ROBERT SCHMIDT CLAIMS THE MINI-STOCK “KING OF THE HILL” CHAMPIONSHIP WITH HIS SEVENTH WIN

Source: Curtis Clauson
Date: 08/27/2007

In the last Mini Stock points race of the season, the leader Robert Schmidt of Lucerne faced a daunting challenge in a re-vitalized field of 15 cars. He aced out the two leaders in the last five laps of the race to claim both the checkers and the Hill championship. Kevin Barba of Windsor set the fast time of 14.217s.

Andrew Snider of Lakeport also passed two leaders in one late race move to win the Late Model main event, as well as setting the fast time of 12.692s.

In the Modified main event, Noel McCormack Jr. of Lakeport took half the race to charge up to the front from mid-pack and the second half to leave the others fighting for second. He also won the trophy dash and his heat race. Terry McIntire of Kelseyville set the fast time of 12.695s.

Eric Johnson of Kelseyville was literally given the Bonus Bomber main event lead halfway through the race when the two leaders spun themselves out, and then spent the other half defending it against all comers. He also won the trophy dash. Andy Vander Veer set the fast time of 14.187s.

Halfway through the Bomber main event, the two front runners took themselves out (have you noticed this pattern tonight?) allowing George Abella of Lakeport to claim and run away with the win. Roman Rose of Lakeport set the fast time of 15.049s.

Late Models: The Late Model main event started with six cars led by Kevin Estep and Charlie Collins. Collins took the outside lead as Andrew Snider and Forrest Kuecker passed the slower Mike Bourbon.

In lap three, Bourbon and David Furia (driving double-duty tonight in both his Late Model and Modified) spun on the frontstretch for an early caution.

Collins and Estep led the restart and Collins rolled out into the lead. Estep, stuck on the outside, was quickly passed by the field and, in lap five, spun in the back on turn three for the final caution of the race.

Collins and Snider brought them to the green. Collins took the inside lead and Forrest Kuecker followed into second. Collins and Kuecker launched an 11 lap battle for the lead with Snider biding his time waiting for any opportunity.

In lap 19, that opportunity came as Snider was able to pass by both Kuecker and Collins for the lead. Their battle for second kept either of them from challenging Snider for the lead. At the finish it was Snider, Kuecker, Collins, and Furia. Estep placed fifth. Bourbon won the trophy dash and Collins the heat race.

Modifieds: Codi Barba and Drew Foster led the 12 car Modified field to the start of the main event. Barba took the lead as Bob Strauss, Derrick Crayford, and Noel McCormack Jr. shuffled Foster on back.

In lap seven, McCormack took third from Crayford as David Furia took fifth from Jeremy Nowlin. McCormack continued his charge into second as Crayford and Furia battled for fourth followed by Terry McIntire who had passed Nowlin for sixth.

McCormack was unrelenting in his pursuit of Barba and, in lap 17, gained the lead. Furia finally put Crayford behind him and quickly shuffled Strauss between them. McIntire followed by Crayford but was slowed by Strauss for four more laps.

In lap 28, Furia took second from Barba, leaving him to the tender mercies of McIntire, and Strauss was passed on back by Thomas Wright and Mark Marek.

Furia just did not have enough laps left to overcome McCormack. McCormack finished first, followed by Furia. McIntire made the last-lap pass by Barba for third, and Wright finished fifth. Marek won his heat race.

Mini-Stocks: Thanks to the leadership of Mini-Stock driver Davey Coyne, a newly re-organized Mini-Stock class brought 15 cars to the show. Don Presler and James Devries started the field and Presler nosed into the lead in turns one and two, but Devries caught back up on the backstretch.

Coyne took to the infield with technical problems suffered in the earlier races, and Andy Norton retired to the pits for the same reason. Presler pulled ahead into the lead. Jessica Aceves got under Devries for second, and Bobby Partida the rest of the inner line sent Devries on back.

Robert Schmidt held fifth on the outside between Brad Laird and Kevin Barba. Joe Stanisloo spun in the back but recovered and became an early lapped car. As Stanisloo was being lapped, J. Aceves suffered the same fate as Devries. Partida and Barba tried to go three-wide around Stanisloo, touched, wobbled, recovered with Barba in second and free to chase down Presler.

Schmidt held fourth while Laird and Jonathon Reynolds battled for fifth. In only two laps, Barba caught up to and ran outside Presler while Schmidt swing outside Partida, and Reynolds nosed ahead of Laird.

In lap 11, Jay Strugnell was being lapped by Barba when Partida went three-wide between them squirting out ahead of Barba. As Partida swung back low, Barba powered ahead on the outside and re-took second.

In lap 13, as J. Aceves was being lapped, Stanisloo spun in turn two causing Marcus Hatfield to go sideways into the turn two infield kicking up a huge cloud of dust onto the track. A yellow was thrown but the drivers racing into the cloud could not see it. Partida wound up spinning out of the cloud, and Reynolds and Laird had to retire to the pits with damage.

Presler and Barba led the restart as John Johnson joined the field. Presler started with a slight inside lead as Schmidt, Devries, Strugnell, and Partida had to dive inside a slow J. Aceves. Stanisloo stalled in turn two and, as the leaders scrambled to make it safely around, Barba gained the lead.

In lap 18, Schmidt tried to swing outside Presler on the backstretch but Presler drifted wide in turn three forcing Schmidt to back off. As the leaders were about to lap Hatfield, Presler, inside of Barba, took advantage of Barba's hesitation and dove to the outside between them, lapping Hatfield and taking the lead.

In lap 24 as Presler and Barba are about to lap David Aceves, Barba swung to the outside trying to pin Presler behind D. Aceves. Presler reacted quickly and dove in front of Barba. This was all Schmidt needed as he powered by both of them on the inside and swung outside past D. Aceves for the lead.

As Schmidt pulled out ahead, Presler whipped the horses to run him down but could not hold the line and fell back in front of Barba. At the checkers it was Schmidt followed by Presler, Barba, and Partida who was the last car on the lead lap. Devries finished fifth a lap down. Presler and Laird won the heat races.

Bonus Bombers The Bonus Bomber 10 car field was led to the start of the main event by David Jones and Kevin Waycik. Jones took the lead as the slower Waycik and Todd Armstrong pushed Eric Johnson and George Mavrakis back on the outside.

Eric Williamson, Manuel Antonio, and Andy Vander Veer moved up on the inside into second through fourth. As Williamson took the lead, Bill Mucci got inside around the fading Waycik and was followed by Mavrakis and Johnson.

In lap five, Williamson lost the lead and four positions to wind up back with Mucci. This gave Vander Veer the opportunity to pass Antonio and then Jones for the lead. In lap seven, Williamson and Mucci tangled and spun of the backstretch for the first caution.

Vander Veer and Jones restarted the field, but Jones was freight-trained on the outside to the back as Vander Veer took the lead. Johnson ducked under Antonio for second and Mavrakis followed for third.

In lap 12, contact in the pack sent Ron DeKeyser wide in turn two, into and up onto the wall. A red flag was thrown stopping the race so the car could be untangled and towed off.

Vander Veer and Johnson led the restart. Vander Veer took the inside lead and Mavrakis followed under Johnson. In lap 14, Vander Veer and Mavrakis made contact and spun in turn four for another caution, putting these two leaders to the back.

Johnson and Mucci led them to the green and Johnson took the lead. It only took five laps for Mavrakis to make it from the back by Antonio for third, with Vander Veer close behind in fifth.

By lap 22, Mavrakis made it by Mucci for second and started to work on Johnson for the lead. Vander Veer made it by Mucci for third, but then the lapped car of Armstrong made challenges difficult to maintain for the remaining laps.

Johnson held onto the lead to bring home the win. Mavrakis came in second followed by Vander Veer, Mucci, and Antonio. Jones won the heat race.

Bombers: Tony Ramazzotti and Anthony McCoy led the full Bomber field of 18 cars to the green flag. Ronald Portlock and Danny Helm transferred in from the B-Main. McCoy held a slight lead that was taken by Ramazzotti who finished the pass four laps later.

Shelby Helm had claimed third inside of Mike Bray. Manya Tenney, Robert Byers, and Simi Tour advanced inside Nickolie Rhodes to fifth through seventh. By lap seven, Rhodes had faded on the outside pushing Jon Waner behind him. They were passed by George Abella, Jimmy Sorrels, Run Duke Jr., and Randy Portlock before Waner could dive back inside of Rhodes.

In lap nine, Abella had just swung past Tour and advanced outside of Byers to challenge for sixth when Danny Helm and Roman Rose got together in the back and Rose spun on the frontstretch to wind up facing backwards causing a caution.

Ramazzotti and McCoy led the restart and raced side-by-side. Bray was slow on the outside and pushed Byers, Tour, and Duke back behind him as he was passed by S. Helm, Tenney, and Abella. Duke and Richie Hoven tangled behind Tour in turn two which spun Duke into the turn three infield where he stalled out. No yellow was thrown as he was safely out of the way.

By lap 13, Ramazzotti had the lead, and Sorrels, Randy Portlock, and Tour finally got by Bray for sixth through eighth. In turn one, McCoy got under Ramazzotti but they both drifted wide. S. Helm tried to dive three-wide under both of them as Ramazzotti tried to recover the lead and Ramazzotti broke loose coming out of turn two. He fish-tailed down the backstretch and recovered, but the pack behind him was thrown into confusion which caused a yellow.

Tour, Waner, and Rose all suffered damage. Byers did not see the yellow in time and launched himself into the air over the rear end of Ramazzotti in front of Tour. Duke got going again from the infield, but he was now three laps down.

This all put McCoy and Sorrels up front for the restart ahead of Abella and Randy Portlock. Sorrels nosed into the lead in turn one and tried to finish it in turn two, but he and McCoy collided and got sideways in front of the pack. They recovered, but the reaction behind them sent Rhodes hard into the backstretch wall. The race was red-flagged while the mess was cleaned up. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

McCoy and Sorrels led the restart again since they had recovered without spinning and had not made contact with anyone else. This time, McCoy took the inside lead with Abella close behind. Tenney battled inside Randy Portlock for fourth, and D. Helm and Rick Tommila for sixth.

Sorrels lost ground on the outside and, in lap 16, Abella swung out in front of him to challenge McCoy for the lead. As they ran side-by-side, Tenney passed inside Sorrels for third, Randy Portlock swung inside behind her for fourth, and Duke climbed into the battle for sixth but he was still three laps down so Tommila still held it ahead of D. Helm.

In lap 22, Abella finally pulled out ahead of McCoy finishing the pass. D. Helm broke loose outside Duke and lost four positions. Abella stretched his lead as the top seven cars ran single file. Simi Tour pulled outside Hoven, nosed ahead in lap 26, and continued outside Tommila, completing the pass in lap 29.

At the checkers it was Abella by two car lengths followed by McCoy, Tenney, Randy Portlock, and Sorrels. Randy Portlock won the trophy dash, and Dylan Rose, Shawn Kennedy, and Jon Waner the heat races.

A special trophy dash was also held for drivers whose time trials did not qualify them for the A-Main event. Shawn Kennedy, Ronald Portlock, Kevin Brackett, and Tommy Nugent ran the four lap dash and Nugent brought home the trophy.

Coming Up: The “King of the Hill Challenge Series” continues this Labor Day weekend on both Saturday and Sunday September 1 & 2 at the Ukiah Speedway featuring the Legends Cars of the Pacific and with the Late Models, Modifieds, Bonus Bombers, and Bombers. This will be the last points race of the 2007 season for the Modifieds.

The season finale will be held Saturday September 8 at the Ukiah Speedway featuring the B.C.R.A. Midgets. The “King of the Hill Challenge Series” champions will be decided for the Late Models, Bonus Bombers, and Bombers. They, as well as the Modified and Mini-Stock champions, will be crowned at the end of the night.

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