McCormack makes late pass to win 100 lapper
By Matthew J. Sullivan
Beautiful weather graced Eureka, California’s Redwood Acres Raceway this past Friday and Saturday for the season finale Fall Spectacular event. Acres fans were delighted to see a good field of late model tour cars for the first time in nearly two seasons at the 3/8-mile track.
Randy Houston set quick time for the late model cars but his car broke while warming up prior to the trophy dash ending his weekend prematurely. Mike Lovell took the dash over Jeremy Hopkins and Junior Roddy. The finish of the late model heats determined the starting lineup of the main event. The first heat saw Scott Lenz spin off turn two collecting Lovell. Later on, Berndt Akerstrom broke and he was unable to race for the rest of the weekend. Northern California racing legend and local favorite, Jim Walker excited the fans in the first heat taking the victory over Joe McDonald, Noel McCormack, Roddy and Rod McCombs. Jerry Peterson surprised folks by taking the victory in the second heat ahead of Keith Nelson, Robert Miller, Corey James and Kevin Ostern.
The first six were inverted giving pole position to Miller with McCormack starting outside the front row. It was a clean start for the 100-lap feature before caution fell on lap two when Ostern spun in the first turn infield. After the restart, the caution flew quickly when Walker and Roddy made contact going into turn three. Walker suffered minor damage and returned to the track briefly before retiring shortly thereafter. The racing went green for another 10 circuits until the caution dropped on lap 12 for Nelson’s car in the turn four wall. The best racing of the night took place for what would be the longest period of green flag action. McCormack rode constantly in Miller’s mirror while McDonald in third looked to take advantage of any mistake made by either driver. Things got interesting when the field caught up to lap McCombs. Though McCombs tried his best to give the leaders room to race, the pack bunched up behind him. Miller was able to clear McCombs while McDonald was able to sneak into second as McCormack tried his best to fend off Peterson for third. McCormack was able to hold off Peterson while on the high line, and then get back by McDonald for second before the caution flew on lap 49 when Mike Doss went for a ride through the front stretch infield.
The action slowed several times between the halfway and three-quarter lap marks. On lap 58, the yellow came for Lenz who had spun in turn four. The caution flew on lap 59 to clean up debris from contact between Roddy and Peterson. After a brief period of racing, the caution flew again on lap 68 when Lovell spun out from fourth position. Corey James also spun to avoid Lovell and both were able to continue racing. Racing resumed and things remained status quo up front between Miller, McCormack and McDonald until lap 76 when McCormack found the low line under Miller going into the first turn to take the lead. McDonald was able to follow behind to take the second position. Miller now had to fight off Doss for third. The two raced door-handle-to-door-handle for several laps before Doss took the position on lap 82. On lap 83, Hopkins and Roddy made contact while racing for the fifth position in turns three and four bringing out the caution flag for the final time. On the restart, Doss’ car slowed and he drove his car to the pits. While McCormack and McDonald drove away from the field, Ostern began to give Miller trouble for third. On lap 90, Ostern moved high and past Miller for third. At the front, McDonald was unable to mount a challenge on McCormack for the lead and at the finish it was McCormack winning over McDonald, Ostern, Miller and Lovell. Allen Gibney, James, Roddy, Hopkins and McCombs finished out the top 10.
Many of the drivers who raced this past weekend at Redwood Acres are headed over to Anderson’s Shasta Raceway Park for their 150-lap late model race. It will be interesting to see if McCormack will be able to win back-to-back events.
An Ostern Trifecta
Kevin Ostern set fast time with a new track record time of 12.412, won his 3rd feature event of the season and took home the championship flag. Labor Day Weekend was good to Kevin & Leanne Ostern and the #36 team of Ernie & Sheryl Ostern, David & Earlene Taylor, Logan Kessinger and William O’Donnell as a season of hard work paid off. If you ever stopped by the #36 pits, you would see Leanne, Sheryl and Earlene cooking up the best food at the track and nobody left hungry.
The regular AABLM season is officially over and the championship has been decided, Kevin Ostern clinched his 1st AABLM Championship. Ostern set a goal from the first race of 2009; he was going to be a contender for the 2009 tour. The AABLM added 2 new tracks to the 2009 tour that Ostern was not very familiar with, Ukiah Speedway was one of the new tracks added. Until the last race, Ostern’s average finish was 7th and Shasta Raceway Park is the other new track where Ostern finished 9th. Kevin knew if he was going to claim the 2009 championship, Lakeport Speedway was the place where he could gain the most Championship points. Sure enough, he did with and average finish of 1.8. Ostern with 3 wins and 8 top 5 finishes overall.
Ukiah Speedway brings out the best of the best late models; this track seems to attract driver talent. We had a newcomer to the AABLM Series, Trent Campbell from Laytonville, and last years regular Sean Caturegli returned in a new white #45x. Junior “Hot Rod” Roddy of Gualala was present, and David Miller of Coquille Oregon along with the AABLM regulars.
A hot and sunny day at Ukiah Speedway did not stop the AABLM from breaking another record. Kevin Ostern set fast time and new record for the Ukiah Speedway with a 12.412. He was followed by Mike Lovell 12.507, David Miller 12.533, Allen Gibney 12.584 and Junior Roddy 12.584.
Lovell won the fast dash; followed by Gibney, Ostern, Eric Graham, Miller and Roddy. Keith Nelson won the slow dash; followed by Trent Campbell, Eric Williamson, Myles Anderson, Joe Aiken and Mike Bourbon.
The Labor Day weekend brought a different format with the fastest 9 late models running a total field invert 20 lap heat race, and the winner of the heat would draw a pill from one through nine for the main event invert. Forrest Kuecker won the 1st heat race. He was followed by Chris Straka, Graham, Lovell, Ostern, Gibney, Miller, Roddy and Berndt Akerstrom. At the end of the heat race Kuecker pulled the nine pill for a full invert, putting Akerstrom on the pole and Roddy on the outside front row.
The next 10 Late Models ran a 20 lap heat race for the next 10 positions in the main event. Trevor Cristiani won the 2nd Heat race. He was followed by Sean Caturegli, Jim Stillman, Nelson, Aiken, Williamson, Clay Caturegli, Campbell, Anderson and Bourbon.
Nineteen Late Models lined up for the 75 lap main event with Akerstrom and Roddy on the front row. Akerstrom got the jump on Roddy and led the next 32 laps. On lap 33, Ostern took the lead from Akerstrom and a few laps later Graham moved in to 2nd. By lap 56, Clay Caturegli in the Black #45 was in 3rd. Graham and Clay are no strangers to victory lane at Ukiah Speedway, with Clay having won 2 of the past 4 races at Ukiah Speedway. Graham on his last win in Ukiah, he led wire to wire, so all the pressure was on Ostern. With 5 laps to go, Ostern was the Late Model to beat, Graham was trying to hold off Clay Caturegli and Sean Caturegli in the White #45x just moved into fourth. Ostern won the Main event; followed by Eric Graham, Clay Caturegli, Sean Caturegli, Mike Lovell finished 5th and held onto 2nd in the championship standing. Going into the weekend, Lovell only had 6 markers ahead of Jim Stillman. Stillman was able to hold onto 3rd in the championship standing; Graham moved up to 4th and Forrest Kuecker fell one spot to 5th. Myles Anderson took the AABLM 2009 Rookie award.
The AABLM regular season may be over, but the AABLM still has three non-points races left, the next race is September 25 & 26, 2009 at Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka CA followed by Shasta Raceway Park on October 3 & 4, 2009 and the October Classic at Lakeport Speedway on October 16 through 18, 2009.
In closing, the AABLM Promoter Mike Doss and staff would like to thank all the fans, sponsors, families and friends of the AABLM drivers, and let’s not forget the best of the best, the AABLM drivers them selves for making a successful year. Mike would also like to say thanks to Lakeport Speedway, Shasta Raceway Park and Ukiah Speedway for inviting the AABLM to their facility and to their staff for all the work that is done behind the scenes that is never noticed.
Thank You, From
Mike Doss – Promoter / Director of Competition
Bob Cook – Race Coordinator / Tech
Haley Ostern – Track Coordinator / Scorer
Denise Doss – Photographer / Co Promoter
Johnny Miskill – Ukiah / Shasta Flagman
Kelly Coburn – Lakeport Flag Person
Cheryl & Terra Cook - Pit Representatives
Caity Miller – AABLM Intern
Curtis Cook - Webmaster
See you at the track
Bob Cook
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Mike Doss Sets Track Record Takes Home Trophy
A Beautiful but hot day at the lake greeted race fans and competitors at Lakeport Speedway. A total of 15 late models were in attendance for the 10th event for the Airport Auto Broker late models. Qualifying is becoming an event of its own, 10 out of 15 late models qualified within a ½ second of each other. And 6 drivers turned their personal best time of the season.
Mike Doss again not only set fast time, he broke the track record with a time of 11.711. He was followed by Kevin Ostern 11.751, Mike Lovell 11.795, Forrest Kuecker 11.929 and Jeremy Hopkins 11.969. Doss took home the big trophy for his second win of the season. He also collected winnings from the bonus challenge, offered by Pacific Auto Body, because he started in the rear of the field.
Kevin Ostern finished 2nd after tangling with Cory James on lap 29 and being sent to the back. This was a good point’s night for Ostern; one more green flag start clinches the championship. Ostern also won the fast dash; his first one of the season. Following Ostern to the checkered was Hopkins, Kuecker, Doss, James and Eric Graham.
Allen Gibney won the slow dash making this his 3rd dash win of the season. Following Gibney to the checkered was, Eric Williamson, Mike Bourbon, Myles Anderson, Rod Skidmore and Jimmy Stillman.
Nitro Noel McCormack joined us minutes before the main event started, driving a blue and white #93 sponsored by Lake County Fair. Because he didn’t qualify, he started in the rear behind Doss and still managed to pull off a 3rd place finish.
Forrest Kuecker landed a 4th place finish, making this his 5th top 5 finish for the year. He started the race in 9th position and held 2nd place for 28 laps. Forrest is one of our most consistent drivers.
Kevin Gifford landed 5th. This is his 1st top 5 finish for the season and only his 2nd top 10. He has finally gotten his car dialed in and we are looking forward to seeing more of him in the front of the pack.
Jimmy Stillman, who was fighting a broken locker all night, finished up a respectable 6th. By driving smart and keeping his fenders straight, he is currently 
only 6 points out of 2nd place for championship point’s standings.
On a side note, AABLM’s intern Caity, after spending the season watching the AABLM action, got her first taste of a circle track and drove in the Jammer division. Thanks to David Furia, the Jammer division has become a great division to start in. Caity’s crew was intern Terra and Webmaster Curtis. Caity would like to say thanks to all the AABLM drivers for their encouragement and a special thanks to Rod Skidmore for building the Jammer for her, and Curtis Cook for spending his B-day helping at the track.
See you at the track
Bob Cook
Cloverdale’s Clay Caturegli wins
When the sun went down over the Ukiah valley, the AABLM drivers slid into their Late Models and lined up for another Saturday night of octane injected 75 lap competition. After the dust finally settled it was Cloverdale’s Clay Caturegli, driving the black #45 sponsored by Fletcher Fabrication, Cloverdale Auto Parts, Eagle Tech and B & C Automotive, prepared by Tom Caturegli and family, who took the checkered flag.
The drivers and crew ignored the heat and put their best effort into setting fast time. Mike Doss qualified the fastest with his time of 12.699, followed by Mike Lovell with 12.730, Kevin Ostern 12.735, Trevor Cristiani 12.750, Allen Gibney and Clay Caturegli tied with a 12.762 rounding out the top 6, with barely 3 / 10ths of a second between the top 15.
The fast dash lined up according to a card draw, with Trevor Christiani starting on the pole and Doss on his outside, this is how they finished, with Christiani beating out Doss by a nose. Following closely were, Gibney, Caturegli, Lovell and Ostern.
The B dash also lined up by card draw, Ken Gifford pulled the ace putting him on the pole and Berndt Akerstrom on his right. Gifford took the checker, followed by Akerstrom, Rod Skidmore, Mike Bourbon, Myles Anderson and newcomer Keith Nelson of Ukiah.
20 Late Models qualified for the main event, making Ukiah Speedway the place to be. A 10 invert put Forrest Kuecker on the pole and Straka on his outside, followed by Eric Graham, Jeremy Hopkins, Caturegli and Gibney. Mike Doss, driving his 36x, accepted the bonus challenge and elected to start in the back. This bonus challenge was put up by Allen Gibney of Pacific Auto Body, who is giving $100 to the fast timer if they elect to 
start in the back, and still win the main event! Nobody won the challenge at the last race, so the pot rolled over to $200. Kuecker gabbed the lead on the start and lead the next 47 laps. Hopkins moved into 2nd on lap 30 and started putting pressure on Kuecker. On lap 48 Hopkins used the lap traffic to get around Kuecker, Caturegli followed Hopkins for 2nd. Hopkins, Caturegli and Kuecker were swerving in and out of lap tap traffic, Hopkins and Kuecker using the outside groove and Caturegli making the bottom work for him until lap 60.
The field was slowed numerous times with cautions, the one that stood out the most was the last caution on lap 60 which involved the lead cars. 
Hopkins and Kuecker got collected with lap traffic and ended a great run for both of them. Kuecker clocked one of the fastest laps during the main event with a 12.730. Caturegli skated through the crash and was in the lead when the red flag was thrown. On the restart, Caturegli got a good start and put a few car lengths on Ostern followed by 
Gibney, Doss, Lovell and Cory James. The point’s leader Ostern had a tire go down on the restart and started losing positions. With only 15 laps to go, he stayed on the track not to bring out any more yellows and Finished 10th, 2 laps down. By lap 62 Doss was in third and looking to claim the bonus challenge. The next dozen laps were caution free and Jim Stillman finished 6th, James finished 5th and Lovell finishing 4th was glad to get the monkey off his back and complete a race. Doss, unable gain any more position, finished 3rd and Gibney with another best finish of 2nd. Clay Caturegli “MR UKIAH” with his 2nd win this season, joins the elite group of Ostern & Graham in being multiple winners this season.
See You at the Track
Bob Cook
Hometown hero Wins
Hometown hero Derek Thorn wins the 21st annual Kelseyville Lumber – Deake Lyndall Memorial Race with the Airport Auto Brokers Late Models. Derek Thorn makes the 7th different winner of the AABLM 2009 Tour. AABLM has had 35 different drivers competing with us this year. As this is only the 2nd season for the AABLM, the series is growing fast and attracting talent.
Seventeen late models qualified for the Saturday evening main event, with Kevin Ostern setting a fast time of 11.803. He was followed by Mike Doss 11.808, Mike Lovell 11.917, Jeremy Hopkins 11.929 and Forrest Kuecker 11.998. Kuecker won the fast dash; followed by Doss, Joe Aiken, Hopkins, Ostern and Thorn. Charlie Collins won the slow dash; followed by Berndt Akerstrom, Eric Williamson, Blair Aiken, Mike Bourbon, Allen, and Myles Anderson of Fort Bragg CA.
Ostern pulled the 12 invert, and that put Williamson on the pole with Allen Gibney on his outside. Gibney, of Pacific Auto Body, put up a $100 challenge if fast timer Kevin Ostern would elect to start last and go for the win. Ostern took the challenge, and started at the back; but was unable to collect the $100, so the 
challenge will roll over to the next race. Williamson took the lead on the start and led the first 28 laps; he had a few car lengths on the field, so the battle was between Cory James and Kuecker for 2nd. Kuecker took over 2nd from James on lap 26, and 3 laps later he took the lead from Williamson. Hopkins and Doss were charging to the front and on lap 41 they both passed Kuecker with Hopkins taking the lead, Doss in 2nd. The race 
was stopped at lap 45 on yellow, and all the late models headed to the pits for a break so the fans could watch the Lakeport fire works show. The Speedway turned off the lights and driver and crew families came to the infield to watch the show. The drivers took the opportunity to do some tuning on their late models. The race resumed after the show. Hopkins restarted the field after collecting $200 for leading before the break. On lap 48, Hopkins and Doss were racing hard and 
collided, causing Hopkins to spin and sending 2 very fast late models to the back. That put Thorn into the lead followed by Ostern, Kuecker, Williamson and James in 5th. On the restart Thorn got a jump and Ostern had Kuecker all over him. By lap 52 Kuecker took 2nd from Ostern and once again Hopkins and Doss were charging back to the front. Thorn took the checker on lap 75 followed by Kuecker with his best finish with the AABLM, Point Leader Ostern, Williamson with his first top five and Doss coming up from the back to finish 5th. On the win, Derek Thorn was quoted, “Although I won the “Racing for a Cure Challenge” in 2004, I’m happy to get my first win with the AABLM series. I’m proud to win for ALS.”
See you at the Track
Bob Cook
