Track records were broken in three of the five divisions at the Lakeport Speedway Saturday night as the season winds down in the Northern California Racing Association points battle. Modified bomber points leader Charlie Collins Of Lucerne stole the record away from Derek Thorn when he clocked in at 13.972 seconds. Next it was Lakeport's Chris Straka lowering the Pro-4 modified track record to 13.095 seconds, and finally 12 of the 18 late models clocked in under the old super late model track record with Billy Binns of Upper Lake the fastest at 11.812 (See separate story.)
Collins continued on to capture the feature in his division, padding his points lead. Andy Leuzinger of Cobb claimed his second pro-4 modified main event. Kelly Gray of Clearlake made it five in a row in the mini stock division, giving him a total of six season victories. And Jimmy Sorrels inherited the win in the Guy Strohmeier Auto Center bomber division when visiting driver George Maurakis' car was deemed illegal.
With the addition of first-time runner Kyle Medina, the modified bomber class fielded 11 cars with George Abella and Bill Mucci sharing the front row. Abella pulled ahead at the start, and as Mucci lost ground Michael Neilson and Eric Ogram settled into second and third. Abella and Neilson gained distance on the pack while Ogram and Mucci ran side-by-side holding back faster cars.
Mucci pushed high on lap 18, allowing Michael Bishop to make a three-wide pass and pull into fourth. Bishop then went to the outside where he passed Ogram on lap 20. Collins followed Bishop to the front, powered by Bishop on 22 and when Neilson drove into the infield on 26, Collins assumed second. With only three laps to go Collins challenged Abella, made the pass good and won the race. Medina passed Abella on the white flag lap, challenged Collins on the final round, but came up short and settled for second. Abella finished third in front of Darrin Knight, Gary Collins, Bishop, Neilson and Darren Tubbs.
Heat wins went to Abella and G. Collins. Nickolie Rhodes won the dash.
The 16 car pro-4 modified feature saw pole setter Ron Bertram lose power at the drop of the green flag and stall in turn one. This put Gina Buschiazzo on the pole with Codi Barba to her right. Barba took control from the start with Joe Sloan and Scott DeLeon next in line. Both Leuzinger and Straka were on the prowl and were running second and third by the fifth lap.
Leuzinger and Straka both trapped Barba in lapped traffic and took over the top two spots on the ninth go-round. The race was slowed at mid race when Buschiazzo and rookie driver Willie Leuzinger made contact resulting in Buschizzo spinning in turn three. Straka blasted by Leuzinger on the restart, and the next nine laps saw Leuzinger challenging on the outside. Straka's car pushed high, blocking Leuzinger's attempts to pass, so track officials stopped the race on 24 and the two leaders swapped places.
Leuzinger drove away from Straka on the green and continued his lead all the way to the checkered flag. Straka settled for second with points leader Ken Gifford third, Barba fourth and Sloan fifth.
Robbie Robinson won the trophy dash. Bertram and A. Leuzinger took the heat races. The Pro-4 modifieds will return to the speedway as a part of the bomber bash #9 on
September 18.
Mini stock action saw 11 cars take the green flag with 17 year old Drew Braun out in front of Patty Bertram the first nine laps. Gray came from eight to third on only eight laps, passed Bertram for second on nine and stole the lead away from Braun on 11. Jonathon Reynolds also drove from the back to the front and was running second behind Gray on lap 12. Next to join the front runners were John Barker and Kevin Barba. On the 20th lap it was Gray, Reynolds, Barker, Barba and points leader Matt Preston.
The non-stop event saw the leaders weaving through lapped traffic in the final rounds, and at the checkered flag it was Gray, Reynolds, Barker, Barba and Preston.
Gray also set fast time of 13.731. Heat wins went to James Devries and Barker. Preston won the trophy dash.
In bomber action Scott Griffin and Wayne Bates were battling for the lead on the first lap when Bates lost control of his car and spun toward the infield. Next the car shot back up the track, tagged Roy Funderburk' car sending Funderburk hard into the turn four concrete.
When racing finally got under way, Griffin was out in front with Richie Schwarm in second and Eric Johnson third. Johnson chose the outside groove, passed Schwarm on lap six and took the lead away from Griffin on seven. Points leader Justin Potter followed Johnson to the front and Sorrels slipped into third at mid race.
As the cars were approaching lapped traffic, Potter went to the outside of Johnson, and when the pair caught the Bates car, Johnson was trapped and Potter took the lead. Two laps later April Drake spun to slow the action the second time. The restart saw Potter and Johnson side-by-side, and on lap 22 Potter's car pushed high, made contact with Johnson's car resulting in Johnson spinning in turn four. With both Potter and Johnson restarting in the rear, Sorrels found himself in the lead with Maurakis second and Mark Hatfield third. The final laps saw Maurakis challenge Sorrels and finally take the lead on lap 30.
Although Maurakis was first to cross the finish line, the win went to Sorrels as Maurakis' car was not legal for the NCRA bomber division. Potter rebounded to finish second with Hatfield third, Griffin fourth and Drake fifth.
Drake and Hatfield won heat races, Sorrels won the dash and fast time honors went to Potter (14.964).
Auto racing returns to the Lakeport Speedway this Saturday night with the Legends Cars of the Pacific joining the NCRA modifieds, mini stocks, bombers and modified bombers.
NCRA BOMBERS
A-Main - Jimmy Sorrels, Justin Potter, Mark Hatfield, Scott Griffin, April Welch, Richard Schwarm, Eric
Johnson, Wayne Bates, Jim Stephens, Roy Funderburk.
Heat 1- April Welch, Scott Griffin, Roy Funderburk, Wayne Bates, Jim Stephens.
Heat 2- Mark Hatfield, Jimmy Sorrels, Eric Johnson, Justin Potter, Richard Schwarm.
Time Trial- Justin Potter (14.964), Jimmy Sorrels, Eric Johnson, Mark Hatfield, Richard Schwarm.
Trophy Dash - Jimmy Sorrels, Mark Hatfield, Richard Schwarm, Eric Johnson.
NCRA MINI STOCKS
A-Main - Kelly Gray, Jonathon Reynolds, John Barker, Kevin Barba, Matt Preston, Andrew Braun, James Devries, Patty Bertram, Aaron Banthrall, Fred Schmidt.
Heat 1- James Devries, Andrew Braun, Jay Strugnell, Aaron Banthrall, Fred Schmidt.
Heat 2- John Barker, Patty Bertram, Matt Preston, Jonathon Reynolds, Kevin Barba, Kelly Gray.
Time Trial- Kelly Gray (13.731), Kevin Barba, Jonathon Reynolds, Matt Preston, Patty Bertram.
Trophy Dash - Matt Preston, Kevin Barba, Kelly Gray, Jonathon Reynolds.
MODIFIED BOMBERS
A-Main - Charlie Collins, Kyle Medina, George Abella, Darrin Knight, Gary Collins, Mike Bishop, Michael Neilson, Darren Tubbs, Nickolie Rhodes, David Valdez, Bill Mucci.
Heat 1 George Abella, Mike Bishop, Bill Mucci, David Valdez, Michael Neilson.
Heat 2- Gary Collins, Nickolie Rhodes, Darren Tubbs, Kyle Medina, Charlie Collins, Darrin Knight.
Time Trial- Charlie Collins(13.972 NTR), Kyle Medina, Darrin Knight, Nickolie Rhodes, Darren Tubbs.
Trophy Dash - Nickolie Rhodes, Kyle Medina, Charlie Collins, Darrin Knight.
PRO-4 MODIFIEDS
A-Main – Andy Leuzinger, Chris Straka, Ken Gifford, Cody Barba, Joe Sloan, Scott DeLeon, Shawn Shearer, Jake Tillman, Robbie Robinson, Willie Leuzinger, Gina Buschiazzo, Deloy Gibson, Sarah Figueroa, Gary Woodruff, Shelby Beighle, Ron Bertram
Heat 1 – Bertram, Barba, W. Leuzinger, Beighle, Buschizzo, Woodruff, Gibson, Figueroa
Heat 2 – A. Leuzinger, DeLeon, Gifford, Sloan, Straka, Shearer, Robinson, Tillman
Time Trials – Straka (13.095 NTR), Gifford, Tillman, Robinson, A. Leuzinger
Troophy Dash – Robinson, Tillman, Straka, Gifford
