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| East Bay Raceway Winternationals Opens With Tragedy | Ronald Laney of Humble Texas suffered a fatal sprint car crash, leading the B Main event on opening night of the 4th annual King of the 360's, Wednesday night at East Bay Raceway. It was the second fatality in the tracks 26 year history.
On lap three, Laney, who had started the 15 lap qualifying race outside the front row, was exiting turn two when his car appeared to veer toward the outside wall, slamming it and apparently flipping. His car then spun around as it came off the wall and was hit by the car of Dean Kline.
The infield was cleared of all vehicles and a Medvac Helicopter was dispatched from Tampa General Hospital, however, it was turned away just above the track, when Laney was pronounced dead at the scene by the Hillsborough County Fire and Rescue.
The event was one of Laney's favorites and he had qualified for all three previous King of the 360's, proudly wearing the King's crown after the second one held in the year 2000. As a tribute to him, starting this year track owner Stanley Kolan has renamed the race the Ronald Laney Memorial King of the 360's, which will start with a "missing man" formation.
For the first time, the 69 cars signed in were not time trialing and heat line-ups were by luck of the draw with passing points being used to determine the feature line-ups. Just as the cars were about to hot lap , an unexpected rain hit the track at 6:20pm causing a two hour delay.
Eight heat races and two C Main events were completed when the 1st B Main fatal aciident occurred with three laps in the books. Track owner, Stanley Kolan halted the program at that point and track announcer Jack Miller, paid a touching tribute to Ronald Laney, whom he had watched grow into a fine sprint car racer.
Present thinking is that in order to be fair to all drivers, owners and fans, the balance of Wednesday's show will be run as an afternoon show prior to Friday's program. The Bar B Que originally set for Friday at noon will be switched to Saturday starting at 12:00 noon and lasting until 2:30pm
RESULTS
1st Heat - Wayne Johnson, Phil Gressman, Mike Brecht, Jason Johnson, Buzz Wilson, Micheal Dupuy, Brian Maddox, Dean Kline, Jordan Richardson
2nd Heat - Kelly Kinser, Gary Wright, Brad Pake, Paulie Milium, Chad Kemenah, Corey Herring, Don Droud Jr., Toby Brown, Johnny Bridges
3rd Heat - Curt Micheal, Justin Barger, Dusty Bellemger, Travis Rilat, Jeff Shepard, Red Stauffer, Wayne Pennington, Freddie Rahmer, Frank Carlsson
4th Heat - Greg Wilson, Greg Leonard, Tim Crawley, Shane Stewart, Kelly Angelette, Paul Sides, Mike Woodring, Doug Stanley, Tom Winegardner
5th Heat - Jeff Vandusen, Kenny Adams, Greg Coverdale, Marshall Skinner, Kyle Drum, Kevin Welsh, George Suprick, Ryan Coniam, Joe Bustillos
6th Heat - Mike Chadd, Danny Martin Jr., Joe Melnick, Sport Allen, Christi Passmore, Zach Chappell, Casey Johnson, Paul Weaver
7th Heat - Jason Sides, Ronald Laney, Lance Dewease, Jac Haudenschild, Johnny Gilbertson, Daren Clayton, Brian Tyler, Jesse Gianetto
8th Heat - Terry Pletch, Terry McCarl, Joey Saldana, Donnie Cooper, Robbie Hawks, Rob Dietrick, Brandon Dover, Doug Day
1st C Main - George Suprick, Brian Tyler, Wayne Penninton, Dean Kline, Freddie Rahmer, Jesse Gianetto, Ryan Coniam, Joe Bustillos
2nd C Main - Mike Woodring, Brian Maddox, Toby Brown, Paul Weaver, Doug Stanley, Brandon Dover, Jerry Bridges, Jordan Richardson
1st B Main - Halted by Red Flag on Lap 3
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