Just another race? No chance
KELSEYVILLE — Almost 20 years later it”s still difficult for Mike Lyndall to talk about father Deake Sr. and brother Deake Jr. without choking up.
And yet in the nearly two decades since the patriarch of the Lyndall family and its eldest son died much too young, casualties of a small plane crash that also claimed the lives of Lake County men Jack Fearnow and Kenneth Krause, the Lyndall family has admirably filled the void created by such a terrible loss by honoring their loved ones and by helping others in need.
Mom Patti Lyndall, surviving sons Tommy and Mike, and the five Lyndall grandchildren have kept alive the memories of Deake Sr. and Deake Jr. in a very special way, with an annual race honoring both men. The 20th annual Deake Lyndall Memorial roars into the Lakeport Speedway tonight, the first half of a spectacular racing doubleheader that runs through Saturday.
As part of this year”s platinum anniversary of the race, the Lyndall family will help those afflicted with Lou Gehrig”s Disease by making a donation to the ALS Foundation. Patti will present a check to the family of Scott Pfeiffer, who is battling the disease while he and driver Derek Thorn, who grew up racing at the Lakeport Speedway, compete on the NASCAR Camping World East regional series as part of the “Racin” For A Cure” team. Pfeiffer helped form the Thorn racing team before he was diagnosed with ALS, and that”s how the “Racin” For A Cure” team was born.
That the annual Lyndall Memorial is joining forces with “Racin” For A Cure” this year is no surprise to Mike Lyndall, the youngest of Deake Sr. and Patti”s three sons.
“We have a chance to help another family just like the Lake County community helped us when we were in need,” Mike Lyndall said. “That”s what my dad and Deake (Jr.) were all about, helping others.”
Racing has always been in the Lyndall family”s blood and Deake Jr., the promising 28-year-old driver of the newly formed Deake Lyndall racing team back in the late 1980s, was just embarking on his professional racing career on the Winston Cup Series when tragedy struck. While returning from a promotional event in Eureka, the plane carrying the four Lake County men went down in bad weather. An intensive nine-day air and ground search followed in late May of 1989 before the crash site was located in southern Humboldt County near Ruth Lake.
Deake Jr. had one professional race under his belt by that time, having finished third in his NASCAR debut, and he was preparing for a second race at Sears Point (now called Infineon) at the time of the accident.
The loss of Deake Sr., who was only 50, and Deake Jr. rocked not only the racing community in Northern California, where both men were well-known and liked, but also the Lake County community.
“You have to understand that the (Lyndall) team was backed by the entire county,” Mike Lyndall said. “I mean the county (board of supervisors) was sponsoring my dad”s team and more than 1,500 local businesses were sponsoring the team. The Lyndalls were to Lake County racing sort of what the Packers are to the city of Green Bay.”
“Purple Thunder,” the nickname of the Lyndall team because of its penchant for painting its race cars purple, is still rumbling loud and clear each July Fourth weekend at Lakeport. Funded by the Lyndall family, the Deake Lyndall Memorial remains a big-ticket item in the community, according to Mike Lyndall.
“It”s Lake County”s biggest sporting event,” Lyndall said. “When you can pack 2,500 to 3,000 racing fans into one place on a summer weekend when places like Konocti Harbor are holding concerts, that”s a big deal. It”s like our own small version of the Daytona 500, that”s how big this race has become.”
And while memorial events have a tendency to fade away over time, not just in racing but in any sort of activity, sports or otherwise, Mike Lyndall said the Lyndall Memorial is bigger and better than ever.
“I was talking to someone from the Press Democrat and he told me these things tend to lose interest and go away after about five to 10 years,” Lyndall said. “He asked me why our race is so successful and I told him we”re backed by the county. We were 20 years ago and we still are today. By putting on this race, it”s one way for us to pay back and thank the community for all they”ve done for us over the years.”
This year”s Lyndall Memorial, in addition to hosting Pfeiffer”s and Thorn”s “Racin” For A Cure” team, has quite a few surprises in store for racing fans, not all of which Mike Lyndall is at liberty to divulge.
But this much is certain. Cars once driven in actual competition by NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Tony Stewart will be on display at the speedway this weekend. Along with Thorn, who is returning to his home track, Tommy Lyndall, Mike”s older brother, will be on hand. Tommy Lyndall won 16 straight races in 1987 to set a California record, the first 14 at Lakeport in the bomber division and then two open race victories at Roseville and Shasta.
KXBX will also be broadcasting the races live from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday night when the main events are contested in all divisions.
The Lyndall grandchildren — David, Brandon, Jake, Noah and Payton — will serve as flagmen during the main events in all divisions.
“The entire family is involved in this, in making this race better each and every year,” Mike Lyndall said. “We want to make this race the biggest and best race in the state outside of those held at Infineon and the California Speedway.”
Mike Lyndall credits the Lakeport Speedway”s new promoter, Dave Furia, with taking the point in making the Lyndall Memorial better than ever.
“Dave Furia has done an unbelievable job with this race,” Lyndall said. “He has some surprises in store that are just unbelievable.”
Lake County District Five Supervisor Rob Brown, who was a member of the Deake Lyndall racing team back in the late 1980s, will read a letter penned by Patti Lyndall to the assembled racing crowd during this weekend”s festivities.
Brown, who attended school with Deake Jr. and who is the godfather for three of the Lyndall grandchildren, used to trailer the Lyndall racing cars from venue to venue. He also served on the Lyndall racing team pit crew.
“Basically I did whatever needed to be done,” Brown said of his days with the Lyndall team. “It”s a great family that has done a lot for the community.”
Brown said he”s also honored to be reading Patti”s letter this weekend.
“I wouldn”t miss it,” he said.
Just as the Lyndalls will never forget the day they lost two members of their family, Brown said the pain of 20 years ago remains vivid in his mind as well.
“Basically everything stopped in this community until they were found,” Brown said. “It was a pretty incredible effort by this community to find them. It showed what a community can do when it wants to.”
“It”s still tough thinking about my dad and brother,” Mike Lyndall said. “But when I think about all the good times we had and how much the community has supported our family all these years, it makes me feel better.”
