LAKEPORT >> When mechanical failures saw both leader Kyle Tellstrom of Ukiah and the second-place running Charlie Collins of Upper Lake retire to the pits at the Lakeport Speedway, Darrin Knight of Kelseyville found himself in the lead and he drove the 21 remaining laps flawlessly to capture the second North State Modified Series (NSMS) points race of the season.
NSMS is presented by Protect the Harvest and Saturday’s race at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport marked the second consecutive win for Knight, the two-time defending series points champion.
Earlier Tellstrom blistered Tripp Gaylord’s track record of 12.287 seconds with a 12.150-second lap, earning the $100 Sunoco/Penney Racing Supply fast time award. He went on to draw the “Lucky No. 4” chip for the inversion. This put Darin Snider on the pole for the 60-lap feature with Collins on the outside front row. Knight and Tellstrom started third and fourth on the grid, with Eric Johnson and Darrin Sullivan sharing the third row.
When the green flag flew, Collins charged to the front with Tellstrom following his line. Knight drove under Snider for third place on lap six. A four-lap side-by-side battle for third place ended on lap 13 when Johnson cleared Snider and settled into fourth place. Collins drove high on 14 and that was all Tellstrom needed to fill the gap and power his way into the lead.
Tellstrom’s car was on a rail, lapping as many as three cars in a single round. The only yellow flag of the night occurred on lap 39 when Oregon driver Rich Cobb spun in the front stretch. While the cars were slowed, track officials discovered fluid was dripping all the way around the track. The problem was with the rear end of Tellstrom’s car and he had to end his impressive run and drive to the pits.
Three lapped cars driven by Austin, Sullivan and Ian Elliott were running between Tellstrom and Collins and those cars moved to the rear and picked up their laps. Collins became the new leader but he had a tire go flat before action could resume and also had to pit for a change. Four more lapped cars running between Collins and Knight moved to the back to gain back a lap. These four were Sierra Furia, Dustin DeRosier, Adrianna Strugnell and Simi Tour.
With both Tellstrom and Collins in the pits Knight inherited the lead. Johnson then moved into second with Snider third, Bryan Denton fourth and Codi Barba fifth. Knight pulled away on the restart but Johnson closed in when the leaders caught slower traffic. In the closing laps, Collins worked his way back to rejoin the front runners and at the checked flag it was Knight, Johnson, Snider, Denton, Collins, Austin, Sullivan, DeRosier and Furia.
Rounding out the top 20 were Strugnell, Richie Potts, Jason Philpot, Wade Coleman, Elliott, Tour, Cobb, Sal Lopez, Tellstrom, and Cody Braund.
In the Lucas Oil Dash for Cash it was Barba collecting $100 for the win and Austin $50 for second.
The NSMS moves north to Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka on May 28 for points race No. 3.
The North State Modified Series is presented by Protect the Harvest, Lucas Oil, Sinister Diesel, Penney Racing Supply, American Racer Tires, Naake Suspension, Sunoco Race Fuels, Five Star Bodies, Racer Bling, Keyser Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, DJ Safety, and the Buckhorn Bar & Grill.
NSMS modified rules, procedures and schedules are available at www.northstatemodifieds.com.
