Late Models

A full field of 18 Late Models was led to the start by Forrest Kuecker and Kevin Ostern for a main event extended to 50 laps. Strap yourselves in, this one’s gonna be rough. The double-file start was too messy and called off. As the pack was slowing down, Jimmy Stillman got spun around backwards into the turn one wall and, with nowhere to escape, Mike Swaney crashed nose-first into him. Both exited to the pits.

After the cleanup, Stillman had enough time to rejoin the field. As Kuecker and Ostern led them to the restart, Eric Williamson retired to the infield with engine problems. Finally, the race was under way.

Ostern dropped back on the outside pushing Bill Binns, Derek Lovell, Jeremy Hopkins, Noel McCormack Jr., and Jarred Beddow back with him. From the inside, Kuecker, Mikey Lovell, Sean Caturegli, Mike Lovell, and Kevin Estep moved into the top five.

Mike Lovell swung to the outside of Caturegli and surged up the outside to run for second outside of Mikey Lovell. Estep looked to the outside of Caturegli, but Ostern found his wheels and slipped inside to challenge Estep for fifth, while Binns held station behind them in seventh.

In lap eight, second place Mikey Lovell was just ahead inside Mike Lovell when they entered turn one and made contact rear-to-nose, spinning Mike Lovell into the wall and Mikey Lovell into the infield. Caturegli, Ostern, and Binns dodged low, but Estep was trapped high and jacked the brakes to stop just short of Mike Lovell.

However, Mike Lovell rolled down the track and was clipped by Binns, spinning Lovell to stop sideways across the middle of the track. D. Lovell got turned up high and slammed into Estep. Hopkins got turned sideways in the middle, and the whole mass of Estep, D. Lovell, and Hopkins piled into the helpless Mike Lovell.

Charlie Collins, Beddow, McCormack, and Stillman dove low. Mike Bourbon tried to follow, but broke loose and slammed rear-to-nose into Hopkins. When the dust finally settled, no one was hurt, but Estep, Binns, D. Lovell, and Mike Lovell were forced to retire. After all this time, Swaney was able to re-join the field.

Kuecker and Caturegli led the field to the single-file restart, followed by Ostern, Collins, Beddow, and McCormack. McCormack powered up the outside past Collins for fourth. In lap 10, Hopkins spun in turn one for another caution.

The restart was led by Kuecker, Caturegli, and Ostern, but McCormack quickly passed outside Ostern for third as Caturegli was looking outside Kuecker. Collins lost fifth to Beddow ahead of Stillman and Steve McClean. In lap 14, Swaney rolled into the turn two infield with problems for another caution and had to retire.

Kuecker, Caturegli, and McCormack restarted the field. Caturegli drifted wide in turn three and McCormack got underneath him for second, and then swung wide to challenge Kuecker on the outside for the lead. For five laps, McCormack would try to get more than a nose in, but Kuecker always pulled away and slammed the door shut. In lap 19, Beddow broke loose and spun in turn four for another caution.

Kuecker, McCormack, and Caturegli got them started again and McCormack immediately claimed the groove outside Kuecker. They ran side-by-side but, now that McCormack could keep Kuecker pinned to just one groove, he powered through turn four into the lead.

As McCormack out-paced the field, third place Caturegli started having problems holding his line and, when he broke loose and fishtailed in turn two, was passed on the inside by Ostern. Behind them, Collins had reclaimed fifth from Beddow when Hopkins, on his second charge from the back, swung around them both followed by Mikey Lovell.

Ostern worked his way outside and around Kuecker for second as Hopkins tried the same with Caturegli, but was denied as Caturegli saw his chance to follow Ostern. Kuecker fought back on the inside trying to outrun Caturegli’s claim to the outside when, in lap 36, they made contact in turn three that sent Caturegli nose first into, and up onto, the turn four wall. He slid along the wall all through turn four and finally came down onto the frontstretch. Caturegli had to retire and Kuecker was sent to the back. This would be the last caution of the race.

McCormack, Ostern, and Hopkins brought them to the green. McCormack flew off with the lead while Hopkins moved high to challenge Ostern, but Mikey Lovell slid to the inside denying Hopkins the room to maneuver and Hopkins slipped back to fourth.

Collins finished an outside pass around Stillman for sixth, and Kuecker desperately wove his way through the pack up to eighth, but ran out of laps. At the finish, it was McCormack, Ostern, Mikey Lovell, Hopkins, and Beddow. Hopkins won the trophy dash.

Modifieds

The Modified main event was run with a special purse, and extended to 40 laps, courtesy of Burgess Lumber of Santa Rosa. Sean Sweeney and Bill Binns (that’s right, he drove both a Late Model and a Modified) brought the 12 car Modified field to the start.

Binns took off with the outside lead as Sweeney drifted a little loose in the turns in front of Gary Lowblad, Clay Caturegli, David Furia, and Mike Sullivan, slowing the field. Positions remained relatively stable until, in lap six, a caution was thrown for a loose fuel cap. It was found to belong to Mike Smithhart who visited the pits to fix it.

Binns and Sweeney led the restart. Sweeney drifted back on the outside taking Caturegli and Sullivan with him. Lowblad, Furia, and Bob Strauss moved up on the inside into second through fourth. Caturegli managed to dive inside into fifth in turn one, but it was so tight in front of Danny Bishop, Smithhart, and Rick Rose, that they crunched together nose-to-tail for a moment and then recovered.

Binns and Lowblad led the field, and Sweeney was still loose allowing Furia, Strauss, Caturegli, and Sullivan to catch up. Bishop drifted wide and Smithhart, Rose, and Mark Marek made it by. Marek swung around Rose to dog Smithhart for eighth.

Furia tried to capitalize when Sweeney drifted wide, but Sweeney came back down allowing Strauss to swing to the outside expecting to pin Furia behind Sweeney. Great plan, however, Sweeney drifted high again and Furia moved forward pinning Strauss behind Sweeney on the outside. Furia, Caturegli, Sullivan, Smithhart, and Marek all freight-trained Sweeney and Strauss to the back.

Halfway through the race and the field was now strung out led by Binns, Lowblad, Furia, Caturegli, and Sullivan. Smithhart swung to the outside of Sullivan and Marek followed, but Smithhart got stuck there for five laps while Strauss moved to the inside of Marek. Smithhart did complete the pass once, and the faster Marek saw daylight, but then Smithhart broke loose in turn four and dropped right back outside Sullivan again.

In lap 26, the rear of Strauss suddenly snapped loose in turn three in front of Rose, dropping Strauss back a bit, but he recovered. In turn one, he suddenly lost traction on all four wheels, drifting high and slowing into the front end of Rose. They both recovered, but Strauss didn’t seem as sure on the track from that point on.

In lap 32, Smithhart finally made it around Sullivan again, and Marek was free. He surged past Sullivan and tried the same on Smithhart, but wily Mike has more than just ponies in that #63 and held Marek at bay.

Meanwhile, Furia had caught up to Lowblad in lap 33 and challenged him from the outside for second. They ran side-by-side for two laps before Furia finally edged him out. In the last lap, Marek made it inside Smithhart in the race for fourth, but barely came up short.

Binns crossed first, followed by Furia, Lowblad, Smithhart, and Marek. Danny Bishop won the trophy dash, and Strauss the other heat race.

Street Stocks

Mike Bray and Kevin Waycik led the Street Stocks to the start of their main event. Waycik took the outside lead followed by Andy Vander Veer and Scott Sabol, while Bray fell back on the inside pushing Wade Coleman and David Jones with him.

Vander Veer swung to the outside and took the lead in lap three. Sabol tried to follow, but Waycik fought back for three laps before he lost second. Ron DeKeyser had to retire to the infield in lap four with problems.

Coleman caught up to the outside of Waycik, but kept breaking loose in turns one and three. This went on for five laps until, in turn two he finally got his nose out front, held his line through three and four, and completed the pass in front of the grandstands.

By lap 11, Vander Veer had caught up to Bray and Jones who were racing for position side-by-side. This pinned Vander Veer in place allowing Sabol to catch up. When Jones drifted back a bit on the outside, Vander Veer and Sabol both threaded inside Jones and outside Bray.

Try as he might, Sabol just didn’t have enough to reign in Vander Veer. At the finish, it was Vander Veer, Sabol, Coleman, Waycik, and Bray. Waycik won the trophy dash.

Bombers

This was the first event in which the Bombers were racing for a purse. Billy Stillman and Andy Norton held the poll positions at the start of the 13 car Bomber main event little-knowing that there was a lot of yellow in their future. Norton nosed into the lead along the backstretch, but Stillman surged back through turn four and led by half-a-car on the frontstretch.

Robert Byers (driving for Richie Schwarm) moved inside Norton. They banged doors in turn two and Norton fell back further, pushing Richard Bray and Dylan Rose with him. In turn three, Byers broke loose, fished through turn four, and slide sideways into the frontstretch. Sorrels dodged high and Byers recovered and held his position.

However, this slowed Sorrels, Norton, and Jon Waner on the inside. Shawn Kennedy dove to the inside of Waner in turn one. The collision turned Waner toward the turn one wall. Norton and Bray scraped by high while Roman Rose, George Abella, and Matt Gerjets dodged low. D. Rose tried to dodge high, but got pegged by Waner into the wall. This brought out the first caution. Both Waner and D. Rose had to retire.

Stillman and Byers led the restart and Byers was slow to speed up on the outside, pushing Norton, R. Rose, Gerjets, and Chuck Hackbarth back. Stillman took the lead, followed by Sorrels. Byers dropped down in front of Bray for third while a slow Norton kept pushing the outside back.

Abella was challenging Bray for fourth followed by Gary Collins, and Kennedy was door-to-door inside of Norton. In lap seven, Norton lost the rear in turn one and spun into the wall for another caution. Norton had to retire.

Stillman and Sorrels couldn’t stay together and the restart was called off (get used to this). They held it for the second time and Stillman took the lead, followed by Sorrels, Byers, and Abella inside Bray. One lap later, Sorrels and Stillman touched nose-to-tail in turn one wiggling both through turn two. Byers dodged low past Sorrels and continued inside of Stillman on the backstretch. However, when Stillman recovered, he came back low to find Byers there and they collided, sending Byers into the turn three infield gutter and bouncing him back up across the track. Byers avoided the wall, and everyone else actually avoided him, and a caution was thrown. Stillman was warned for blocking.

Since there was no actual spinout, the yellow was deemed an official’s yellow and the field restarted single-file. Stillman was in the lead, followed by Sorrels, Byers, Abella, Bray, Collins, R. Rose, and Kennedy.

Collins and Kennedy swing around Bray to challenge Byers. In lap 13, Kennedy was outside Bray and Gerjets in turn two, when they got together sending Kennedy and Bray into the wall. Kennedy dragged a rooster-tail of sparks into the infield with a destroyed right-front wheel, and Bray stopped on the backstretch with heavy right-side damage. Gerjets dodged low and escaped unscathed.

A red flag was thrown when it was discovered that the Bray’s passenger, Justin Dalario, suffered an arm injury. He was evacuated by ambulance as a precaution and was reported to be in good condition.

After yet another Stillman / Sorrels false start, Byers was slow to start again and held the inside line back. Collins capitalized by taking third on the inside as Sorrels held the outside through turn four and took the lead on the frontstretch. However, the yellow lights were on for another caution. It turned out the caution was unintentional but, since it did happen, Sorrels lost his pass for the lead as the field was reset to the last lap.

Stillman and Sorrels started them up again, and this time Stillman held his lead. Collins and R. Rose moved up on the inside into second and third, while Abella started to fade back. Collins swung to the outside between Stillman and R. Rose to start a fight for the lead. They ran fender-to-fender for two laps, none of them giving an inch. It couldn’t last, and it didn’t. Lap 20 in turn two, all three made contact and Collins was spun into Rose for a caution. Abella was lapped by Stillman at the start of that lap when he dove into the turn one infield.

Stillman and Sorrels led the restart and Stillman took the lead again. The slow start of Byers pushed the inside line back as Abella started an aggressive climb back through the field. In turn three, Collins and R. Rose made contact again for another yellow. Stillman was warned again for blocking.

Again, Stillman and Sorrels, Stillman led, and Byers started slow. Abella continued his climb into third. In only one lap, lap 22, another yellow was thrown by the flagger to put Stillman to the back for blocking. Ran outta’ piggy flags.

Sorrels led the single-file restart, followed by Byers, Abella, Gerjets, Collins, and R. Rose. Not even a lap this time as, in turn one, Stillman, Gerjets, and R. Rose tangle, sending R. Rose into the turn three infield for another caution. Gerjets visited the pits with a flat.

Sorrels and Byers led the restart. Sorrels took the lead and Byers was freight-trained back on the outside by Abella, R. Rose, Stillman, and Collins. Abella swung outside Sorrels and passed him for the lead. At the white flag, R. Rose and Sorrels were neck-and-neck for second.

At the checkers, Abella crossed first, and R. Rose barely beat Sorrels for second. It was thought Abella had won, but review showed he’d been lapped back in lap 20. This put R. Rose in first, followed by Sorrels, Collins, Stillman, and Gerjets. Abella won the trophy dash, and Stillman and D. Rose the heat races. The final results are still under review by the officials.

Modifieds

Ron Connor and Justin Potter brought the Modifieds to the start of their main event. Connor took the inside lead as Potter faded back on the outside. Danny Bishop took second on the inside, while Gary Lowblad and Bill Binns passed Potter on the outside for third and fourth.

Mark Marek got past the inside of Bob Strauss for sixth, and Mike Sullivan followed him for seventh. By lap 13, Marek had just got by Potter for fifth when a caution was thrown for Sullivan who had been smoking pretty heavily in the turns. No leaks were found and he stayed out in the back.

Connor and Bishop led the restart and Connor took the inside lead. Bishop slowly lost ground on the outside and was passed by Lowblad and then Marek. Bishop had pushed Binns back outside of Chuck Pruett to battle for fifth, and Potter ran in seventh in front of Mike Doss and Bob Strauss. Neither could get past Potter who was using the whole track, and a yellow was thrown in lap 20 to send Potter to the back for blocking.

The restart was single-file, since the yellow was thrown for an official decision, and Connor ran with the lead and strung the field out. Doss got to the inside of Binns for sixth, and Strauss followed him for seventh. Sullivan had to retire to the infield in lap 24 when his car started smoking badly again.

Marek tried, lap after lap, to get outside of second-place Lowblad, but couldn’t seem to hold his speed to claim the groove. Finally, in lap 36, he got enough of his nose to the outside of Lowblad to keep him low, slowing him down enough to make the pass for second one lap later.

At the checkers, it was Connor, Marek, Lowblad, Bishop, and Doss made it by Pruett in the last lap. Pruett won the trophy dash, and Lowblad the other heat race.

Street Stocks

The Street Stocks were led to the line by Robert Byers and Mike Bray. Bray quickly fell back taking Jerry Crapo and Scott Sabol with him. Wade Coleman and Andy Vander Veer went high to pass outside David Jones, but Kevin Waycik and Sabol came in under them and got Coleman a little loose.

Coleman held on and slowly passed Jones for second, followed by Vander Veer and Sabol, who beat Waycik to the outside. Coleman, Vander Veer, and Sabol quickly continued past Byers for the top three spots. In lap eight, a caution was thrown when Coleman started to leak fluid onto the track. It was dealt with and he was sent to the back. Jones retired from the race with problems.

Vander Veer and Sabol led the restart and raced side-by-side. One lap later, Coleman retired to the infield as his problems returned, and Vander Veer took the inside lead. In lap 10, a caution was thrown for debris in turn three.

Vander Veer and Sabol started them up again. Sabol surged out in turn one, but Vander Veer caught back up in the backstretch. Side-by-side, they entered turn four and Vander Veer broke loose on the exit and wiggled almost sideways through the frontstretch. Byers, Waycik, and Crapo all passed him on the outside in turn one before he recovered.

Vander Veer surged back, passing Crapo on the outside, swinging inside Waycik, and then outside Byers to reclaim second in lap 19. He then focused on chasing down Sabol. For 10 laps he tried to reel Sabol in as Sabol lapped Bray and Crapo, and Waycik was black flagged for smoke, but to no avail.

Sabol finished first, followed by Vander Veer, Byers, Crapo, and Bray. Vander Veer won both the trophy dash and the heat race.

Bombers

Robert Byers and Shawn Kennedy were on the poll for the Bomber main event. Byers was substituting for Jimmy Sorrels who was injured earlier while working on his car. Sorrels was treated and then returned to watch Byers race his number 66.

Byers and Kennedy raced side-by-side for two laps until Kennedy go loose in turn one and started to slowly fall back. Richie Schwarm and George Abella passed him on the inside for second and third. Bob Mook was racing for sixth outside Mike Rose, when he broke loose in turn one and fell back past Jon Waner to the outside of Roman Rose.

In lap six, Schwarm fishtailed coming out of turn four in front of the entire pack, but recovered in time to keep his second-place position. Kennedy kept having trouble keeping traction in turn one and was passed by M. Rose and Waner.

By lap 12, Abella made it outside Schwarm and passed him to challenge Byers for the lead. He had just nosed out front when a yellow was thrown in lap 13 for debris in turn three.

Abella and Byers restarted the field and Abella took off on the inside. M. Rose passed Byers on the outside for second and Waner took awhile to finally follow into third. R. Rose got past a flagging Schwarm in lap 20 for fifth, and Kennedy followed into sixth.

In lap 26, R. Rose was outside of Byers trying to take fourth when third-place Waner fishtailed in turn one pushing Byers back and allowing R. Rose to swing outside into third. Meanwhile, M. Rose was trying to chase down the leader Abella who was just about to lap Chuck Hackbarth.

In the last lap, M. Rose swung to the outside to try and pin Abella behind Hackbarth, but Hackbarth just wasn’t close enough. Abella crossed first, followed by M. Rose, R. Rose, Waner, and Byers. Waner won the trophy dash, and Byers the other heat race.

There were some impressive smokers. Some from their tires, and some from their failing clutches. After each, the reaction of the grandstand fans was measured with a sound meter to find who was most impressive.

In the final round, it was a burn-off between Scott Sabol in a sleek white Grand Torino, and “Cadillac” Pat Spurling in his famous neon-decked Cadillac. While Sabol poured out a fast, loud, and dense burn-out, the sheer power of Spurling’s Caddie created a pillar of smoke so high it looked like an anvil-topped thunderhead that the crowd loved best.

There was one other burn-out of note: A driver, reputedly from Talladega, who called himself Ricky Bobby started a burn-out that looked like a sure thing, but was cut short as the driver leaped from his smoking car yelling that he was on fire with invisible flames. He rolled around on the grass and stripped off his fire-suit while slapping out flames that no one else could see. He was last seen, in nothing but his helmet and skivvies, running out the track gate chased by a fireman soaking him in foam. It was later determined that there never was an actual fire, and that Ricky might’ve indulged in one too many “Talladega Nights”.

The purse for the May 10th Modified races has been increased courtesy of Burgess Lumber of Santa Rosa. The new payouts are as follows: