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9-13-08 Ukiah, CA.
By Roxie
Wulff
Ukiah
Speedway hosted their annual Bomber Bash Saturday night
with twin 40 lap features running full-fields of
hard-charging bombers and bonus bombers. It was also the
final event in the “King of the Hill Challenge Series”,
and along with her victory in the first twin 40, Manya
Tenney of Kelseyville was crowned “King (or should it be
Queen) of the Hill.” The second 40 lapper was won by
Gary Collins of Lucerne, and this win gave him enough
points to claim the bomber bash title and collect the
lion’s share of the driver’s purse.
The bonus bombers competed in the same “mix-and-match”
events, and it was Trent Campbell of Laytonville who
finished first in both features to win the bonus bomber
title.
In other Saturday night action, Michael McCormick of
Ukiah drove his Volvo head-on into a parked motorhome
twice, leaving only a massive pile of destruction
behind. Jonathon Orr of Ukiah was voted the number one
competitor in the slider exhibition, and Scotty Sabol of
Lakeport showed his expertise as a boat racer and
received the largest fan applause to win the final Ukiah
Speedway boat race.
The first leg of the multi-division bomber bash saw
bonus bomber fast qualifier George Mavrakis retiring to
the pits early when Shelby Helm, driving Andy Norton’s
grinch-mobile, drove into turn one too hard and spun for
a restart. Robert Byers shot out ahead of Richard Bray
at the green with teenager Drew Smith following Byers to
the front. As Bray faded in the high groove, Smith took
over second and began his outside-run on Byers. Smith
shot out in front on lap six as Anthony McCoy assumed
the third slot, dropping Bray to fourth.
The yellow flag flew on lap 15 for a Jimmy Sturges spin,
and when racing resumed McCoy drove under Byers for
second. Both Byers and Helm pitted early as Tenney and
Collins were working their ways to the front.
Lap 23 saw Kevin Brackett slow and stall in turn one,
and with no where to go Casey Saunders slammed into
Brackett’s car ending both their runs.
Smith continued to lead with McCoy in second, Tenny
third, Collin fourth and George Abella fifth. Both
Tenney and Collins drove around McCoy on lap 27 and set
their sites on Smith. Just when it appeared to be
Smith’s race, the youngster spun his car in turn one on
the white-flag lap. Tenney took advantage of the spin
and drove to the checkers for the win. Collins finished
second with Campbell (for the bonus bomber win) in
fourth and Jimmy Sorrels in fifth. Rounding out the top
10 were Joe Smith (bonus bomber) Matt Gerjetts, Abella,
Smith and Ron Duke Jr.
The line-up for the second 40 lapper was inverted from
the finish of the first race and that put Bray and Duke
in the front row where they drove side-by-side for 17
laps. This frustrated third-place runner Smith until he
decided to make a bold move, drive under Bray causing a
three-wide condition in turn three. But Smith’s efforts
were in vain as he lost control of his mount, drifting
into the path of the two leaders. Both
Bray and Duke also broke loose and all three drivers
were shuffled to the back.
This left Abella in the lead followed by Gerjetts and
Collins. The restart saw Gerjetts lose ground in the
outside lane, until the yellow flew again when Richard
Schwarm spun off the track in turn two. Collins
stole the lead away from Abella on the restart, and with
only two laps to go Tenny drove under Abella for second.
Collins drove the distance for the win with Tenny
Second, Abella third, Campbell (bonus bomber
winner) fourth, and Ray Rosales (bonus bomber) fifth.
Terry Pittman , Gerjetts, Saunders, Schwarm, and
Brackett rounded out the top ten.
Bomber heat race wins went to Collins and Pittman.
Pittman won the “A” dash with Gerjetts the winner of the
“B” dash. Pittman sent fast time of 15.042 seconds
The bonus bomber heat winner was Mavrakis. Joe Smith won
that trophy dash.
Seventeen slider cars spun around the track for 20 laps,
and at the conclusion the fans picked Jonathon Orr as
the winner. Second place went to Ronald Ritter of
Willits. Other competitors included Adam Shura, Lee
Cook, Jimmy Sorrels, Joe Aiken, John Moore, Bob Strauss,
Casey Saunders, Jake Green, Buzz Rogers, Jack Schleif,
Zack Roby, Mark Hatfield, Michael Maciel, David King and
Brian Smith.
The 30 lap boat race saw 13 skippers drive through,
under, over and around boats, some still attached and
others floating helplessly on the wet asphalt. Boats
flew right and left, broke apart, capsized, and
literally disintegrated. Only four cars had boats in tow
at the checkered flag and the race fans were asked to
decide the winner.
Sabol got the loudest applause with Rusty Mortenson a
close second. Third place went to Charlie Mortenson with
Jim Thompson finishing fourth. Other boat racers
included Adam Shura, Jimmy Sorrels, John Moore, Terry
Pittman, Casey Saunders, Jace Rohrbough, Sam Cookson,
Jonathon Orr, and Mike McCormick. McCormick drove the
same Volvo in the boat race that he did in the motorhome
jump.
Ukiah takes a break from auto racing until October 25-26
when the quarter-mile oval will host its Halloween Bash.
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