By Gary Jacob
Colusa, CA -- Still a top feature winner despite not racing weekly at his home track in Lakeport, Noel McCormack enjoyed a $250 perfect night as the Colusa County Fair ran an special outlaw kart show for 125's and Box Stocks on a Thursday night. In the 125 action, McCormack won both of his heat races, then pulled a two for the feature inversion for all three classes. That put him outside front row for the 25 lap feature and he was never headed enroute to the solid payday. Kyle Larson grabbed second from pole starter Mason Moore on lap 17 and chased down McCormack, but McCormack skillfully handled the late lapped traffic for the win ahead of Larson, Cody Miller, Moore and Tristan Miller. The Box Stock 25 lapper had a wild conclusion as Tyler Reddick set the pace from lap 5 to a lap 24 yellow flag. On the restart, new runnerup Jake Cartwright got tangled up with Reddick as they raced out of turn 4 and Cyle Allison was in the right place at the right time as he drove by the melee for the $250 win. Rookie Alissa Geving from Santa Rosa ended up second ahead of David Lee. Garry Burdick came from 13th to place 4th to pocket the $100 award for improving the most spots. It was a big night for the Lee clan from Maxwell as David's little brother Devin Lee led the final 11 laps to win the 20 lap Beginner Box Stock feature. He was chased to the checkered flag by early leader Tanner Thomson and Katina Baker. This division doesn't race for money, but the top ten finishers all received trophies.
The 125s had 11 karts sign in, but Cycleland star Thomas Bruckenstein trailered after the first heat race due to the very bumpy track conditions. Eight year old Reddick tried racing in two classes, but the rough track took it's toll on his frail body and they elected to concentrate on the Box Stocks. The 8 year old is already the west's most active racer and he will expand on that schedule by flying to Charlotte NC for the next 15 weeks to race a Bandolero there on Monday and Tuesday nights in addition to his California Friday and Saturday outlaw kart racing. The Tuesday night shows will be televised on the Speed Channel on a delayed basis. This year, the Colusa event run by Bob and Nadine Strauss' Lakeport Speedway officials used a two heat format with the heat finishes added together. McCormack won both of his heat races while Moore combined a first and a second with Larson putting together a win and a third. C Miller had two seconds. The two kart inversion for the 25 lap feature put Moore and McCormack on the front row ahead of Larson, C Miller, Colby Copeland and T Miller. Mikey Lovell missed the preliminary action, but tagged the 9 kart feature race. He spun to force a restart and McCormack took a quick lead over Moore, C Miller and Larson. Larson gained third on lap 2 and Trevor Cristiani's race was over when he stalled for a lap 5 yellow flag. Copeland ran off the top of turn 2 for a lap 9 yellow and Lovell tangled with Ethan Rohner for a final yellow flag on lap 10. Larson got a high line dialed and he drove around Moore for second on lap 17. He appeared to be reeling in leader McCormack, but McCormack picked a faster line through the slower karts to protect his advantage. Moore got too high in turn 4 on lap 23 and lost third to C Miller. McCormack won ahead of Larson, C Miller, Moore, T Miller, Copeland and Rohner. No one improved by more than one position in the 25 lapper so I am not aware of who will get the $100 hard charger award.
There were 19 Box Stocks and Cartwright paced the heat action with two wins. Both Jeremy Doss and Reddick combined a win and a second while Lakeport star Kyle Tellstrom had two seconds. Geving and James Edens put together a 2nd and a 3rd. Allison was relegated to the B Main as he broke leading his first heat and ran third in the other. The top ten point earners in the heat action advanced and five karts moved up from a B Main where last year's winner Kenny Allen beat Allison, Burdick, Brendon Lewis, Sean Martin and Nolan Tkachenko. The two kart inversion for the 25 lap feature put Doss and Cartwright on the front row ahead of Reddick, Tellstrom, Edens and Geving. Cartwright paced Reddick for the first 4 laps. Cameron Bartlett took third on lap 2 when Doss, Edens and Allison tangled. Reddick took the top spot from Cartwright on lap 5 and Allen moved into third on lap 8. Lewis and Jeremy Phillips tangled for a lap 12 yellow flag and third place duelers Allen and Bartlett tangled for a lap 13 yellow. Bartlett's race was over as the rim riding R J Johnson raced into third. Johnson had won his first heat, but struggled in heat 2. R Johnson gained second from Cartwright on lap 16 and Allison was now fourth ahead of Geving. Phillips ran off the end of the track for a lap 23 yellow flag. On this restart, Cartwright got into R Johnson and R Johnson spun to trigger the final restart with just one lap remaining. Cartwright had his shot at Reddick on this final green, but his inside bid as they accelerated off turn 4 saw them locked together on the infield berm with Allison racing past for the rich win. Geving ran second ahead of David Lee, Burdick, R Johnson, Doss, Allen and Edens. The disappointed Reddick was 9th and Cartwright ran 11th behind Lewis.
The Beginner Box Stock class fielded 13 karts. R J Phillips paced the heat action with two wins. Devin Lee had a win and a second and Tanner Thomson matched that record. Aaron Yetter had a 2nd and a 3rd. Devin Lee won his first heat by 1/3 lap, but got tangled up with Tyler Barnes leading in the other heat and settled for 2nd. Yetter flipped leading his second heat race. The two kart inversion put Thomson and Phillips on the front row ahead of Devin Lee and A Yetter. The 20 lap feature was run with just two yellow flags despite constant lapped traffic. Phillips led the first lap, but was passed by Thomson on lap 2. Lee settled into third and Barnes crashed for a lap 4 yellow flag. On lap 9, Devin Lee passed both Thomson and Phillips on the outside for the top spot. Phillips crashed in turn 4 and A J Sauer was out with a broken front end. Baker raced into second on this restart, but lost the spot back to Thomson on the final lap as Devin Lee won . Thomson ran second over Baker, Phillips, Zach Yetter and Taylor Miller.
In addition to the three classes that raced, four ultra beginner box stocks as young as 4 years old got some practice laps in a couple on track sessions. They included Wyatt Perry, Taylor Perry, Carley Costa and Riley Peacock.
Summary Beginner Box Stock Heat 1-Devin Lee, Tanner Thomson, Katina Baker, Tyler Barnes, A J Sauer. Heat 2-R J Phillips, Riley Matson, Aaron Yetter, Taylor Miller, Allison Costa. Heat 3-Thomson, Devin Lee, Zach Yetter, Baker, Barnes. Heat 4-Phillips, A Yetter, Miller, Matson, Costa. Main-Devin Lee, Thomson, Baker, Phillips, Z Yetter, Miller, Matson, A Yetter, Riley Peacock, Costa, Austin Mitchell, Sauer, Barnes. Box Stock Heat 1-Cameron Bartlett, Jeremy Doss, Alissa Geving, Garry Burdick, Bryce Perry. Heat 2-Jake Cartwright, Kyle Tellstrom, David Lee, Brandon Lewis, Garrett Peacock. Heat 3-R J Johnson, Tyler Reddick, James Edens, Jeremy Phillips, Kenny Allen. Heat 4-Doss, Geving, Sean Martin, Burdick, Perry. Heat 5-Cartwright, Tellstrom, Cyle Allison, David Lee, Nolan Tkachenko. Heat 6-Reddick, Edens, Phillips, Allen, Chris Starr. B Main-Allen, Allison, Burdick, Lewis, Martin, Tkachenko, Perry, Starr, G Peacock.A Main-Allison, Geving, David Lee, Burdick, Johnson, Doss, Allen, Edens, Reddick, Lewis, Cartwright, Tkachenko, Tellstrom, Phillips, Bartlett. 125 Intermediate Heat 1-Mason Moore, Colby Copeland, Kyle Larson, Tristan Miller, Thomas Bruckenstein. Heat 2-Noel McCormack, Cody Miller, Tyler Reddick, Ethan Rohner, Trevor Cristiani. Heat 3-Larson, Moore, T Miller, Copeland. Heat 4-McCormack, C Miller, Cristiani, Rohner. Main-McCormack, Larson, C Miller, Moore, T Miller, Copeland, Rohner, Mikey Lovell, Cristiani.