LAKEPORT, California -- Holding off the challenges of Bob Strauss for 29 of the 30 laps in the modified feature, Danny Bishop of Clearlake stormed to the finish line to claim his first season victory at the Lakeport Speedway Saturday night.
Rod Gard of Lower Lake lead all but three laps in the mini stock feature, and Kevin Medina of Lakeport came from eighth starting to win in the Guy Strohmeier Auto Center bomber division. In special events action Joe Sloan of Upper Lake had a near clean sweep with his Pro-4 modified, setting fast time of 13.474, taking the fast heat and claiming his first main event victory.
The 21 car modified field was reduced to 19 starting in the feature when Jim Stephens’s steering wheel came off in time trials forcing his mount into the wall, and Thomas Wright suffered engine problems and was unable to make the race. Bishop and Chuck Pruett started on the front row with Strauss and Jeremy Nowlin next in line. The race was halted after only one lap when Ron Conner hit the wall of the front stretch.
The restart saw Bishop and Strauss side-by-side where they jockeyed back and forth for position until the yellow flew again on lap 13 when Kevin Estep lost control and slapped the concrete in turn two. The remaining laps saw Strauss run the outside and try Bishop on each pass. But Bishop was determined and raced all the way for the win. Strauss slipped back on the white flag lap allowing Mike Smithhart to close in to finish second. Strauss settled for third with Pruett fourth and Sean Sweeney fifth. Nowlin got loose and hit the turn 4 wall on the final go and the race ended under a yellow-checkered condition.
Rookie driver Derek Thorn of Lakeport set fast time (12.988) and was the only car in the 12 second bracket. Heat wins went to Conner, Bishop and Darin Snider.
Fifteen cars took the green flag in the mini stock main event and it was Patt Lucas jumping out in front of Kevin Barba at the start. As Barba faded in the high groove, Gard slipped into second and Jarred Meyer ran third. Gard moved to the outside and passed Lucas for the lead on lap four.
The first of four cautions came on lap six when Steve Sprague’s car stalled on the back stretch.
Two rounds later fast qualifier (14.226) Matt Preston spun in front of the crowd to slow the action again. Both Shearer and trophy dash winner Jonathon Reynolds slipped under Lucas on the restart.
Lap 20 saw the yellow fly a third time when Meyer’s car stalled on the track, and on lap 24 Shearer spun while trying to cut down in front of Reynolds. The six-lap race-to-the-finish saw Peter Unruh enter the picture where he passed Reynolds for second. Gard accepted the win followed by Unruh, Reynolds, John Barker and Preston. Heat wins went to Lucas and Gard.
Bomber action started with rookie driver Charlie Collins pulling out in front of Scott Griffin and Nicholas Rhodes. Griffin dropped back into line but Rhodes chose the high side and passed Collins for the lead on lap five. Griffin was next to pass Collins and Don Baker followed Griffin to the front. Kevin Medina was also on the prowl and slipped into third place just before the yellow came out for a Chris Salmina spin.
When racing resumed, Medina drove under Griffin for second with Kenny Grinols and Mike Bishop also gaining positions. Rhodes lost his lead on lap 13 while attempting to pass a lapped car. Rhodes tapped David Tinney losing control of his car and spun. With no where to go, Griffin clipped Rhodes. This left Medina in the lead where he survived four more incidents to take the win. Bishop finished second with Darrin Kight third, Kyle Medina fourth and Darren Tubbs fifth.
Jimmy Sorrels won the "B" main over April Drake, David Tinney, Bill Mucci and Manuel Antonio. Bishop set fast time over the 28 car field with a 14.885. Rick Thorn won the trophy dash and heat race wins went to Justin Potter, Sorrels and Chuck Egger.
In the Pro-4 modified 30 lapper it was Chic Beck taking the lead away from Andy Leuzinger in the early laps with Billy Stillman and John Barker running behind Beck. Barker passed Stillman on the fourth circuit and both Sloan and Scott Bundschuh picked off Stillman on lap six. Bundschuh dropped out two rounds later giving the fourth slot to Bob Luck.
Sloan drove in the high groove and passed Barker for second on lap 10 and set his sights on Beck who was way out in front. With only six laps to go Sloan caught and gunned his car passed the leader for the win. Beck settled for second ahead of Barker, Luck and Robbie Robinson.
The trophy dash was won by Jack Tillman and Leuzinger won heat race number one.
Auto racing returns to Lakeport Speedway this Saturday night with the N.C.M.A. sprint cars as the special event. They’ll be joining the NCRA modifieds, mini stocks and bombers. Gates open at 5:00 pm with racing at 7:00 pm.
- A_Main 01
- 1. Kevin Medina 2. Mike Bishop 3. Darrin Knight 4. Kyle Medina 5. Darren Tubbs 6. Kenny Grinols 7. Richard Thorn 8. Chucky Egger 9. Jimmy Sorrels 10. Scott Griffin 11. April Welch 12. Nickolas Rhodes 13. Bill Mucci 14. David Tinney 15. Chris Salmina 16. Don Baker 17. Charlie Collins
- B_Main 01
- 1. Jimmy Sorrels 2. April Welch 3. David Tinney 4. Bill Mucci 5. Maneul Antonio 6. Justin Potter 7. Jim Stephens 8. Guy Minyard 9. Jose Fernandez, Jr. 10. Duane Mullen
- Heat 02
- 1. Justin Potter 2. Duane Mullen 3. April Welch 4. Richard Schwarm 5. Maneul Antonio 6. David Tinney 7. Guy Minyard 8. Jose Fernandez, Jr. 9. Jim Stephens 10. Bill Mucci
- Heat 03
- 1. Jimmy Sorrels 2. Willie Stephens 3. Gary Collins 4. John Ward 5. Nickolas Rhodes 6. Chris 7. Scott Griffin 8. Charlie Collins 9. George Abella
- Heat 04
- 1. Chucky Egger 2. Kenny Grinols 3. Darren Tubbs 4. Kyle Medina 5. Kevin Medina 6. Darrin Knight 7. Mike Bishop 8. Don Baker 9. Richard Thorn
- Time Trial
- 1. Mike Bishop 2. Kyle Medina 3. Darrin Knight 4. Richard Thorn 5. Darren Tubbs
- Trophy Dash 01
- 1. Richard Thorn 2. Mike Bishop 3. Kyle Medina 4. Darrin Knight
- A_Main 01
- 1. Rod Gard 2. Peter Unruh 3. Jonathon Reynolds4. John Barker 5. Matt Preston 6. Kevin Barba 7. Shawn Shearer 8. Patt Lucas 9. Tim Bunce 10. Dave Fields 11. Fred Schmidt 12. Tom Burger13. Jarrod Meyer 14. Harley Sharpe 15. Steve Sprague
- Heat 03
- 1. Patt Lucas 2. Tim Bunce 3. Tom Burger 4. Dave Fields 5. Fred Schmidt 6. Harley Sharpe 7. Steve Sprague
- Heat 04
- 1. Rod Gard 2. Kevin Barba 3. Jarrod Meyer 4. Jonathon Reynolds 5. Peter Unruh 6. Shawn Shearer 7. John Barker 8. Matt Preston
- Time Trial
- 1. Matt Preston 2. Jarrod Meyer 3. Peter Unruh 4. Jonathon Reynolds 5. Shawn Shearer
- Trophy Dash 01
- 1. Jonathon Reynolds 2. Jarrod Meyer 3. Matt Preston, 4. Peter Unruh
- A_Main 01
- 1. Danny Bishop 2. Michael Smithhart 3. Bob Strauss 4. Chuck Pruett 5. Sean Sweeney 6. Derrick Crayford 7. Terry McIntire, 8. Brian Gard 9. Aaron Hicks 10. Derek Thorn 11. Bill Binns 12. Darin Snider, 13. John Tredway 14. David Furia 15. Ron Conner 16. Rod Harper 17. Todd Coburn 18. Jeremy Nowlin 19. Kevin Estep
- Heat 02
- 1. Ron Conner 2. John Tredway 3. Rod Harper 4. Aaron Hicks 5. Todd Coburn 6. Thomas Wright
- Heat 03
- 1. Danny Bishop 2. Derrick Crayford 3. Sean Sweeney 4. Bob Strauss 5. Michael Smithhart 6. Chuck Pruett 7. Jeremy Nowlin
- Heat 04
- 1. Darin Snider 2. Terry McIntire 3. Bill Binns 4. Derek Thorn 5. Brian Gard 6. David Furia 7. Kevin Estep
- Time Trial
- 1. Derek Thorn 2. Bill Binns; 3. Brian Gard 4. David Furia; 5. Terry McIntire
- Trophy Dash 01
- 1. David Furia 2. Bill Binns 3. Derek Thorn 4. Brian Gard
- Fast Time
- Joe Sloan, 13.474
- Trophy Dash
- Jake Tillman, Bob Luck, John Barker, Sloan
- Heat 1
- Andy Leuzinger, Scott Bundschuh, Scott DeLeon, Billy Stillman, Gina Buschiazzo
- Heat 2
- Sloan, Chic Beck, Luck, Barker, Tillman, Robbie Robinson
- Main Event
- Sloan, Beck, Barker, Luck, Robinson, Leuzinger, Buschiazzo, Stillman, Bundschuh, Kevin Barba
Pos # Driver Points 1. 60 Mike Bishop 284 2. 17 Kyle Medina 276 3. 18 Kevin Medina 259 4. 28 Darren Tubbs 257 5. 8 Kenny Grinols 254 6. 80 Richard Thorn 237 7. 23 Don Baker 209 8. 66 Jimmy Sorrels 209 9. 32 Chucky Egger 205 10. 20 Darrin Knight 184 11. 99 Scott Griffin 183 12. 08 Chris Salmina 172 13. 94 John Ward 159 14. 36 George Abella 134 15. 5 Gary Collins 131 16. 78 Jim Stephens 126 17. 98 Justin Potter 124 18. 38 Nickolas Rhodes 117 19. 50 Jose Fernandez, Jr. 116 20. 30 Richard Schwarm 115 21. 00 Steve Haley 112 22. 77 Chris Norris 71 23. 46 Guy Minyard 71 24. 41 Willie Stephens 70 25. 4 April Welch 63 26. 9 Thomas Valdez 58 27. 93 David Tinney 54 28. 87 Bill Mucci 52 29. 69 Charlie Collins 51 30. 31 Duane Mullen 48 31. 48 Kevin Bloyd 47 32. 45 Maneul Antonio 45
Pos # Driver Points 1. 2 Rod Gard 267 2. 12 Matt Preston 261 3. 81 Jarrod Meyer 250 4. 98 Jonathon Reynolds 245 5. 5 Shawn Shearer 234 6. 72 Patt Lucas 230 7. 20 Tim Bunce 221 8. 31 Dave Fields 202 9. 07 Peter Unruh 186 10. 11 John Barker 172 11. 37 Fred Schmidt 130 12. 10 Tom Burger 127 13. 8 Billy Haack 125 14. 1 Harley Sharpe 109 15. 15 Jerry Shaha 99 16. 90 Kevin Barba 84 17. 15E Jason Shaha 70 18. 7 Steve Sprague 56 19. 57 Kelly Gray 55
Pos # Driver Points 1. 33 Bill Binns 267 2. 30 Terry McIntire 260 3. 57 Brian Gard 250 4. 9 Aaron Hicks 247 5. 11 Bob Strauss 243 6. 63 Michael Smithhart 235 7. 80 Derek Thorn 229 8. 2 Darin Snider 219 9. 61 Danny Bishop 205 10. 28 Chuck Pruett 198 11. 69 John Tredway 191 12. 86 Jeremy Nowlin 190 13. 67 David Furia 186 14. 21 Todd Coburn 175 15. 21K Kevin Estep 170 16. 45 Ron Conner 164 17. 44S Sean Sweeney 162 18. 17 Thomas Wright 156 19. 02 Rod Harper 153 20. 5 Derrick Crayford 128 21. 88 David Sullivan 79 22. 51 Charles Beck 78 23. 15 Bryan Denton 68 24. 87 Dave Stephens, Sr. 38 25. 61H Willie Horn --
