The POWRi Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midgets and the vintage division continued the celebration of the club's 80th year of existence with a visit on July 5th to the familiar confines of the ¼-mile Lakeport Speedway on the grounds of the Lake County fairgrounds.
Mark Maliepaard winner earlier this season at Stockton 99 Speedway was unable to diagnosis and apparent ignition problem with the Esslinger engine in his Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special and withdrew before time trials.
David Goodwill in his #3 DDS Racing machine edged out Frankie Guerrini in the Bob Rosen #4 midget by only .001 seconds as he posted the quick time of 12.253 seconds on his second timed lap around the Lakeport oval.
Nine-time POWRi BCRA champion Floyd Alvis was the third fastest qualifier at 12.575 seconds, with JR Williams fourth at 13.725 seconds and current POWRi BCRA points leader and Rookie-of-the-Year contender Robert Carson fifth at 14.240 seconds.
Time trials proved to be the last time anyone topped Guerrini and the potent #4 Mr. Espresso wrenched by Frankie’s dad, Frank. Frankie captured the trophy dash as he executed a nifty outside pass in turn three of leader Alvis on lap two, and streaked to victory over Goodwill, Alvis and Williams.
The heat race featured a fully inverted start, and the drop of the green flag, front row starter JR Williams surged into the lead for the first lap until Guerrini and Goodwill got past JR in turn four on the second of ten laps. Frankie won the race by five car lengths over Goodwill trailed by Williams, Alvis and Carson.
The starting field for the 30-lap feature was set as an invert of the heat race finish. The near capacity crowd watched as Floyd Alvis charged into the lead on lap one as Guerrini and Goodwill maneuvered through the field. The speedy pair charged past the green #18 in turn four on the second lap, with Guerrini on the outside and Goodwill on the inside.
Frankie quickly built a five-car lead until he reached lapped traffic, and after he and Goodwill emerged free of the traffic, Guerrini held a ten-car length advantage. Goodwill steadily reeled in the leader over the last half of the race and closed to a five-car length deficit at the checkered flag.
Floyd Alvis finished strong in third place, as Guerrini only lapped the #18 on the race’s final circuit. Robert Carson is the Segur #99 finished fourth two laps behind the leader with JR Williams’ #74 fifth, only two car lengths behind Robert at the finish.
The POWRi BCRA midgets will be in action on July 13th for Gerhardt Classic at Madera Speedway in a program that will be taped to air at a later date on the MAV television network. The racing program will also include a 100-lap race for the California Challenge Cup stock cars, Focus Midgets, NCMA Sprint cars, Legends of Kearney Bowl, and the CVMS Mini Stock Invasion.
Author’s note: thanks to the efforts of Bob Roza, we also can share the results of the POWRi BCRA races at Ukiah Speedway on July 6. David Goodwill again topped Guerrini in qualifying, but Frankie once again swept the racing program as he won the trophy dash, the heat race and the feature. The Ukiah feature finish order was Guerrini, Goodwill, Floyd Alvis, JR Williams and Robert Carson.