Lakeport Speedway has the most competitive female drivers around. Last Saturday night we saw the top three Junior Jammer drivers, all female, competing for the win in their feature event. Caity Miller’s #55 led 29 of 30 laps, when on the last lap her car stalled; Kayleigh Sullivan #24 quickly got around Miller with under a lap to go and made it 2 feature wins in a row for her. Hayley Bishop Finished 2nd for her 3rd race in a row, giving her the points lead for the Junior Jammer division. These young ladies show up to win, and they do. Even the starter is a female, Kelley Coburn has been waving the flags at Lakeport Speedway for 3 years now, and she has been a part of doing whatever is required to get the show in. Coburn’s daughter, Melissa, is following in her footsteps and is a big part of Lakeport Speedway, from taking the infield photos, to working in the tower getting the cars lined up.

There were 15 Clover Hydro Jammers in all, between the Pro’s (8) and Juniors (7). Ellis Thornton won the Pro Jammer dash, Mike Peterson won the heat race and Caity Miller won the Juniors dash and Jackson Long won the heat race. David Furia decided to run all the Pros in front of all the Juniors, so there would be a full field of Jammers, but scoring them separately. Jimmy Foley’s #88 on the pole with Deake Lyndall’s #3 on his outside started the full field of Jammers. The 1st of 2 yellows was on lap 15 for a spin involving Alisha Herron, Randy Portlock and Lyndall in turn 4.The 2nd yellow was for Brittney Tommila’s #15 driven by Vinnie Marsili, who hit the turn 4 wall hard. The top 3 Pro drivers pulled away from the field, the race to watch was the juniors, Miller was holding off hard charging Sullivan and Bishop was putting pressure on them both as when you saw the white flag wave Miller’s car stalled and you could hear the fans gasp as Sullivan passed Miller with under a lap to go. After the race one fans said “I was sad that Caity’s car broke, at the same point I was happy that Kayleigh won! I am a big fan of Caity, Kayleigh and Hayley, these girls rock!” When the checkered flag dropped, Peterson was awarded the win for the Pro-Jammers followed by Thornton, Eddie Klein, Foley and Casey Crawford rounding out the top 5. Sullivan was awarded the win for the Junior Jammers, followed by Bishop, Long, Miller and Herron rounding out the top 5. After the race, Sullivan was quoted “If you ain’t first, you’re last (Talladega Nights) LOL”.

Jay Strugnel qualified the fastest in the NCRA Mini Stocks, with a time of 14.179, followed by Thomas Esberg with 14.930, Anthony Esberg 15.009 and Jason Pratt with a 15.581 rounding out the field. A. Esberg won the dash and Strugnel won the main, he was followed by A. Esberg, Pratt, and T. Esberg

Charlie Collins qualified the fastest in the Snake Pit Development Bombers with a time of 14.149, followed by Mike Swaney 14.320, Mike Neilson 14.387, Andy Norton 14.646, Justin Dutcher 14.709 and Scott Griffon with a 14.835 rounding out the top 6. Neilson won the dash, Collins won his heat race, and Evan Smith won the alternate heat race.

This was Smith’s first win, this young gentleman received an award in 2009 from Linnell Printing of Kelseyville, for his outstanding help he does for NCRA. He always is helping someone out, putting his racing second. Congratulation Evan you are going to be a front runner very soon.

12 Snake Pit Development Bombers qualified for the feature event. Tommy Nugent’s #2 and Caity Miller #84 led the field to the green flag. Miller, who is doing double duty in the jammers and bomber, got the jump on Nugent. The 1st of 3 cautions was on lap 1 for Nugent’s #2 spin in turn 2. Norton led the first 9 laps until Swaney made his way to the front. Swaney led the next 12 laps; the 2nd Caution race was for Nugent again. The 3rd and final caution on lap 22 was an official yellow, so it was a single file restart. Neilson and Collins took advantage of the caution, and were able to pass Swaney on the start. The next 8 laps we saw a lot of side by side racing in and out of lap traffic, everyone was once again on the edge of their seats watching Collins, Neilson and Swaney maneuver through traffic. Collins on the last lap tried to make his move by Neilson, and then they tapped, sending them each sideways into turn 2. Swaney got by them and took the win. Neilson was able to hold on to 2nd ahead of Sweeney, Norton and Justin Dutcher rounding out the top 5.

Mark Marek qualified the fastest in the Coors Lights Modifieds with a time of 12.672, followed by Thomas Wright with 12.676, Sean Sweeney 12.704, Steve Taylor 12.764, Aaron Hicks 12.826, and David Lyndall with a 12.902 rounding out the top 6. Wright won the dash and his heat race, and Chuck Pruett won the second heat race.

12 Coors Lights Modifieds started the 50 lap feature event with Pruett on the pole and Mike Smithhart on his outside. Pruett got the jump on Smithhart and Tommy Lyndall was in 2nd by lap 2. The first caution was on lap 15, for Steve Olvera’s #74 in turn 2. After a long green flag run, we saw Pruett lead the first 25 laps until Marek made his way up to the front and a few laps later, Wright was on his tail. On lap 38, Olvera spun in turn 2, again grouping the field up, giving Wright what he needed to be able to pass Marek. When the race restarted, we saw Wright’s #17 leading, followed Marek’s #16m and Sweeney’s #44. Wright took the checkered and made it back to back wins for him, followed by Marek, Sweeney, Pruett and Danny Bishop rounding out the top 5.

Some highlights from the first of 4 Demolition Derbies at Lakeport Speedway for 2010. Sean Sweeny #44 truck was a demo derby rookie and he hit with the nose of his truck and smashed in the radiator. He also had his race helmet on and had so much mud on the visor he could not see, so he opened it and got wailed in the face by a rock. Tim Lapoint #10 caught on fire twice during the race, the first time they put it out, the second time he had to retire from the race. Joker Jason Ingahm #11 and the Clinton Frazell #11t got tangled up on the track for a time and the only thing that got them apart was the other competitors hitting them. Ken Cornwell #300 and Ed Riley #H8 were the last two trucks standing, and played ring around the roses with the dead trucks in middle of the arena. The finishing order starting with the event winner Ken Cornwell #300 followed by Ed Riley #H8 Joker Jason Ingahm #11, Clinton Frazell #11t, Tim Lapoint #10 and Sean Sweeny #44. Best appearing and most aggressive truck was awarded to Ed Riley #H8. The hard luck award went to Tim Lapoint #10