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by Curtis
Clauson
Ukiah CA,
2008-05-17 –
Last
Saturday night, the Ukiah Speedway hosted the North State
Challenge Series Late Models, along with the Legends Car
Series, the Bandoleros, and the Bonus Bombers. The second King
of the Hill Bomber Challenge¯
was held in which Bombers from both Mendocino and Lake
Counties are invited and are offered a purse.
The
N.S.C.S. Late Model fast time of 12.788s was set by current
points leader Howard Ford from
Crescent
City.
The main event was run for 100 laps and was won by Andrew
Snider from Lakeport.
The
Legends Car Series put on a small show in preparation for the
big Memorial Day Weekend event. Dave Winchel from Sebastapol
shot the moon that night by setting the fast time of 14.747s,
and winning all the events.
The
Bandoleros put on a great show for the fans. Kyle Tellstrom
from Ukiah, for the third race in a row, set the fast time of
15.286s. Brandon Osborne from Brentwood both won the heat race
and, in a last lap pass for the checkers, won the main event.
The Bonus
Bomber fast time of 14.719s was set by Dave Land Sr. from
Ukiah. Terry Pittman from Ukiah both won the trophy dash, and
nimbly darted by some unsteady lapped traffic to win the main
event.
Shelby
Helm from Ukiah, driving the 23k for Manya Tenney, set the
fast time of 15.551s. Terry Pittman from Ukiah, driving and
winning double duty tonight as both a Bonus Bomber and a
Bomber, won the main event.
N.S.C.S. Late Models
Ukiah was
the third event for the touring N.S.C.S Late Models. Andrew
Snider and Dane Nissen led the nine car field to the start of
their 100 lap main event. Snider kept the lead as Junior Roddy
passed Riley Watson for third, and Howard Ford took fifth from
C. J. Bawden.
100 laps
is a long run and the racers settled in to their positions to
get a feel for their cars and how the others were driving. By
lap 20, Ford had been looking to challenge Watson for fourth
when they tangled and spun for the first caution, sending both
to the back.
Snider
led the restart (single-file for this class), followed by
Nissen, Roddy, Bawden, and Trevor Cristiani. Ford and Watson
both slowly started to climb up the field past Steve McLean
and Dustin Knight. By lap 36, Ford made it past Cristiani and,
four laps later, so did Watson.
McLean
and Knight were lapped, which strung the field out. Ford took
his time, chased down, and leap-frogged both Bawden and Roddy
in laps 56 and 57. Roddy capitalized and followed Ford past
Roddy for fourth. In lap 65, Cristiani spun on his own in turn
three for another caution.
Snider
led the restart and Nissen, Ford, Bawden, and Roddy held
station in second through fifth. Ford continued his tenacious
climb passing Nissen for second in lap 85. Meanwhile, Bawden
had started to develop problems and was forced to retire to
the pits in lap 86. This put Cristiani in fifth.
Snider
still held fast in the lead, and Roddy was looking at Nissen
for third but, with only two laps to go, spun out in turn four
for the last caution and had to restart in the back.
Snider
led the green-white-checker restart and held on to the finish.
He was followed by Ford, Nissen, Roddy, and Cristiani. Roddy
won the trophy dash.
Legends Car Series
Greg
Baxter and Brian Martella led the Legends main event field to
the green. Both vied for the lead around the track but, in
turn four, Martella wiggled coming out and lost ground to
settle into second.
Dave
Winchell, ahead of Ron Connors, took the opportunity to swing
wide, race with Baxter down the backstretch, and finally pass
him for the lead on the frontstretch. In lap 13, Pete Moyer
spun himself out in the back on the frontstretch for the only
caution of the race.
Winchel
and Baxter led them to the restart and Winchel took off with
the inside lead. Martella was pushing to overtake Baxter when,
in lap 15, he spun in turn one but quickly recovered at the
back of the pack.
From that
point, Baxter seemed to have power problems as he stayed to
the outside of Moyer but could not nose ahead until the very
last lap.
At the
line, it was Winchel, Baxter, Connors, Martella, and Moyer.
Bonus
Bombers
The six
Bonus Bombers were led to the main event start by Ray Lozano
and Ray Rosales. Unfortunately, second fastest qualifier
Richard Page lost his brakes in the heat race and could not
make the field.
Rosales
wiggled through turns one and three, and fell back on the
outside pushing Dave Land Sr. and Donald Frasier back with
him. Terry Pittman and Jason McLean advanced on the inside to
second and third.
Pittman
swung to the outside of Lozano for the lead as Land dropped
back inside behind McLean and then leap-frogged McLean for
third. Rosales continued to lose position and power until he
finally retired to the pits. Pittman had a solid lead but, by
lap 10, had started smoking.
There
were two scary moments. At the back of the pack, just ahead of
the approaching leaders, Lozano had drifted a little high and
Frasier tried to capitalize on the inside. Lozano quickly
recovered and came back down just as Frasier stuck his nose
in. The resulting contact fishtailed both of them right in
front of the approaching leader, but they recovered and Lozano
was lapped in lap 15.
Then, in
lap 20, Pittman started to pass Frazier on the inside when
Frazier broke loose in turn two and slid sideways into the
backstretch. He barely missed the leader Pittman, skillfully
countered the spin, and recovered by turn three. However, one
lap later, he spun on his own into the backstretch infield for
a caution and retired.
Pittman
and Land led the restart and Land surged ahead by a nose on
the outside, but Pittman rallied and they were dead even
through the backstretch. They would stay like this for two
laps until Pittman slowly advanced into the lead. As Land lost
ground on the outside,
McLean
tried to take the inside line for second, but Land had already
started to move back inside. The resulting contact spun Land
in turn two for the last
yellow
flag.
Pittman
and Lozano led the restart. While Lozano fell back on the
outside, Pittman, Land, and McLean reeled by inside him. In
lap 28, McLean swung outside Land, ran even through the turns,
and completed the pass into second on the backstretch.
At the
checkers it was Pittman, McLean, Land, Lozano, and Frazier.
McLean won the heat race.
Bombers
The 19
car Bomber field was led to the start by Brandon Small and
Johnny Small. Casey Saunders and Darren Groves were unable to
make the start due to mechanical problems after their heat
races. J. Small took the outside lead as the slower B. Small
faded back on the inside. In turns three and four, the
jostling to maneuver around the slower cars accordioned the
inside line together nose-to-rear, but they managed to
untangle safely through the backstretch.
Having
made it around B. Small, Jimmy Sorrels and Rick Tomilla leaped
into first and second. As J. Small faded back on the outside,
John Saunders, Terry Pittman, David Land III, and Jon Waner
reeled by on the inside.
Tomilla
took to the outside of Sorrels, who was having handling
problems keeping up on the inside. This allowed Tomilla,
Pittman who had taken to the outside of J. Saunders, and Land
to roll by on the outside for first through third. In lap
seven, as Tim Buzzard and Jon Waner were following suit, J.
Saunders tried to unpin himself from behind Sorrels when he
and Waner collided and spun in front of the rest of the pack.
Everyone
darted and dodged without incident, but Buzzard, Richard Bray,
and Bradley Brackett spun or stopped and had to go to the back
with J. Saunders and Waner after the caution.
Pittman
and Tomilla led the restart. Tomilla had a bad start and
Pittman, Land, Shelby Helm (substituting for Manya Tenney),
and Ron Duke Sr. freight-trained him on back. Anthony McCoy
was in sixth followed closely by Derrick Crayford (get used to
that), and Sorrels was fighting outside Cory Carlson for
eighth.
In lap
12, Ron Duke Sr. was charging after Helm down the backstretch
when his right-front balljoint (one of two that hold the wheel
to the suspension) snapped, disabling his steering, and he
sailed straight through turn three up and over the berm into
the dirt for a caution. The damage forced him to retire to the
pits.
Pittman
and Land led them to the green and Pittman nosed into the
inside lead. In turn two, Jimmy Sturges spun at the back,
recovered, and left for the pits a lap later. Helm was close
behind Pittman and Land. Tomilla held fourth ahead of McCoy
and Crayford on the inside and Sturges and Waner on the
outside. In lap 16, Sorrels' handling problems came to a
dramatic end when his right-front rotor shattered taking his
wheel apart and sending him and Buzzard toward the backstretch
wall. They stopped just short and a yellow flag was thrown.
Both had to retire to the pits.
Pittman
and Land again led them to the restart, but his time Land
surged ahead on the outside. Carlson nosed ahead of Helm
followed by McCoy and Crayford racing neck-and-neck for fifth.
In lap 16, B. Small spun into the backstretch infield for
another caution.
Land and
Pittman led the restart and stayed dead-even for a lap before
Pittman gained the advantage and then took the lead. Helm
barely held third inside Carlson, and Crayford and McCoy
battled for fifth behind them.
B. Small
was then lapped on the outside, stringing the leaders out.
Pittman led, followed by Land, Carlson, Helm, Crayford, and
Waner who had passed McCoy who was pinned behind B. Small. As
Pittman and Land outdistanced the field, Helm got to the
inside of Carlson with Crayford close behind looking to follow
whoever might advance.
Pittman
was trying to use the whole track to maintain his lead, and
Land was looking to take the inside groove away from him. In
lap 24, Chris Champagne spun into the frontstretch infield and
recovered. Land was still trying to take that inside groove
away from Pittman while Carlson was nosing ahead of Helm
behind them. Land got a little too close and wiggled, losing
ground to Pittman and allowing Carlson to surge forward on the
outside while Crayford took up station outside Helm.
In the
white flag lap, these front pairs were forced to split
three-wide to lap B. Small allowing Carlson, Crayford, and
Waner to move ahead on the outside. At the checkers, it was
Pittman followed by Carlson, Land, Crayford, and Helm. Land
won the trophy dash, and Grove, Buzzard, and Crayford the heat
races.
Bandoleros
Bandoleros are an offshoot of the Legends Car Series meant as
an entry-level easy-to-drive kit-class for novice racers as
young as eight years old, and experienced veterans looking to
teach and have some fun.
This, in
no way, means that the races are just family fun filler
between real races. Bandoleros are growing in popularity and
these young racers are more skilled and experienced than ever,
with qualifying speeds faster than the Bombers. Eight
Bandoleros showed up last Saturday night, and they put on such
a show that they've earned their own detailed description
alongside the other classes.
Drew
Smith and Chelsea Champagne held the poll positions as the
green flag fell on their main event.
Champagne
fell back very quickly on the outside, but the Bandoleros are
small enough to go safely three-wide and scrambled around her.
Jaycee
McLean moved into the outside lead around D. Smith and was
followed by Brandon Osborne, Brenton Smith, and Kyle Tellstrom.
When Tellstrom came back inside, his rear clipped the nose of
D. Smith spinning D. Smith into the turn two infield for the
first caution.
McLean
and Osborne led the restart and Osborne surged ahead on the
outside. McLean tried to rally back but, when he he hit the
brakes entering turn two, he broke loose and spun in front of
the pack. Everyone managed to avoid him and a yellow flag was
thrown.
Osborne
and B. Smith got them going again, and Osborne took off with
the lead. Champagne fell back on the outside taking D. Smith
with her as Tellstrom swung around Darin Silva for third on
the backstretch. D. Smith passed outside Silva five laps later
for fourth. It took eight laps for Tellstrom to hunt down and
take second from B. Smith. In lap 13, the lapped car of Lucas
Tellstrom spun into the turn four infield for another caution,
and he was forced to retire.
Osborne
and Tellstrom led the restart with Osborne in the lead and
Tellstrom tucked right behind him.
Champagne
fell back on the outside where Silva and McLean split
three-wide around her in turn two. In lap 17, third place B.
Smith spun in turn two for the last caution.
Osborne
and Tellstrom led them to the green and Tellstrom stayed dead
even with Osborne on the outside. Silva had a slow start and
was quickly passed by D. Smith, McLean, and B. Smith for third
through fifth.
For three
laps, Osborne and Tellstrom raced side-by-side to the white
flag. McLean and B. Smith battled the same way for fourth. At
the finish, Osborne nosed out ahead of Tellstrom for the win.
D. Smith came in third, and B. Smith beat McLean over the line
for fourth. B. Smith won the trophy dash.
Focus on Brandon Osborne
Brandon
Osborne is just like any other typically active 11 year old
boy with interests and hobbies and a few outstanding
accomplishments, like earning championships in Quarter Midget
racing and leading the Bandolero championship points. Ok,
maybe not so typical.
Brandon
says racing was his own idea inspired by his love of NASCAR.
He got started in Quarter Midgets out of Madera CA in 2005 at
the age of eight. He won state championships two years in a
row and, in 2007, the nationals.
In 2008
he's moved to racing Bandoleros and has won four out of the
six races at the Ukiah Speedway putting him in the Ukiah
Bandoleros championship points lead.
He says
he knows a lot of the other Bandolero racers and hopes they
will all come out and race with him.
Coming Up
This Memorial Day Weekend
Racing
continues this Memorial Day weekend at the Ukiah Speedway
featuring, on both Saturday and Sunday nights, the Thunder
Roadsters, Legends Car Series and Bandoleros, as well as our
own Modifieds,
Bonus
Bombers, Bombers.
For more
information, browse
http://www.UkiahSpeedway.com |
