Recreation
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- Written by: Editor
There are two point races left this season, and the chase is on for the first place positions.
Admission is $15 for adults, $10 seniors, and 5 and under are free. Bring your chairs and get ready to watch the racers, for the age of 5 years and up, race their hearts out for that Championship Trophy!
The track is located on South Main Street, behind the second Strohmeier's auto dealership, across from the Shell gas station and car wash.
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- Written by: Leslie Lorenson
Forty-one drivers in the four different classes were ready to race, despite the hot temperatures.
Beginner Box Stocks
Celest Lathrop, #9N won the trophy dash. Heat 1 was won by #3T, Tyler Hawkins, Heat 2, #38X, Hollis Tackeray, and the third heat was won by #33L, Gary "Buddy" Lowblad.
Due to the large entry list in the Beginner Box, a semi main even was run, with the top four drivers of the race being transfered to the main event. Jake Fernandes, #4J, lead the race and fought hard to take the checkered, followed by Hawkins, Thackaray and #38, Colby Jackson, right behind.
The main event had six different caution flags brought out, but #7K Karmen Davis raced strong against #19 Jack Long to keep the lead for the checkered flag win. Third place was Tyler Brown, followed by Jakob Jackson, Austin Ohlinger, Buddy Kofoid and the rest of the pack.
Box Stocks
Cavin Hawkins, #3C took the green flag for the trophy dash and lead four laps to win, followed by #18 Marcus Johnson, #29R Riley Matson and the #21 kart of Kevin Coburn. Coburn also one the heat race.
Brenton Smith, #01, led most of the laps in the main event, but Coburn managed to push his way to take the lead position with only a few laps to go. Coburn took the victory, followed by Hawkins, Smith, Matson and Ashley Lovrin. Johnson was unable to finish the race due to mechanical difficulties.
The 125/250's trophy dash winner was #27 Toni Rossi, followed by #75 Jeremy Doss, #12 Shane Brandon and #2R Kelsie Kennedy. Heat race 1 showed #3M Marty Hawkins in the lead for nine laps out of 10 while holding off #5K Kyle Tellstrem, #7 Drew Smith, #63A Amanda Moore and the #20 Cody Kaye.
During heat race 2, #24 Chase Johnson kept his pole starting position with Rossi, Doss, Kennedy and Brandon following.
During the main event, the first caution was thrown when Moore and Johnson got tangled up. They were able to make it back out on the track, with Kennedy moving up four positions in just 10 laps. While Kaye and Kennedy were battling for the 1st place position, the action was brewing for third place with Doss and Hawkins.
With less than 10 laps to go, Kennedy took the lead from Kaye, which was short-lived due to her spinning out. Doss took advantage and gained the lead, with Kaye, Hawkins and Rossi following him to the checkered flag. Brandon took fifth place, followed by Johnson, Tellstrem, Smith, Moore and Kennedy.
The 500's trophy dash was won by #89 Ethan Rhoner after taking the lead from #34X Marty Hawkins. #7J JoJo Hoberg took 2nd, #90 Trevor Christaiani in third, and Hawkins finished fourth.
The first heat race was dominated by #66 Kelsie Kennedy but not without a fight from #58 Daryl Levier. #21 Justin Kaye, #17DB, Richard Defrancisi, and #64 Jason Soderquist followed. Heat Race two was led for eight laps by Hawkins, while holding of #01K Kayla Mincey, Helbert, Rohner and Cristaiani.
Justin Kaye took the win for the main event, followed by Levier in a close second. Helberg was following closely in third with Soderquist right behind. Fourth place was taken by Defrancisi, then Hawkins, Rohner, Mincey, Kennedy and last place to the #90 that was not able to finish the race.
Many caution flags were thrown during this race but they were able to pull a full race out of it, with no major car damage.
Please bring your family out to the track and join us Sunday, Sept. 9th at the new track. There are two point races left this season, and the chase is on for the first place positions.
Admission is $15 for adults, $10 seniors, and 5 and under are free. So, please, bring your chairs, and get ready to watch our racers, for the age of 5 years and up, race their hearts out for that Championship Trophy!
We are located on South Main Street, behind the second Strohmeiers auto dealership, across from the Shell gas station and car wash.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Brief relief from high temps came early in the week, but a warming cycle has us creeping back into the 100s again as we move towards the weekend. A pair of distant wildfires is burning placing a veil of heavy smoke over our lake and surrounding areas. Local media reports that smoke could affect air quality to unhealthy levels for some. With any luck, the winds will shift and blow the smoke out before the weekend. As for the fishing … most (but not all) would say it has been tough.
Experienced bass anglers report reasonably good success on jerk baits, some crank baits and spinner baits. It seems, according to most reports, that the bass want a fast moving bait. The fish are coming from depths of 15 to 20 feet to whack that fast-moving bait running in the 4 to 8 foot range. A couple of bass guys have reported having their premium bass lures mauled by aggressive catfish in the process.
Shore anglers are having a tough time finding water deep enough to be productive. Minnow fishermen are the exception to the rule as they are experiencing a surprisingly good bite on extra large minnows while fishing the drop offs and ledges near deep water.
The crappie bite is about as off as it gets. I’ve had one accidental angler (he was fishing for bass) tie into a couple of nice crappie over near the Rock Garden in Jago Bay. But most folks are not able to put together any sort of comprehensive crappie bite information. Bring on the cooler weather!
The catfish are out hunting for food like the bass are. Live minnows have accounted for some strong success. Others are fishing more traditional baits (clams, shrimp, mackerel and livers) in deeper water areas with varied success.
Five-year-old Jacob Johnson and his dad Carl of Sacramento nailed a 17.5 pound cat a Konocti Harbor Resort on a live minnow. Way to go guys!
Our next CatFest event is being planned for Saturday, Sept. 22. Stay tuned for more details in future weeks.
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
This year, kicking off the two-week marathon, the evening ceremony honored Althea Gibson with her induction into the US Open Court of Champions in celebration of the 50th anniversary of her historic title victory at the US National Championships.
Only three years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, Althea became the first African American to do the same in the tennis world. It would take a few years, but in 1957, Althea was the first African American, male or female, to win a Grand Slam tournament in the United States. The tribute to this pioneering African American woman featured a rousing musical performance by the legendary Aretha Franklin.
Unlike other sporting events that focus on a single game at a time, the US Open offers more tennis matches than anyone could possibly absorb all at once. Day and night sessions occur at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the primary venue that has assigned seating. Meanwhile, daytime matches occur at the Louis Armstrong Stadium and the Grandstand, two venues with a mix of assigned seating and first-come, first-served accommodations.
As if that is not enough, tennis matches were also taking place opening day on 12 additional courts that have only limited seating capacity.
Choices have to be made, and on this first day of tennis, I was joined by an old friend, a former college professor who has serious knowledge of the rules of tennis. Courtesy of CBS Sports, we had two tickets for the Arthur Ashe Stadium, but judiciously chose to move about other venues as well.
Now my friend was probably more annoyed than amused by my limited knowledge of tennis rules, and as if to underscore my ignorance, I purposely asked dumb questions. At a tennis match, you don’t ask who’s throwing out the first pitch and how many innings are played in one set. As a player rushes the net for a ball certain to drop low, one doesn’t yell “slide.” As a matter of fact, tennis is a game of decorum in which silence is golden during play.
One thing to keep in mind about the early rounds of the US Open tournament is that the top-seeded players face opponents who may be unranked and qualified for tournament play in a number of ways that I am unable to explain.
Roger Federer, the Swiss phenomenon, is ranked No. 1, and this year he is bidding to become the first man since Bill Tilden in 1923 to collect a fourth consecutive US Open Championship title. On opening day at Arthur Ashe, Federer breezed to three straight set wins over American Scoville Jenkins.
It was the most boring match of the day, as Federer hardly worked up a sweat. In fact, the only press that Federer generated on this day was by responding to a press conference question about Althea Gibson by saying “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Apparently his grasp of tennis history is confined to more recent times.
My friend wisely picked the match between young American John Isner, a wild card ranked at No. 192, and Jarkko Nieminen from Finland, ranked No. 26. This showdown was scheduled for the Louis Armstrong Stadium, where we were fortunate to grab a pair of unassigned seats.
The match was the towering upset of the day, in which the 22-year-old American, having played earlier this year for the University of Georgia, made a remarkable Grand Slam debut by toppling one of the game’s craftiest players with both power and panache.
Despite some bone-headed plays and questionable shot selections, the lanky Isner, standing 6 feet 9 inches, played a quality match with his powerful serve. On this day, the young American became the crowd favorite, and eventually he moved on to a third round shot at Roger Federer.
The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, are also crowd favorites, so perhaps it was fitting that they would play in the featured matches of the opening night session, although obviously not against each other.
Venus, ranked No. 12, easily dispatched her Hungarian opponent, Kira Nagy, in two straight sets. Meanwhile, Serena, ranked No. 8, who has not played since Wimbledon due to injury, didn’t have as sharp an outing in this first round as her sister, having to work a bit harder to secure at 6-3, 7-5 victory over her German opponent, Angelique Kerber.
Given that the Althea Gibson ceremony kicked off the night session, it seemed only proper that the African American sisters would play the featured matches.
Another fan favorite is American player James Blake, currently ranked No. 6. He even has his own rooting section, known as the “J-Block,” where his fans sport the same type of headband Blake always wears.
In a rare matchup with a fellow American, Blake was a featured player on the second day at Arthur Ashe, beating Michael Russell after surviving two tense tiebreakers. Blake’s style of play is fun to watch, but he’s somewhat erratic and prone to mistakes that can prove costly.
With the possibility of spending an entire day at the US Open, it is no small matter that the best food concessions in sports are found in Flushing Meadows. Courtside box holders have access to filet mignon and crab cakes at the Aces restaurant. Regular folks can get a Maine lobster club sandwich and all sorts of international foods in more casual dining areas.
Just as the Kentucky Derby has its mint julep, the US Open is pushing its own signature cocktail, the Honey Deuce, a concoction put together by Grey Goose that blends vodka and lemonade with a float of Chambord raspberry liqueur. Sadly, two days is not enough time to sample all the great food and libations.
Tim Riley writes movie and television reviews for Lake County News.
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