Barton, Jay Strugnell, Rich Schramm Jr..
Trophy Dash _ Rod Gard, Jay Strugnell, Kelly Gray, Dusty Barton.
L.A. CRUISERS
Heat 1_ Aaron Hicks, Bob Strauss, Colby Hicks, Paul Lauenroth.
Main Event "A"_ Colby Hicks, Aaron Hicks, Bob Strauss, Paul Lauenroth.
Trophy Dash _ Colby Hicks, Paul Lauenroth, Bob Strauss, Aaron Hicks.
NCRA BOMBERS
Heat 1_ Robert Byers, Andy Norton, Jon Waner, Chuck Hackbarth.
Heat 2_ Eric Johnson, Willie Stephens, Scott Griffin, Richie Schwarm, Bill Peters, Adam Oubre.
Main Event "A"_ Richie Schwarm, Scott Griffin, Willie Stephens, Robert Byers, Jon Waner, Andy Norton, Chuck Hackbarth, Eric Johnson, Bill Peters, Adam Oubre.
Time Trial_ Richie Schwarm (15.157), Eric Johnson, Scott Griffin, Willie Stephens, Adam Oubre.
Trophy Dash _ Willie Stephens, Scott Griffin, Richie Schwarm, Eric Johnson.
