IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

October 3, 2004 FSCR Sprints Highlight East Bay Show By Bill Green Tampa, FL (Oct. 2, 2004) - East Bay Raceway Park started 2004 with a set of "TWIN" features on the schedule for each class. As the summer has progressed it has been Mother Nature dictating the movement of several of the special events to new weekends. Tonights Twin 15-lap Limited Sprint features were sponsored by Hydraulic Machinery and turned out to be a very competitive and action packed program. Street Stocks were up first, with heat-1 going to Joseph Jones and heat-2 to Kyle Bronson. Buck Woodhouse would out last a demo-derby style, time-shortened feature for the win in 11-laps. Second would go to Michael Cherry, with Paul Gibbs third, Jack Roland fourth and Danny Paris fifth. The Able Body Limited Late Models took to the track second with Jeremy Simpson taking heat-1 and Terry Bronson winning heat-2. Feature action would see Terry Bronson and teammate David Simpson go one-two respectively. Sheryl Cochran brought the field to green, but 4th place starter Tommy Kelly was third at the checkered flag, with Rich Kessinger fourth and Jeremy Simpson getting a top-5 in fifth. Hydraulic Machinery Limited Sprint Twin #1 rolled out with Tim Holston and Tim George bring the field to green. The racing got exciting quickly as Holston and George went side-by-side for a lap before "Big" Tim George got the top spot for several circuits. Lap traffic would make George slow in turn-3 on lap 7, Holston and Frank Beck III would take advantage of the situation, closing in to take the top two spots. Luckily Tim George would see the yellow fly for a spin before lap 8 was in the book and he would be back out front and bring the field to the restart. Out lasting Holston and Beck, George would take the win, Holston went second and becks "Mopar Missile" was third. Starting 16th in the James Surrency #21S would be hired gun "Superman" Sport Allen. Hed come from 16th to 5th in the best early run of the night and that left Paulie Milum to finish in fourth in front of Allen. Hydraulic Machinery Limited Sprint Twin #2 saw the 21s of Larry "Buzz" Brazil and "Superman" Sport Allen making up the front row as the pill raw was a 6. Allen would jump to the early lead, but loose a bearing on lap 7 and sit the second half of the event out. Mean while from his 10th starting spot, Greg Leonard brought Clyde Pooles #65 from the rear of the field, after a spin, to challenge for the lead. Frank Beck III was working on Sport Allen when the leader broke, leaving Beck and his "Mopar Missile" to try and hang on for the win. "Sticks" wasnt about to let that happen as he was patient and found enough moisture on the high side for the last lap pass and the Twin Feature #2 win. Second went to Beck, with Tim George coming from his pill draw of 6, back to third. Fourth saw "Daisy Dukes" Paulie Milum make up some points and Rich Alexander will do the same in fifth. Late Models saw a great battle in the heats as "The Master" Donnie Tanner took heat-1 and "The Sheriff" K. D. Kelly won heat-2. But, it was the feature that saw two veteran drivers make uncharacteristic mistakes as Bobby Alexander, Sr. and Roger Crouse spun all alone on different laps. That left the race wide open to any of the other 16 starters to go for the win. After battling with several other contenders, "The Gun Slinger" Jeff Choquette found himself on top after one of the veteran spins and he used that opportunity to cruise into Victory Lane. Second would go to David Schmauss a borrowed car, third was a hard charging Trevor Merrell, while Devin Dixon held on for fourth and Bobby Alexander, Jr. took fifth in another borrowed car in the top-5. Gagles Auto Parts Open Wheel Modifieds brought two full heats to the line and saw Jamie Burrows win heat-1 and heat-2 go to Bruce Watkins. The feature had some action as "Primetime" Bobby Dixon and Richard Gilbert connected in turn-3, causing a fuel spill that lit up the night sky as fire officials burned off the spill. Jamie Burrows returned to Victory Lane with Bruce Watkins going second. Third was Rusty Dixon, with his dad Bobby fourth and Jeff Mathews fifth. Mini Stock heats went to Kris Douglas and Scotty Williams. It was the feature that saw a red flag for a 4-car pile up on the back stretch 3 laps into the event. Daniel Bowman got the worst of the may lay, but exited the car under his own power. The final feature would go to Chad Rose, with Brian Debore second, Greg Pae third, Rich Livernois fourth and Derek Nagel fifth. Next week its the 360 Sprints back in action along with the Late Models, Limited Late Models, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks. Dont forget to mark your calendar for the USCS Florida Fall Brawl on Nov 5th & 6th here at East Bay Raceway Park. Also, check EastBayRacewayPark.com for the 2005 Winter Nationals line-up. Two weeks of Sprint car racing will be back-to-back and the Late Model war of 2004 may finally be reaching some common ground, as we will see both the UMP Late Models and Extreme Late Model series for a full week of action. Tickets are already on sale, so if you want GREAT SEATS for the 2005 Winter Nationals events, Call now! Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!