IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 10, 2004 FSCR Moran Wins Saturday Night Shoot-out at The 'Clay on the Bay' A horrendous triple flip on the frontstraight shook up Sean Cosgrove and destroyed the 64 Xtreme Late Model Bret Emrick Donnie Moran of Dresden,OH pocketed $15,000 Saturday for his victory in the 75 lap finale of the "YJ Stinger 28th Annual Winternationals" at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa (Gibsonton),FL, sanctioned by the Stacker2/Xtreme DirtCar Series. Driving the QPI Tools Dirt Ripper Donnie Moran Racing No. 99 MasterSbilt/SMS Engines/Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Moran overhauled Matt Miller on lap 49 and then held Miller at bay taking the win by nearly 3 seconds. Steve Shaver, who started 12th, rode home in third with 14th starting Davey Johnson fourth and 19th starting Shane Clanton finished fifth. Rounding out the top ten runners were Don O'Neal in sixth followed by Jimmy Mars, Dennis "Rambo" Franklin, 24th starting Ray Cook and Billy Drake. "If your going to win one of this races you might as well make it the big money race," said Moran to the nearly SRO crowd that was on hand for the final race of the six-night event at East Bay Raceway Park. "The car worked nearly flawlessly. It wasn't that good in the dash so we went to work on it and got it just right. These Goodyear Eagles we're now using performed the best I've ever seen here at East Bay. No matter what, you could race the car where ever you needed to put it. I just need to thank QPI Tools for their support and MasterSbilt Race Cars for a great car. And, I'm so happy with the SMS Engines we're now using. Man, do they have response and horsepower." When asked about the week of racing Moran stated, "We probably should have won at least two other nights but stuff happened and we didn't get them. But, I am really impressed with the direction the series has taken. Stacker2, Goodyear Tires, Gemini Auto Care Centers and all the other series sponsors have given us what all of us have wanted for so long." PHOTO GALLERY FROM EAST BAY RACEWAY - CLICK HERE! "The Goodyear tires have been just simply awesome. I've never been on a tire that had so much forward bite. And, even though we just went 75 hard laps the tires are still good. We can run them again. The Goodyear tires have evened the playing field. It doesn't matter if your one of the top dogs or a driver just starting out. This Goodyear Tire program puts everybody on the same page which makes for a great show for the fans and puts the emphasis back on the car set-up and driver skill rather than what tire you put on." Eddie Carrier, Jr. and John Mason occupied the front row for the start with neither driver getting an edge. Carrier Jr., Mason, third starting Mars and fifth starting Earl Pearson Jr. headed for the stripe to complete lap one four-wide with Mars shown as the leader. Mars would stay in front through lap 3 when Pearson Jr. powered into the lead. By lap 10 Pearson Jr. had opened up a five car length lead over Mars with Billy Drake third ahead of 10th starting John Anderson and Moran while Carrier Jr., Mason, Miller, Kelly Boen and Shaver sat sixth through tenth. Pearson Jr. encountered lapped traffic on lap 12 allowing Mars and the rest of the lead pack drivers to close. Slicing his way through the backmarkers using all three grooves of the speedway Pearson Jr. continued his torrid pace as the race stayed green. By lap 20 Pearson Jr. enjoyed a huge lead as Moran began to make his way to the front. Moran had gotten by Anderson for fourth on lap 15, took third from Drake on lap 22 and grabbed second from Mars on lap 24. Moran whittled into Pearson Jr.'s huge lead chopping the deficit to two car lengths when the races first caution waved on lap 34 when Drake pulled to a stop with a broken left front tie rod. Drake had raced the previous 10 laps with the broken steering piece but somehow kept the car under control until it became too much of a handful forcing Drake to come to a stop in turn two. At this point several drivers headed for the pits, including the third running Mars and seventh running Don O'Neal, for a change of Goodyear Eagles which shuffled the deck for the double-file restart. Drake's crew made quick repairs and got their driver back into the race before going back to green. For the restart, Matt Miller lined up third and with the double-file restart shot to the outside groove to overhaul Pearson Jr. and Moran off of turn two beating them back to the start-finish line to lead lap 35. Moran quickly moved past Pearson Jr. for second one lap later and set his sights on Miller. Moran swept past Miller in turn two while working lap 49 to become the new race leader. With 25 laps left in the books the top 10 running order was Moran the leader with Miller second, Shaver now third with Pearson Jr. fourth and Anderson fifth followed by Franklin, Johnson, Clanton, Jeff Smith and Cook. Moran continued his rapid pace using every inch of the racing surface to slice and dice his way through the backmarkers continually opening up his lead on Miller. By lap 60 Moran had a nearly 12 car length advantage on Miller but that all changed on lap 62 when the caution waved for Smith who had tangled with a car in turn four spinning to a stop. Miller was now back up with Moran for the restart but Moran just had too much horsepower and traction for Miller to stay with the leader. The caution waved again on lap 68 when Anderson hopped the turn 2 inside berm stalling his car when he re-entered the race track. As before on the previous restart Moran was just too strong for Miller to mount any challenge against him. Pearson Jr. and Clanton were racing for fifth with two laps to go when contact between the two sent Pearson Jr., to a stop in turn four. The final two laps were all Moran as he easily ran away from Miller and the rest of the pack to secure the win. The $53,000 purse attracted 54 drivers to the semi-banked 1/3rd mile dirt track with Mars earning the RINGERS GLOVES Fast Time Award in time trials with his fast lap of 15.212 seconds. Taking heat race wins were Mars, Pearson Jr., Mason, Moran, Franklin and Carrier Jr. The twin "B" Main events fell to Clanton and Jeep Van Wormer respectively while Carrier Jr. copped the YJ STINGER EXTREME ENERGY DRINKS heat race winners dash to earn the pole starting position. The non-qualifers Donn Goodson Farms Memorial Strawberry Dash went to Anthony White. The Speed Channel cameras caught all the action of the night's activities and will broadcast the event February 28 at 3:00pm EST. Two red flags were needed in the heat races. The first in heat 2 when Sean Cosgrove slipped wide exiting turn four on lap 9 climbing the wall and just past the flagstand began to flip. Cosgrove's car turned over 3 and 1/2 times before coming to a rest near the entrance to turn 1. Safety crews were quickly on the scene and after a few seconds pulled Cosgrove from his destroyed race car. Though shaken, Cosgrove was able to walk to the medic vehicle for an evaluation. Heat 3 saw Al Purkey nearly duplicate what happened to Cosgrove only Purkey's car rode the wall from the flagstand to midway between turn 1 and turn 2 before coming to a stop with the entire right hand side of the car sheared away. Purkey was unhurt. The 2004 Stacker2/Xtreme DirtCar Series schedule is being finalized and should be released in the very near future. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!