Lakeport Speedway’s theme for the year 2001 was "2001- A Race Odyssey." And the year 2001 was indeed an "Odyssey" and will be the year that Northern California Racing Association will compare all other years against. It was NCRA’s 36th year of promoting auto racing at the Lakeport Speedway and it was the best ever..
The one-quarter mile paved oval, located at the Lake County Fairgrounds, hosted nine different classes of cars in its 20 week points season and ended the year with the popular Bomber Bash in September and the 12th annual October Classic.
Two-time modified champion Bill Binns decided to add another notch to his prestigious record and ran hard all season to secure the 2001 championship. His six fast times and three feature wins pushed him over the top for the glory. Second place runner Aaron Hicks won four main events, Richie Potts won three, Bob Strauss won two and single victories went to Chuck Pruett, Danny Bishop, Mike Smithhart, Bryan Denton, Steve DeKeyser, Hap Ferree and Thomas Wright. Terry McIntire held off Binns for 60 laps to capture the $2000 win at the October Classic. If was McIntire’s first win in over a year.
The mini stock division was full of teenagers as well as "mature gentlemen" with the championship going to 16 year old Andrew Snider, a third generation driver with only two years of experience on the oval.
Snider’s six feature wins was second only to veteran driver Stuart Lydon’s seven wins. 2000 mini stock champ Kevin Barba racked up two victories, and single wins went to Darin Snider, Kelly Gray, Jason Shaha and Peter Unruh. Jerry Shaha dominated at the October Classic with a clean sweep.
The bomber division grew like wild fire, and at the season end 84 different cars and drivers had participated in this entry-level division. The bombers run both a driver and a passenger and is a good division for family involvement. It is especially popular for husband-wife teams, father-son teams, father-daughter teams, mother-son teams and mother-daughter teams. Lakeport Speedway had at least one of each in 2001.
At 17 years of age, Darrin Knight was crowned the bomber champion even though he never won a feature event. For the first time ever there was a tie for second place between Jeff Davis with three wins and no seconds, and Don Baker with three seconds and no wins. 2000 champ Mark Maines missed opening night and although he had 7 main event victories, he settled for fourth place overall. Other feature winners in the bomber division included Dale Preston, Kevin Schafer and Chuck Egger with two wins each, and Darren Tubbs, Arlene Pruett, Derek Thorn and Chuck Pruett with a single victory. The 5th annual Bomber Bash was divided into twin 50 lappers with Jeff Davis taking the first segment and Kevin Medina winning the second leg. The overall Bash winner with two third place finishes was Mark Maines. Don Austin captured the October Classic with a last-lap pass when race-long leader Jeff Davis was pinched against the wall by a lapped car.
The Airport Auto Brokers late model series visitied the speedway eight times during the regular season with Lakeport Speedway late model champ Mike Doss earning the number one spot three times. Thomas Wright turned in his modified for a late model and won two features, and Mike Sullivan, Mike Rose and Dan Knight chalked up one victory each. Doss also won the late model segment of the October Classic.
The 4th Annual INEX Spring Nationals for Legends Cars saw Ryan Foster in a near clean sweep with his fast time, heat win and main event victory in the Pros division. Richard Rogas was the winner in the masters class of this two-day event. Foster won two other features during the season, Gary Hockman won one, and John Burritt was the October Classic winner.
Four-cylinder modified racing seems to be growing and Billy Stillman captured four out of eight races in the NCI-4 modified ranks. But it was Todd Coburn who won the NCI-4 championship in a division that raced on both asphalt and dirt in 2001. Charles Beck, Bob Luck and Julie Sylva won other points races, and Sylva won her second October Classic at the young age of 17.
The Bay Cities Racing Association midgets thrilled the crowd with two events this season with third generation driver Chuck Gurney, Jr. taking the first win and veteran driver and many-time B.C.R.A. champ Floyd Alvis first across the finish line in the second event. Gurney was quick qualifier both nights with a lap that was just .003 seconds off Sterling Pratz’s track record of 12.047. Long-time midget racer Cliff Servetti was honored with his first ever trophy dash win on June 9th.
The Tri-State Late Model Tour Car Series returned for their second bout at the Lakeport Speedway with Mike Sackett the only person all season to break a track record. He broke his own track record set in 2000 at 12.148 with a 12.120 second lap. Randy Hvall was the dominate force the rest of the night with his trophy dash win and $1500 feature event victory. Heat races went to Jim Parnell and Mic Moulton.
New to the track this year was the Northern California Modified Association sprint cars. It was the first time that full-sized sprint cars have run at Lakeport since the track was paved in 1966. Kenny Rines established the track record at 12.850 seconds but it was Bobby Bankson who won his first asphalt race and took home the trophy. Dan Gonderman was the trophy dash winner and Pat Ariaz and Bankson won the heat races.
The 2002 season opens on Saturday, April 14 with the NCRA modifieds, Mini Stocks, Bombers and the Airport Auto Brokers Late Model Series. A 20 week points season will be scheduled as well at the Bomber Bash on September 14 and the 12th annual October Classic on October 18-20. The complete schedule will be posted on the Lakeport Speedway web site at www.lakeportspeedway.com.
