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Taking the lead away from cousin Eric Johnson on the 12th lap, Darrin Knight of Kelseyville drove his Modified to his fourth season victory at the Ukiah Speedway Saturday night. Street Stock ace George Mavrakis of Cloverdale also chalked up his fourth feature win, leading all but four rounds of that 30 lapper.
After a late-race incident that took out leaders Logan Zampa and James Bickford, young James Stillman of Upper Lake out-paced Frankie Pickrell on the restart and drove the remaining distance for his first 2010 Bandolero win. Ron Duke, Sr. of Redwood Valley, driving for Anthony McCoy, captured the 30 lap Bomber main event, and fast qualifier Luis Tyrrell made it two-in-a-row in the Legends Cars division.
Rental Solutions Modifieds
The 12-car Modified field saw pole setter Rick Tommila out in front of Mikey Snider.
As Snider tucked in behind Tommila, Richie Potts pulled along side of Snider. The following round Snider's car pushed high, making contact with Potts, sending them both off the track and into the turn-three dirt pile.
With both Snider and Potts out for the night, Eric Johnson lined up next to Tommila for the restart. Johnson pulled ahead and took command of the race. The outside groove began to move with Andy Vander Veer and Knight both inching around Tommila. Next to pass on the high side were trophy dash winner Dustin DeRosier and points leader Terry McIntire.
Knight slipped around Vandeer Veer on lap eight and set his sights on Johnson. It only took Knight four laps to real in and pass his cousin for the lead. DeRosier and McIntire worked hard to pass Vander Veer in the final stages, and at the checkered flag it was Knight, Johnson, DeRosier, McIntire and Vanderveer. Codi Barba, Dustin Knight, Ken Bush, Tommila and Gary Lowblad rounded out the top ten.
McIntire set fast time of 13.010 seconds, Ken Bush won the bonus dash, and heat wins went to Snider and Barba.
Street Stocks
Street Stock action saw 30 laps of clean racing with the event going non-stop. Robert Bowers pulled ahead of Jodi Snider at the start but his reign was short-lived when Mike Bray drove under Snider and around Bowers on the second go-round. Mavrakis came from fifth starting and passed both Ron Duke. Jr. and Bowers for second on the third lap, and two rounds later he swapped places with Bray to take the lead.
Duke drove around Bray for second on six as points leader Terry Pittman was working his way to the front. Pittman settled into second on lap ten as Mavrakis was extending his lead. Pittman took the next 20 laps to chase down the leader, but was never a challenge as Mavrakis drove a perfect race to capture his fourth season win. Pittman settled for second with Duke third, Snider fourth, Bowers fifth and David Jones sixth. Bray lost power and retired to the pits at mid race, and Simi Tour blew an engine in the heat race.
Pittman set fast time of 14.225 seconds. Tour won the trophy dash and Mavrakis took the heat race.
Bud Bombers
Sixteen Bombers took the initial green flag in their main event with Robert Brackett and Isaac Snodgrass sharing the front row. As Snodgrass faded in the outside lane, Kevin Brackett and Lori McDonald took over second and third. Lap three saw Cindy Allen get bumped by another car and drive off the track in turn two to bring out the first yellow. The race was slowed again two rounds later when Matt Gerjets hit the back of McDonald's car in the same corner. Gerjets pitted for repairs but was back out on the track to take the next green.
Kevin Brackett out-distanced Robert Brackett on the restart but Duke was on a mission and forged into the lead on lap four. Brandon Verde and Jimmy Sorrels gained position and were running second and third behind Duke by the fifth go-round. Brenton Smith, Charlie Collins and points leader George Abella raced their ways to join the front-runners, and by mid-race it was Duke, Verde, Sorrels, Smith, Collins and Abella.
Lap 22 saw Allen in a solo spin to slow the field for the third caution. The next few laps saw Sorrels and Smith battle for third with Allen spinning again on lap 25 and K. Brackett spinning on 26. When racing resumed Abella tapped the back of Sorrels which caused Sorrels to run into Smith. Smith's car lost control in turn four bringing out the final yellow flag.
Duke held off Verde's challenges the final distance to take the win. Verde finished second in front of Gerjets, Collins, Rick Jelton and Sorrels. Abella, Smith, K. Brackett and Allen rounded out the top ten.
Verde set the Bomber fast time at 15.73 seconds, Collins won the trophy dash, and heat wins went to Dino Guevara and Smith.
Legends Cars
With several visiting drivers in the Legends Car class, thirteen drivers took the green flag in their feature event. Pole setter Chelsea Champagne slowed at the start allowing David Allen and Bob Kuebler to slip by. Kuebler drove around Allen for the lead on lap three as the back-runners were weaving their way through traffic.
Trophy dash and fast heat race winner Jack W. Humphrey came from eight starting to third in only three laps with Scott Sabol tight on his tail. Sabol bumped Humphrey's rear bumper on the fifth circuit resulting in a Sabol spin in turn four.
Kuebler held off Humphrey's challenges on the restart as Chris Champagne, Ryan Mosher and Tyrrell took over third, fourth and fifth. Humphrey followed Kuebler for two more rounds before trying to create a low lane that Kuebler was not ready to give up. The two leaders made contact sending them both into a spin to end their bids for a victory. This left Tyrrell out in front of Mosher, Bill Kistenmacher and David Fisher.
The following laps went smoothly with Tyrrell winning his second consecutive Ukiah Speedway event. Kistenmacher got around Mosher in the closing laps to finish second. Mosher settled for third with Fisher fourth and Allen Fifth. Humphrey came back for a sixth place finish and Kuebler, Chris Champagne, Jim Sturges and Chelsea Champage rounded out the top ten.
Bandoleros
The 25-lap Bandolero feature was filled with spins, crashes and mishaps. Before even one lap had gone down in the record books half the field was involved when Quinton Harris lost control and spun in front of the pack. Two laps later Frankie Pickrell got loose on the front stretch. He regained control but not before several cars drove off the racing surface in anticipation of an accident.
The restart saw Spencer Pitts forge ahead of Pickrell with points leader Logan Zampa in third. The yellow flag flew again on lap four when Stillman and Harris came together in turn two. When action finally got underway Pitts lead the way but pushed high on lap seven allowing Pickrell, Zampa and Bickford to pass. Zampa assumed the lead from Pickrell on lap eight with Bickford driving under Pickrell for second the following round.
Bickford chased down Zampa, and when Zampa's car pushed high, Bickford dove low and stole the lead on lap 10. Bickford began the lapping process at mid race, and with only five laps to go, Pitts looped his car in turn two and was t-boned by Frazer. Bickford and Zampa were side-by-side for the restart, and when the green flag dropped, Zampa darted back into the lead.
The pair ran nose-to tail for three more laps before Bickford dove low attempting an inside pass. Zampa closed the door, the two make contact, and both spun into the dirt for the final caution. Zampa retired to the pits and Bickford went to the back. This put Pickrell in the lead with Stillman in second. Stillman pulled ahead of Pickrell on the restart where he stayed all the way to the checkered flag. Pickrell finished second in front of Frazer. Bickford bounced back to finish fourth with S. Pitts fifth.
Bickford set a new Bandolero track record with a 14.914 lap. Frazer took the trophy dash and heat wins went to Zampa and Bickford.
