UKIAH, CA..... 8/04/00..... Mike Rose of Lakeport led all but the first two laps to capture his second season victory in the Airport Auto Brokers Late Model series at the Ukiah Speedway Friday night.
Kevin Schafer of Kelseyville won both main events in the bomber division in the kickoff of the Hot August Night series at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds.
Four races were scheduled under the new management of the Ukiah Speedway with the first running Friday night. Eighteen bombers and 14 late models were on hand to kick off the series. The late model feature began with Joedy Admiral of Lakeport forging ahead of pole setter Clinton Stanley of Ukiah at the drop of the green flag. Rose followed Admiral to the front and made the outside pass for the lead on the third lap.
Al Vogel also ran the outside groove and settled into second behind Rose on lap four and fast qualifier (13.633) Robert Loucks came from last starting to third in only five laps. Vogel make an attempt to pass Rose up high and when he did, Loucks slipped under him into second place. Junior Roddy ran a strong fourth and at the half way mark it was Rose, Loucks, Vogel, Roddy and Jeremy Hopkins.
The top five began lapping the slower cars on 17 with the leaders running nose to tail. Loucks made several bids for the lead, but Rose drove a flawless race for the win. Loucks finished second with Vogel third, Roddy fourth and Hopkins fifth.
Heat wins went to Donnie Austin and Roddy. Vogel captured the trophy dash and Trevor Cristiani, 5, of Ukiah was the junior trophy presenter.
The bomber division ran twin 30 lap events with the winner of each taking home one hundred dollars. The first feature was staged by the luck-of-the-draw with R.J. Randall and Clark Miller starting in the front row. Randall led the first go-round but Miller took it away on the second lap. Dave Land III settled into third with Ray Lozano fourth and Casey Saunders fifth.
Schafer started 11th but found the outside lane to his liking and by the 7th lap he was up to 6th. The first yellow fell on lap eight when Richard Page spun in turn one. The restart saw Land fade allowing Lozano to move into second. Schafer continued his forward thrust, picking off Randall for third on lap nine and swapping places with Lozano the following round.
Another yellow was displayed on lap 12 when Land spun in turn four. This put Miller and Schafer side-by-side for the restart where Schafer pulled ahead for good. Lozano passed Miller for second with Mike Carlson moving into fourth. Two more caution periods plagued the race, the first when Darrin Wilson and Page made contact, and the second when Miller lost it in turn four. The final laps went without incident with Schafer the winner. Lozano finished second ahead of Carlson, Randall and George Reihl.
The second bomber feature was completely inverted from the finish of the first leg with Page on the pole and Schafer starting last. Before even one lap was completed, a tangle between Anja Allen and Darrin Wilson happened with Wilson’s car being towed to the pits. A second yellow was thrown to warn Dave Land, Sr. for rough driving, and when the race finally got under way Steve Peirce took control. Ray Lozano moved ahead rapidly and was running second by the fourth lap. Schafer was also on the prowl and took over the fifth slot on five. Lozano drove around Peirce for first on lap six and three rounds later the race was halted for a confrontation between Page and Sean Caturegli.
Mike Carlson took over second on the restart with Schafer now in third and Peirce dropping to fourth. Schafer made an outside pass on Carlson on 13 and set his sights on Lozano. Lozano battled Schafer with all he had but the Kelseyville man was determined and made the winning pass on lap 22. Carlson spun to bring out the final caution, and the finishing order was Schafer, Lozano, Peirce, Randall and Reihl.
Heat wins went to Carlson, Lozano and Schafer. Lozano captured the "A" trophy dash and Shawn Koewn won the "B" dash. Trophy presenters in the bomber class were Tanner Miller, 5, of Ukiah and Jessica Swaney, 9, of Lucerne.
A grandstand drawing saw Mike McManaman of Ukiah win a ride with George Reihl next Sunday night as the Hot August Night Series continues at the Ukiah Speedway as part of the Redwood Empire Fair. Racing begins at 7:00 pm. Admission to the fair gets you into the races at no additional charge.
LATE MODELS
Fast Time: Robert Loucks, 1 3.633
Trophy Dash: Al Vogel, Jeremy Hopkins, Loucks, Junior Roddy
Heat 1: Donnie Austin, Joedy Admiral, Clinton Stanley, Ken Robbennole, Kevin Estep, Mike Swaney, Matt Barker
Heat 2: Junior Roddy, Hopkins, Loucks, Mike Rose, Vogel, Pascual Puertolas, Danny Cristiani
Main Event: Rose, Loucks, Vogel, Roddy, Hopkins, Austin, Admiral, Stanley, Swaney
BOMBERS
"A" Dash: Ray Lozano, Kevin Schafer, Clark Miller, Mike Carlson, R.J. Randall, David Land III
"B" Dash: Shawn Koewn, George Reihl, Casey Saunders, Kevin Waycik, Wayne Johnson, Darrin Wilson
Heat 1: Mike Carlson, Land, Waycik, Wilson, Steve P eirce
Heat 2: Lozano, Miller, Reihl, Keown, Anja Allen, Sean Caturegli, Ann Furia
Heat 3: Schafer, Randall, Saunders, Johnson, Ray Strain, Richard Page
1st Main Event: Schafer, Lozano, Carlson, Randall, Reihl, Koewn, Waycik, Saunders, Caturegli, Allen, Peirce, Johnson, Wilson, Page, Miller, Furia, Land III
2nd Main Event: Schafer, Lozano, Peirce, Randall, Reihl, Carlson, Keown, Page, Johnson, Saunders, Allen, Caturegli, Waycik, Land, Wilson
