IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 10, 2005 FSCR Smith Leads New Winners Parade at East Bay By Larry Jewett For the second straight week, new names took their places in Victory Lane in the five-division program Saturday night at East Bay Raceway Park. The Outlaw 4 class started the night’s action with 15 cars on the grid for 15 laps. Kris Douglas took early command at the drop of the green. Josh Peacock moved into third on lap 2, then gained another spot before the yellow flew. On the restart, Douglas slipped to the infield on the backstretch, handing the lead to Peacock. Former race winners Ryan Mitchell and Eddie Mercer were hooked up in battle after starting deep in the field. Chad Rose moved around Daniel Bowman to grab second and begin his assault on the leader. Peacock was up to the challenge each time, but Mitchell and Jeff Conyers were working into the top five. No one could catch Peacock, who added the feature to two previous heat race wins. Rose kept second and tightened the points race. Mitchell was third with Conyers rebounding from a bad week for fourth. Rich Livernois scored his fourth top-five of the season with fifth. Wallace Peacock and Conyers, who made a last lap restart pass, gathered heat wins. The open wheel portion of the program brought an inversion that sent heat winners Greg Leonard and Bryan Eckley to the third row. At the drop of the green, polesitter Andy Kelly became the man to beat and no one could get the job done. A yellow flew on lap 5 for an incident and Leonard proved to be the driver on the move. He settled in third and was charging until a mechanical problem ended his night on lap 8. Kelly’s hold on the lead was strong and he knifed through the field. Tim George was able to keep the leader in his sights, but could not make the pass to overtake the happy winner. Frank Beck Jr. was credited with third after Joe Wengerd’s finish was tossed in tech for illegal tires. Michael Smith and Eckley rounded out the top five runners. The Florida Mini Sprint Association made its first appearance at East Bay since the running of the Winter Nationals in late January. A field of 20 cars contested two heat races that saw Gregory Skyta and Ryan Thomas win their respective preliminaries. The feature saw Andy Mills ease off to the lead until problems brought the car to a halt on the backstretch. 2004 series champion John Craddock knifed through the field and passed four cars to move from fifth to first before Mills’ misfortune. Craddock had company with Gavin Thomas staying in his shadow until spinning out of contention. Ryan Thomas battled back from an early spin and a rear of the field restart to chase Craddock to the line as the race ended on curfew after 13 laps. Jamie Neaves gained two spots late in the race to move into third before the checkered came down. T.J. Raymond finished fourth and Russ Heider’s steady run brought him a fifth place tally. For the second time in 2005, the 360 Sprints thundered to a green for a 25-lapper. The race got off to a rocky start as heat winner Paulie Milum took a tumble in the second turn before a lap was completed. Milum was uninjured. Joe Melnick’s car did a wheelstand in the third turn on lap 2, causing front end damage on return to the track. Sport Allen brought his car to a stop near the incident scene, which resulted in tail restart. While all of the action was happening, it was Darryl Smith who had led them and stretched out his lead each time. Mike Senecal was the nearest pursuer, but Senecal had his own issues. Johnny Gilbertson and Senecal were swapping second. Meanwhile, Brian Maddox and Bob Schaeffer were trading positions in fourth. Danny Curry ran a steady race and stayed in contention. In the late stages, Gilbertson and Allen, who had charged back into contention, made contact, resulting in damage to Gilbertson’s car. Curry sliced by Allen on the restart to take third, but Smith led the five cars on the lead lap to take the checkers at the finish. Senecal notched a second place run with Curry third. Allen hung in for fourth and Maddox backed up his heat race win with a top-five in the main. The new winner in Street Stocks was Austin Sanders, who utilized the high line often on his way to the victory. Sanders started halfway back in the 16-car field at the drop of the green. Thomas Braswell held command until Buckshot Meixner grabbed the lead on lap 3. His time at the front was short-lived when Buck Woodhouse made the pass for the point. Woodhouse had company with Wayne Hayes looking for racing room. Sanders closed to third by going outside, nearly brushing the wall on occasion. Moving into the second row outside on a Ybor City double file restart, Sanders pushed ahead of Hayes and ran down Woodhouse for the lead just before the halfway mark. Mac Kersey was closing fast and went around Woodhouse for second spot. The front three would hold their positions through the remaining laps with Daniel Lewis and Hayes putting on a spirited battle. Sanders prevailed, handing an early birthday present to his grandmother with a Victory Lane appearance. Kersey solidified his point lead with a second. Hayes added another top five by finishing third with Lewis and Woodhouse rounding out the elite group. Woodhouse had scored a heat win earlier. Lewis prevailed in the second heat by less than a car length. East Bay Raceway Park action offers a five-division program as the Late Models, Limited Late Models, and Open Wheel Modifieds join the Street Stocks and Outlaw 4s on Saturday, April 16. The East Bay Go-Kart oval will be in action with racing on Friday, April 15. Saturday action sees the green flag at 6:30 p.m. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!