May 6, 2006...Pat
Ariaz waited through the winter and two rainouts to finally have his first win
in the first Northern California Modified (sprint car) Association asphalt race
of 2006.
A
perfect spring day and more than a dozen sprint cars made the tow all the way to
the tip of
Clear
Lake
to run this race. Let the racing begin!
Gary
Koster of
Woodland
made an unbelievable move on the last lap to take the win from
Concord
’s Burt Siverling to come in first for the first heat race.
Antioch
’s Jeff Kendt picked up the number one spot for the second heat race, as he
went wire to wire in the lead position.
The
Trophy Dash consisted of the four top qualifiers inverted.
Manteca
’s Ariaz was to set the pace with Koster. Ed Amador Modesto’s “racing
farmer” and Mike Zarevich also from
Manteca
and fast time this evening, right behind them. When the green flag came out the
dash was on. As they came to turn one Ariaz and Koster traded tire rubber and it
seemed to sort itself out. On the
white flag lap, Zarevich drove into turn one hard and Amador was on the brakes
hard. Fortunately no harm was done and Koster took the dash.
The
30 Lap Main Event began with Oakley’s Scott Holloway (the track record holder)
on the pole and Ariaz right next to him. Ariaz
attained the first position after he beat Holloway to turn one, lap one. Ariaz,
who has been the NCMA Asphalt Champion for three years running, picked up his
second win at Lakeport. His first
was in 2003. The pack was running tight making the only way to pass on the
outside. Holloway was holding second and they were all holding hard when Bobby
Bankson of
Rancho Cordova
and
Antioch
’s Dan Gonderman went for the position. Bankson
made it around Holloway coming off turn four and gained second by a nose.
Holloway maintained third, with Gonderman in fourth and Zarevich rounding
out the top five. Jeff Burrows of
Manteca
, Koster,
Morgan Hill
’s Rob Hammond, Jimmy Lavell from
Brentwood
, and Siverling were the top ten. Jack
Clark out of
Santa Rosa
was not able to finish as he had a power steering problem. Amador suffered from
overheating problems and Kendt also retired with mechanical problems.
This
being the first race of the asphalt series and their yearly run to one of the
favored tracks on NCMA’s circuit made it pretty special as thirteen sprinters
started the main event. This was
the biggest field of NCMA sprints to race at Lakeport in six years. Big thanks
to Bob and Nadine Strauss and staff that not only make it great racing but
enjoyable for the racers and their families.
Please
join NCMA as they race on the ”Fastest Half Mile in
the West”,
Altamont
Motorsports
Park
on Sunday, May 21. To get further information please check our website,
WWW.NCMARacing.com.
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