Hometown hero Derek Thorn wins the 21st annual Kelseyville Lumber – Deake Lyndall Memorial Race with the Airport Auto Brokers Late Models. Derek Thorn makes the 7th different winner of the AABLM 2009 Tour. AABLM has had
35 different drivers competing with us this year. As this is only the 2nd season for the AABLM, the series is growing fast and attracting talent.
Seventeen late models qualified for the Saturday evening main event, with Kevin Ostern setting a fast time of 11.803. He was followed by Mike Doss 11.808, Mike Lovell 11.917, Jeremy Hopkins 11.929 and Forrest Kuecker 11.998. Kuecker won the fast dash; followed by Doss, Joe Aiken, Hopkins, Ostern and Thorn. Charlie Collins won the slow dash; followed by Berndt Akerstrom, Eric Williamson, Blair Aiken, Mike Bourbon, Allen, and Myles Anderson of Fort Bragg CA.
Ostern pulled the 12 invert, and that put Williamson on the pole with Allen Gibney on his outside. Gibney, of Pacific Auto Body, put up a $100 challenge if fast timer Kevin Ostern would elect to start last and go for the win. Ostern took the challenge, and started at the back; but was unable to collect the $100, so the challenge will roll over to the next race. Williamson took the lead on the start and led the first 28 laps; he had a few car lengths on the field, so the battle was between Cory James and Kuecker for 2nd. Kuecker took over 2nd from James on lap 26, and 3 laps later he took the lead from Williamson. Hopkins and Doss were charging to the front and on lap 41 they both passed Kuecker with Hopkins taking the lead, Doss in 2nd. The race was stopped at lap 45 on yellow, and all the late models headed to the pits for a break so the fans could watch the Lakeport fire works show. The Speedway turned off the lights and driver and crew families came to the infield to watch the show. The drivers took the opportunity to do some tuning on their late models. The race resumed after the show. Hopkins restarted the field after collecting $200 for leading before the break. On lap 48, Hopkins and Doss were racing hard and collided, causing Hopkins to spin and sending 2 very fast late models to the back. That put Thorn into the lead followed by Ostern, Kuecker, Williamson and James in 5th. On the restart Thorn got a jump and Ostern had Kuecker all over him. By lap 52 Kuecker took 2nd from Ostern and once again Hopkins and Doss were charging back to the front. Thorn took the checker on lap 75 followed by Kuecker with his best finish with the AABLM, Point Leader Ostern, Williamson with his first top five and Doss coming up from the back to finish 5th. On the win, Derek Thorn was quoted, “Although I won the “Racing for a Cure Challenge” in 2004, I’m happy to get my first win with the AABLM series. I’m proud to win for ALS.”
See you at the Track
Bob Cook
