When the smoke cleared and the asphalt cooled, it was evident McCormack had bragging rights for 2008. A big round of applause for Noel and his hardworking crew.
Saturday night 17 cars came to the show, but only 15 qualified. Newcomer Chris Salmina’s red and black # 08 sponsored by Bill & Bev Mcvey and Gram & Gary of Airport Auto Brokers had mechanical issues in hot laps. Al Vogel, # 5u, sponsored by Vogel’s R.V. also didn’t make it out of hot laps.
For the eighth and final Airport Auto Brokers Late Model race for 2008, Noel McCormack set fast time with 12.187, Jarred Beddow clocked his personal best for the year with 12.246, Mike Lovell was 12.276, Forrest Kuecker at 12.302 and Kevin Ostern qualified 5th with a 12.368.
Allen Gibney of Fort Bragg won the 6 car 6 lap slow dash from the pole. The race behind him saw a lot of action with Mike Martin, Eric Graham and Mike Bourbon competing for the 2nd spot. Martin finished 2nd, then Graham, Bourbon, Williamson and Myles Anderson finishing 5th.
Kevin Ostern won the 6 car 6 lap fast dash from the pole. Kuecker 2nd, Lovell, Beddow, McCormack and Caturegli finished in that order.
The main event lined up with a 10 car invert and Eric Graham started on the pole with Charlie Collins on his outside. Up 3rd was Jimmy Stillman, then Bill Binns rounded out the top 4. Graham took the lead over Collins on the start. On lap 2 the first of 5 yellows came out, this one for Mike Lovell’s solo pin. On the restart we saw Jimmy Stillman put pressure on Graham. Jimmy was on a mission to grab every point he could. The next 12 laps saw Graham, Stillman and Collins nose to tail waiting for someone to make a mistake. Lap 14 was the second yellow, this one for Beddow’s spin. The field restarted with 36 laps to go. Once again, we saw Graham, Stillman, Collins and Binns leading the way. By lap 19 Stillman had enough and made his move for the lead. He took over on lap 21. Stillman had the lead for the next 11 laps, with him and Graham pulling away from the pack. Lovell and Binns were a few cars back and it looked like Stillman was going to gain a position in the final point standings, until lap 32 when the 3rd yellow came out for Mike Bourbon, who blew a tire in turn 4, and the track bunched up for a restart with Stillman, Graham, McCormack and Collins lining up. It didn’t take long for McCormack to start challenging for the lead. Stillman didn’t make this easy for him, as he hit his mark every time and didn’t give up an inch. McCormack finally overtook him on lap 34. The 4th yellow came out for Graham and Kuecker on lap 36. The 5th and final yellow came out one lap later for Collins who was running in the top 5 all night and had just moved into 3rd place. He blew a tire and hit turn 2 wall and his red #69 sponsored by Lake County Audio and A&A Auto was done for the night. McCormack took the win.
This is Noel McCormack’s 6th win of the season. Jimmy Stillman finished 2nd and that gave him 15 points more than Binns, he only needed 8 points to move up 1 spot to 5th in the points. Kevin Ostern finished 3rd, this is the finish he needed to hold on to 2nd in the points. Mike Lovell finished 4th, giving him 5 markers ahead of Stillman to finish 4th in the points. Bill Binns finished 5th. This is his 2nd straight 5th finish and his 5th top 5 finish of the season. Jarred Beddow finished 6th, giving him 3rd place in overall points.
Meanwhile, Back at the Track …
Kevin Ostern has had 3 weeks to plan strategy on keeping Jarred Beddow in 3rd place – Mike Lovell and Bill Binns are tied for 4th, Unless Jim Stillman catches up to them, HE’S ONLY 7 POINTS BEHIND! Collins- Hopkins- Caturegli, are only separated by 11 points! This is gonna be good!
TOP 5 REASONS TO GO TO LAKEPORT SPEEDWAY THIS WEEKEND
- This is Airport Auto Brokers Late Models Last Points Race
- The Nostalgic Car Club will be on the track
- Our1/4 mile track is bigger than your TV screen
- Stock up on race T-shirts , Christmas is coming
- Somebody is going to ask watcha did this summer
Rick Rose Sets Fast Time, Noel McCormack Clinches Airport Auto Brokers Late Model Championship
Saturday Night brought 19 cars to the late model class, and it looked like there was going to be a ‘B’ main until Kevin Esteps’ P&L Body Shop sharp red # 21 and Berndt Akerstroms’ North Counties 
Development bright blue #37 broke during hot laps. 17 Cars qualified for the 7th Airport Auto Brokers Late Model Points Race. Rick Rose, sitting in for Mike Lovell, set fast time with a 12.258, Noel McCormack had a 12.289, Eric Graham 12.298, Bill Binns 12.318 and Sean Caturegli qualified 5th with a 12.346.
Mike Swaney of Lucerne won the 6 car 6 lap slow dash from the pole. The race behind him saw a lot of action with Chris Straka, Eric Williamson and Mike Bourbon clashing for 2nd place. Straka finished 2nd, then Williamson, Bourbon, Allen Gibney and Myles Anderson in 6th.
Bill Binns won the 6 car 6 lap fast dash from the 3rd starting spot. Kevin Ostern 2nd, Rose, Graham, McCormack and Caturegli finished in that order.
The main event lined up with a 12 car invert and Mike Bourbon started on the pole with Jimmy Stillman on his outside. Up 3rd was Steve Taylor then Forrest Kuecker rounding out the top 4. Stillman took the outside lead over Bourbon on the start. On lap 2 the first of 3 yellows came out, this one for Eric Williamson who spun in turn 1 collecting Straka, Swaney and Anderson. After the race, Eric said “When I went into turn 1 something broke and I spun. I felt bad for collecting the other drivers.” Swaney and Anderson were able to return to racing action, but Strakas’ light blue #48, sponsored by the Buckhorn Club, and was down for the night. By lap 6 Stillman and Kuecker had pulled away from the pack with a strong lead. Bourbon and Taylor, who were about 4 car lengths back, were having their own battle for 3rd. The next 14 laps saw a lot of side by side racing with Collins and Binns taking over 3rd and 4th and Stillman still leading, with Kuecker hot on his bumper. Lap 20 brought the next yellow for Taylors’ solo spin in turn 1. Stillman got a jump on the restart and was hitting his mark every turn, but hard charging McCormack and Rick Rose were coming up through the pack. By lap 39, 
McCormack had caught up with Stillman and for the next 6 laps McCormack was putting a lot of pressure on him. By lap 45 Rose was pressuring McCormack. On lap 46, the last yellow came out for Stillman. Stillman had done everything he could to hold the lead and when he spun in turn 4 you could here a gasp from fans in the stands and in the pits. On the restart, McCormack inherited the lead, up from his11th place start, followed by Rose, Kuecker, Collins and Binns. McCormack took the win. This is his 5th win of the season and he was able to clinch the Airport Auto Brokers Late Models championship with one race to go. Rick Rose finished 2nd and set fast time. For only being in the car a few hot laps and doing double duty in his modified, this was a very good race for him. Great job Rick! Forrest Kuecker finished 3rd, which is his best finish of the season and his second top 5 finish. Charlie Collins finished 4th, also his best finish of the season and his 2nd top 5. Bill Binns finished 5th, that makes his 4th top 5 for the season.
The season is not over yet. Ostern has only a 12 point lead over Beddow. Lovell and Binns are tied for 4th with both having a win this season and Stillman currently in 6th place with only 7 markers from 4th place, so the last race will be full of action. 2nd through 6th place will be jockeying for position, but don’t count anyone out. The only position clinched so far is first. 2nd through 19th is anybodies race, all have a chance to advance.
