EL CAJON, Calif. - When Sid's Auto Body stepped forward to bring Davey Hamilton's Supermodified Racing League event at Cajon Speedway, it didn't know how appropriate that sponsorship might be. Attrition was high and body damage excessive. Simply put, the safest place to be was out in front of the pack. Rookie Dale Lamborn of Carson City was the biggest beneficiary. The Nevada driver took home winning honors in the 30-lap SRL event on the 3/8 mile paved oval.
Even though Lamborn paced every lap of the main event in his Silsby machine, he almost saw defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Lonnie Adamson closed quickly in the final laps in his Vernon and Carol Reitz "Spirit of Madera" special. T
he youngster was poised to take over the number one spot when the checkered flag flew. Leading rookie contender Jim Birges ran third in his Hyder. Rick Veenstra drove his Moyne to fourth place. Fast qualifier Troy Regier may have picked up enough points to sew up the season's championship with his fifth place run in his Dave Biswell owned Hyder.
Lamborn was originally scheduled to start third in the eight-car invert. But that lineup was scuttled after the heat race accidents sidelined his teammate Eric Silsby, Scott Schmidt and Lee Yetter. Those withdrawals left Lamborn fourth on the realigned lineup. Then the SRL officials waved Dave Adamson off the track during the pace laps. This left Brian McLees and Lamborn on the front row.
Lamborn got the jump on the start and never lost the lead.
Regier was the man on the move when the green flag flew. Starting sixth he drove deeper into the corners to pick off his competition on the high side.
Jim Birges and Kelly Newman gave way on the first lap. On lap six Lonnie Adamson fell victim. Regier had gone around McLees into second on lap seven when the first yellow was displayed to remove an air cleaner from the track.
When the race restarted Regier dove under McLees in turn two and then set sail for Lamborn. Laps 10 and 11 saw Regier try the high pass for the lead in turn three, but Lamborn held on each time. Then on lap 11, the lineup was shaken up.
Adamson, challenging for third, ended up riding up and over McLees' mount in turns three and four. He actually got all four wheels off the ground in the process. Somehow fifth place Newman, who was driving Davey Hamilton's supermodified, ended up getting driven over as well.
Both McLees and Newman were sidelined with intake and injector damage. McLees had his oil filter adapter torn off as well. The race was stopped to clean up oil and debris.
During this period, Regier pitted to replace the rear end cover o-ring, which had come off and was leaking oil. He was able to restart from the rear and made short order of most of those who remained in competition.
"He (Lonnie Adamson) drove right into the left rear and kept going," a dejected McLees explained. "He kept chopping me off," Adamson countered. "Finally he got me. I just let it stay in there (after getting underneath him). I didn't change my position."
The final 20 laps ran non-stop with Lamborn first building a lead and then watching it evaporate. Adamson finally got going in the closing laps and worked his way back onto the Lamborn's tail. But a couple of late moves to pass Lamborn were unsuccessful. Adamson had to settle for second.
"The car seemed fine (after the lap 11 incident). It started getting better at the end," Adamson added. "I was changing my line. It was pretty tight all day except for that first hot lap session."
It marked the second straight victory for Lamborn, who cut his teeth in auto racing in stock cars in Carson City. Lamborn previously won at Altamont Speedway near Tracy on Sept. 19. Regier felt he earned enough points with his fourth place run to clinch the initial SRL championship though officials were unable to confirm that.
"A lot of carnage tonight," Lamborn said. "A lot of good cars got taken out early. It was a sad deal. Usually we run really clean shows. It's getting down to the last couple races of the season and there are some points battles going on. They're showing it on the track. But it was a good night for me. I was really nervous about it (beforehand). But everything worked out in our favor. The Lord was on my side.
"This is an awesome track. I like this and Altamont the best. Yes, El Cajon and Altamont are my favorite tracks."
Sixteen supermodifieds signed in for the first appearance of the winged machines at Cajon in five seasons. Ray Stebbins lost a motor hot lapping. Then there was a first lap incident in heat one when Eric Silsby, Lamborn's teammate, and Scott Schmidt got intertwined on the backstretch. Both hit the wall and were out for the night. Lee Yetter found the turn three tire barrier in the second heat. And then both Gerry Vantreight and Dave Adamson pulled in on the warmup laps for the feature. Every time Vantreight stepped on the throttle, his car died. The elder Adamson had problems getting his car going all night. That thinned the field to 10 cars for the feature.
PIT NOTES: Lamborn is a former champion at Silver State Raceway in Carson City. He took a couple of years off from racing, then he got hooked up with Tom and Eric Silsby. They got him into supermodified racing.
