Defending champ, Mike Doss, scored his second 2007 win as the North State Challenge presented by Scottfeild Executive Hotels visited Lakeport Speedway on Saturday night. Doss, a former Lakeport Speedway champion, had a rocket of a car all day, topping all three practice sessions and qualifying first. After drawing an inversion of eight, Doss once again, used the upper groove to his advantage before diving underneath Howard Ford for the lead on the 31st lap, in the 75-lap feature.
Jeremy Hopkins used his home track advantage and a new crate motor to finish second, his best finish of the season. “If I could’ve gotten by Howard (Ford) a little sooner I might have had something for Mike,” he said. “ I made one good run at him, there at the end, but I just couldn’t get there. It was fun though, and the crate worked great!”
Point leader, Howard Ford, was third after timing in seventh quick, starting outside the front row and leading the first thirty laps. “I felt pretty good for the first twenty laps or so, then I got a little off and it didn’t get any better. I knew Doss would be coming; it was just a matter of when! I don’t have many laps on this track and I haven’t quite figured it out, so I’ll take third and go on to Shasta.”
Medford’s Randy Houston was fourth, his best finish since his season-opening win at Redwood Acres. Fellow Oregonian, Winchester’s Kyle Pope, notched his second consecutive top-five finish after some early-season woes, to round out the top five. Roseburg winner, Riley Watson, Jim Stillman Jr. and Junior Roddy waged a race-long bumper-to-bumper battle for the sixth spot, and finished in that order.
The race was slowed by just three caution periods, the most serious of which came on lap two. Kelseyville’s Andrew Snider contacted Mic Moulton’s rear bumper and as Moulton spun in traffic, he was T-boned by second-fast qualifier CJ Bawden. Snider went to the back of the pack. Bawden, who missed fast time by .009 seconds, was done for the night. Moulton pitted and returned to salvage a tenth place finish.
Doss’ mid-season charge has vaulted him into second in the point chase, though he missed the second Redwood Acres event. After winning at Ukiah Speedway and nearly winning in Roseburg, Doss and his Stillman Racing team are on a roll. “We’ve got a fast race car and I don’t think you can count us out at Shasta either,” Doss said referring to a track that, historically, has not been his best.
The next NSCS race is at Shasta Raceway Park on August 18th.
Fast Time – Mike Doss 12.262
Trophy Dash – Randy Houston, Mike Doss, CJ Bawden, Jeremy Hopkins
75 Lap Main – Mike Doss, Jeremy Hopkins, Howard Ford, Randy Houston, Kyle Pope, Riley Watson, Jim Stillman Jr, Junior Roddy, Mike Lovell, Mic Moulton, Brad Wasmund, Mike Bourbon, Andrew Snider, David Miller. CJ Bawden
