LAKEPORT, California -- After dodging rain drops during the qualifying heat races Saturday night, the 15th Annual KXBX October Classic feature events were rained out Sunday afternoon with only the “B” main in the bomber division being completed.
Six classes of cars participated in Saturday's action with 130 cars in the pits for the weekend. Darin Snider of Kelseyville was last to qualify in the modified division where he set fast time on 12.997 seconds, beating out Bob Strauss' time pf 12.998 by one one-thousandth of a second. Orangevale's Steve Daniels was next at 13.086 and David Furia clocked in at 13.095.
The heat races were set up with the odd number qualifiers in one race and the even number qualifiers in the other. The fields were inverted with the fastest cars starting in the back of each event. Mike Linnell of Kelseyville lead the first four laps of heat one until the race was slowed when Gary Lowblad's car developed a water leak. Dan Bishop forged ahead on the double-file restart and both Todd Coburn and Bob Strauss followed Bishop to the front.
The race was slowed again on lap 10 after David Furia's car refused to turn and slammed hard into the turn three wall. At the same time Linnell retired to the pits. Coburn powered by Bishop on the restart to take the lead leaving the battle for second to Bishop and Strauss. Coburn took the win with Strauss nipping Bishop at the line for second. Lance Blacker finished behind Bishop for fourth and Oregon's Robert Sprague, driving the Willie Thompson modified, finished fifth.
Heat two was a shoe-in for Kelseyville's Thomas Wright as he pulled ahead of Corey James at the start and lead all 20 laps to take the win. Mike Smithhart of Fair Oaks ran a strong second but lost position to David Sullivan of Kelseyville with only two laps to go. Aaron Hicks followed Smithhart across the line to finish fourth and Snider finished fifth.
Darren Wilson of Ukiah was the fastest of the 36 bombers clocking in at 14.464 seconds. Heat one saw Joe Sloan of Upper Lake lead the 15 laps wire to wire for the win over Mario Rios-Davis of Orangevale and Kevin Lane of Fort Bragg.
Shasta Speedway regular Randy File came from the back to the front to win the second heat. Daniel Elder of Fort Bragg finished second with Gordon Cooley of Marysville third.
Heat three saw Phil Wilkins of Citrus Heights take the lead away from George Maurakis of Cloverdale on a lap 12 restart and drive the final four for the win. Ukiah's Jimmy Sorrels finished behind Maurakis in third.
The final bomber heat saw the father and daughter team of Steve and Wendy Peirce of Redwood Valley jockey back and forth the lead the first 5 laps before Wendy pulled ahead. Eric Johnson worked his way through traffic and passed W. Peirce for the win on lap 13.
Jason Romero of Cameron Park clocked in quickest of the 25 mini stocks with a 13.698 second lap. Jason Shaha of McKinleyville was second fastest at 13.777 seconds and Clearlake's Kelly Gray ran a 13.779. The “B” heat was won by Ron Martinez of Fresno over Finley's Ryan Strugnell and Upper Lake's James Devries.
The first “A” heat saw Shaha come from the back to the front in only eight laps, pass John Barker for the lead on 10 and drive away from the field for the win. Barker held on to finish second with last year's O/C winner Jim Badeker of Citrus Heights third.
The final mini stock heat went to Gray who lead all but two of the 20 laps. Long tow Kyle Vantreight of Victoria, British Columbia finished second with Joe Brattoli of Redding third.
In the modified bomber division Derek Thorn of Lakeport set fast time of 13.931 with Scotty Sabol of Lakeport the only other driver in the 13 second brackett with 13.944
The 16 car field was divided into two heats with George Abella of Lakeport holding off Thorn for 13 of the scheduled 15 laps, but Thorn pushed his car to the outside and beat Abella to the line for the win. Abella finished second with Bill Mucci of Nice third.
Heat two saw three leader changes with Willit's Michael Tonelli out in front the first two rounds, Mike (Bubba) Silva of Ukiah leading the next seven laps, and Kelseyville's Andrew Snider passing Silva for the win on 10. Darrin Knight of Kelseyville worked his way from the back to the front to finish second and Silva hung in to take third place.
In the Pro-4 modified class Andy Leuzinger of Cobb was the quickest car, clocking in at 13.119 seconds to Chris Straka of Lakeport's 13.126 and Ken Gifford of Cobb at 13.187.
The first heat saw Straka come from the back to the front, taking the lead away from Clearlake's Shawn Shearer on the eighth round. Only one yellow flag plagued the race when third and fourth place runners Jake Tillman and Kevin Barba made contact and spun on the back stretch on lap 12. The final four saw Straka way out in front with Shearer second and Codi Barba third.
Billy Stillman of Upper Lake lead most of the second pro-4 heat race, but it was Ken Gifford who moved rapidly through traffic and made the winning pass on lap 10. Leuzinger followed Gifford to the front, and on lap 13 Zak Gifford inched by Stillman. K. Gifford took the win in front of Leuzinger and Zak Gifford.
Jeremy Hopkins of Lakeport was the fastest of the 19 late models at 12.476. Dustin Knight of Kelseyville was second at 12.576 and Gary Glenn of Orangevale was third at 12.577. The late model heats were canceled due to rain.
The bomber “B” main was the only event run before the rains came down on Sunday afternoon. Sloan and Randy File ran side-by-side the first eight laps while Mario Rios-Davis and Kevin Lane were battling for third and fourth. Anja Allen spun on nine to bring out the first caution, and when racing resumed Rios-Davis took over second.
File's car lost power and he dropped to fourth behind Lane on 15. Lane developed a water leak and was black-flagged on lap 19 moving Jim McCully and Randy Owens into the top runners.
Sloan drove the final laps with out incident to take the win. Rios-Davis finished second ahead of File, McCully, Owens and Gordon Cooley. Rounding out the top ten were Daniel Elder, Allen, Roy Funderburk and Jim Stephens.
Heat 01- Todd Coburn, Bob Strauss, Danny Bishop, Lance Blacker, Robert Sprague, Jerold Christensen, Gary Lowblad, David Furia, Mike Linnell.
Heat 02- Thomas Wright, David Sullivan, Michael Smithhart, Aaron Hicks, Darin Snider, Steve Daniels, Terry McIntire, Jeremy Nowlin, Corey James.
Time Trial- Darin Snider (12.997), Bob Strauss (12.998), Steve Daniels (13.086), David Furia (13.095), Aaron Hicks (13.152).
B-Main - Joseph Sloan, Mario Rios-Davis, Randy File, Jim McCully, Randy Owens, Gordon Cooley, Daniel Elder, Anja Allen, Roy Funderburk, Jim Stephens, Kevin Lane, Jimmy Sturges, jr., Doug Way.
Heat 01- Joseph Sloan, Mario Rios-Davis, Kevin Lane, Jimmy Sturges, jr., Jim Stephens, Jim McCully, Mark Hatfield.
Heat 02- Randy File, Daniel Elder, Gordon Cooley, Anja Allen, Roy Funderburk, Doug Way, Randy Owens.
Heat 03- Phil Wilkins, George Maurakis, Jimmy Sorrels, Bill Peters, Terry Pittman, Jared Biddow, Mickey Owens, Nicholas Wood, Jim Sturges.
Heat 04- Eric Johnson, Wendy Peirce, Steve Peirce, Cory Carlson, Kyle Borden, Richard Schwarm, Darren Wilson, Jimmy McGinnis.
Time Trial- Darren Wilson (14.464), Terry Pittman (14.472), Roy J. Smith (14.553), Mickey Owens (14.629, Eric Johnson (14.679).
Heat 01- Ron Martinez, Ryan Strugnell, James Devries, Mike Willet, Aaron Banthrall.
Heat 02- Jason Shaha, John Barker, Jim Badeker, Kevin Barba, Jerry Shaha, Chris Marks, Ron Banks, Jonathon Reynolds, Robert Schmidt.
Heat 03- Kelly Gray, Kyle Vantreight, Joe Brattoli, Jason Romero, Matt Preston, Bill Horvath, Robert Nowack, Mitchell Preston, Earl Lee.
Time Trial- Jason Romero (13.698), Jason Shaha (13.777), Kelly Gray (13.779), Kevin Barba (13.821), Matt Preston (13.898).
Heat 01- Andrew Snider, Darrin Knight, Mike "Bubba" Silva, Scott Sabol, Michael Tonelli, Sean Keown.
Heat 02- Derek Thorn, George Abella, Bill Mucci, Tim Grayson, Mike Bishop.
Time Trial- Derek Thorn (13.931), Scott Sabol (13.944), Gary Collins (14.072), Darrin Knight (14.115), Charlie Collins (14.223).
Heat 01 – Chris Straka, Shawn Shearer, Codi Barba, Kevin Barba, Jake Tillman, Jody Davis, Sarah Figueroa
Heat 02 – Ken Gifford, Andy Leuzinger, Zak Gifford, Billy Stillman, Ron Martinez, Scott DeLeon, Jeff Goddard, Ric Bronson
Time Trials – Andy Leuzinger (13.119), Chris Straka (13.126), Ken Gifford (13.187), Shawn Shearer (13.306), Scott DeLeon (13.365)
Time Trial- Jeremy Hopkins (12.476), Dustin Knight (12.576), Gary Glenn (12.577), Todd Carmichael (12.601), Kevin Estep (12.689), Al Vogel (12.689.
