LAKEPORT — Defending Lakeport Speedway Legends Cars champion Cody Winchel of Sebastopol captured his second win in the Legends Cars of the Pacific series Saturday night at Lakeport Speedway.
Winchel took the checkered flag in front of fast qualifier Cameron Austin of Santa Rosa (13.940 seconds), trophy dash winner Aidan Daniels of Fort Bragg, last week’s race winner Kylie Daniels of Fort Bragg, and long tow Kevin Travels of Turlock.
In other racing action Saturday night on the quarter-mile paved oval at the Lake County Fairgrounds, Mike Sullivan of Clearlake led every lap of the 30-lap nonstop event to claim his second season victory in the Northern California Racing Association modified ranks, Mike Collins of Lucerne made it three straight feature wins in the Taco Bell bombers division, and Mike Peterson of Ukiah scored a near-clean sweep in the AAA Energy Systems Pro-4 modified division.
Legends
Fourteen drivers were on hand for the Legends of the Pacific race and the four-car invert saw the brother-sister team of Aidan and Kylie Daniels share the front row for the start. Aidan took the early lead with Winchel driving under Kylie for second place. Two laps later Kylie lost ground to both Austin and Travels.
For the next 10 laps Austin challenged Winchel on the outside while Aidan Daniels was pacing the field.
Winchel caught up to the leader and gave Aidan Daniels a tap hard enough to send him spinning in turn four. This left Austin and Kylie Daniels side by side for the restart where Austin pulled ahead. Four rounds later Blake Borchers spun in turn four to slow the action again.
Austin and Kylie Daniels stayed out front but Winchel was on the move. He was running third by lap 23 and he picked off Kylie Daniels for second just before another spin, this one involving Joe Sarafin, brought out another yellow flag. Winchel powered by Austin on the restart and drove to a convincing victory.
Heat race wins went to Borchers and Keith Clement.
Modifieds
No spectators in the grandstands because of the COVID-19 pandemic means little or no purse for the competitors, and that presents a hardship for many of the premier division modified drivers. Only four cars came to race but the competition was close with Ian Elliott clocking in fastest with a 12.918-second lap. Sullivan was next at 12.938 and Robert Schmidt clocked in at 12.983.
Sullivan started on the outside pole next to Schmidt and forged ahead at the start. Sullivan pulled away from the pack as Elliott was trying to find a way around Schmidt. Elliott made several attempts on the outside, but it was only when Schmidt bobbled for a split second that Elliott was able to steal away second place on lap 25.
At the checkered flag Sullivan had a six-second lead over Elliot, Schmidt and Richard Knight. Sullivan also won the trophy dash and Schmidt was first in the heat race.
Bombers
The Taco Bell bomber class continues to pick up entrants although Collins and Donovan Cox continue to dominate the division. Although Collins is credited with three wins, Cox is leading in points as Collins missed the first race. Jim Kollenborn won his first trophy dash of the season and Cox won the heat race.
The main event saw Trevor Kollenborn out in front the first two laps but Cox drove by both Jim and Trevor Kollenborn to take over the lead on lap three. Meanwhile Collins was working his way to the front, passing Trevor Kollenborn on the outside on lap four. Three rounds later Seth Chew spun and hit the turn-four concrete.
Only two more laps went down with Cox and Collins banging fenders with each pass, resulting in Cox losing the battle and spinnng in turn four. The race was slowed one more time on lap 22 for a confrontation between Raymond Taylor Jr. and Jim Kollenborn.
The remaining laps went without incident with Collins first at the line followed by Cox, Jim Kollenborn, Taylor, Trevor Kollenborn, Amber Portlock, Trevor Abella and Chew.
Modifieds
Seven Pro-4 Modifieds were on hand for Saturday’s action. John Barker’s trophy dash win was the only thing that kept Peterson from a clean sweep in this four-cylinder division. By the time the AAA Energy Systems feature event took place, both Andy Leuzinger and Bud Anderson had dropped out with engine problems.
Barker and Wade Eldrege started in the front row. Barker took off at the drop of the green flag. As Eldrege lost ground in the high groove, both Wil Robertson and Peterson drove by. Robertson’s car slowed on lap seven and he retired to the pits the following round.
Barker and Peterson waged a side-by-side battle for several laps before Peterson finally gained enough momentum to make a clean pass and pull into the lead. At mid-race, Eldrege’s engine blew the side out of the block, creating an oil spill that took several minutes to clean.
The second half of the race saw Peterson drive the distance for the win over Baker and Rick Jelton.
Schedule
The next auto racing event at Lakeport Speedway is Aug. 15 with the Taco Bell bombers, the NCRA modifieds, bandoleros and Pro-4 modifieds on the racing card.
Sponsors
Saturday’s races were sponsored by Anderson Logging of Fort Bragg. Northern California Racing Association races at Lakeport Speedway are presented by Anderson Logging, Sullivan Const Masonry, Napa-Lake Parts, Taco Bell, D&P Pools, Hillside Powersports, Clearlake Redi-Mix, Snap-On Tools, S&K Paving & Striping, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Lucerne Roofing, S & K Automotive, Under the Sun Garden Supply, Perkins Septic Tanks, Lake County Tribal Health, Don Anderson Attorney At Law, Coleman’s Custom Vinyl, Lake County Welders, Kelseyville Lions, Mike Sullivan Consulting, Lake Co. Waste Solutions, Gifford Backhoe Service and Majestic Landscaping.
