The parity in the Street Stock class continues as a new winner put his name on the list of drivers to top the class in 2006. Charles Paris Jr. went wire-to-wire for a popular victory. The Street Stocks started the evening action for the five-division card.
Former feature winners Paul Gibbs and Daniel Lewis were joined by Matthew Grissom in heat race wins. Gibbs drew a seven for the inversion, moving Charles Paris Jr. to the pole for the 15-lap main, which saw a starting grid of 23 cars.
Grissom was on the move at the start, sliding into the top five by the first pass, Polesitter Paris kept Buck Woodhouse at bay until a lap six caution bunched the field. On the restart, Woodhouse chose the low line, but a perfect restart by Paris made any choice of no value. Woodhouse had to play defense as Grissom was strong on the outside.
The front four cars were able to break away with Paris, Woodhouse, Grissom and Gibbs getting through lapped traffic without issue. The same fate wasn't in store for Lewis, Donnie Reed, and Matthew Collins who were jammed in the traffic and fell out of contention for the top five.
On the restart, Paris wanted no challengers, driving away from Woodhouse. Grissom spun on the white flag lap, losing third and sending Paris and Woodhouse to a drag race finish. Paris was the clear winner with Woodhouse claiming second. Gibbs inherited third with last week's winner Cam Canova claiming fourth. Steve Burch rounded out the top five.
Driving in a fill-in role for brother Jack, heat winner Keith Nosbisch shared the front row with first heat victor K.D. Kelley for the start of the 25-lap Late Model feature. Kelley went to the early lead on the outside, but Nosbisch claimed the spot by the third lap. Kelley chose the outside line on a lap 6 restart that gave Marshall Austin an inside advantage that resulted in a position swap.
A two-car spin brought the field back under caution a lap later. Nosbisch left the field in his wake after a brief challenge from Austin. 2005 Late Model champion David Schmauss was dialing his car, gaining a position each lap to move into third.
Roger Crouse, last week's winner, had to thread the needle in his charge toward the top five. Bobby Alexander and Phillip Cobb proved worthy opponents until Cobb stopped on the track in the late stages. The one-lap restart saw Nosbisch pull away with Austin, Alexander, Crouse and Steve Mathis completing the top five.
A 20-lap Limited Sprint feature brought 17 cars to the start with Rick Byerly taking the early lead. Greg Leonard slipped a spot on the initial start, nearly leaving the top five.
Heat winner Tim George, who drew the fourth row start, was into the top five by the second lap. Byerly's first challenge came from Donnie Maxwell, who closed in on the leader on occasion. Maxwell was bypassed by Leonard on lap 7 and lined up behind the leader on a restart one lap later. At the drop of the green, Leonard shot outside Byerly as the duo headed for the third turn. Leonard swept by for the lead. Maxwell duplicated the move to regain second as Tim George eased past Byerly on lap 13.
Leonard had distanced himself from the rest of the field and Byerly's race ended when he dropped from the field with a few laps remaining. Leonard cruised home with the victory, ahead of Maxwell, George (who experienced engine problems coming down for the checkered), Paulie Milum, and Travis Bleimeister. Michael Smith joined George on the list of heat winners.
It was a rough start for the Limited Late Model field that faced a 15-lap main. It took six starts to get one lap completed, including one turn one mishap that involved nearly 10 cars.
By the time the field completed one lap, the 23-car field had been whittled down to 14 cars. Only 10 were running when the yellow waved on lap 6. David Schmauss, who started on the outside of the front row, took the early lead and parlayed it into victory.
Schmauss, driving in a fill-in role, had a mid-race challenge from last week's winner Jeff Mathews, but Mathews faded as Forest Gough came charging for second. Gough was able to get by as the field had two laps to go, but he couldn't catch Schmauss. Mathews retained third, ahead of Tim Gay and Tommy Evonosky. Heats were scored by Ryan Mitchell, his third of the year, and David Simpson.
The Outlaw 4 class brought the final race of the night to the starting line with 18 cars thundering down the straightaway. Jim Coursen snatched the early lead with former winner Pete Grantham giving chase. Several cautions forced the drivers to carefully advance positions, but Grantham and Coursen had a race of their own. Grantham tried to take the lead on the sixth lap but couldn't complete the pass. On the next lap, the pass stuck, giving Grantham the top spot.
Three laps later, Coursen edged by for the lead at the line, but it was short-lived. Grantham had it back on the 11th lap and never lost it again. Meanwhile, 2005 class champion Chad Rose was coming from the rear of the field and moved into third place. Rose, who had arrived at the track literally moments before the feature was gridded after spending the week in Rhode Island with a family emergency, drove strong, but couldn't catch the lead duo. Grantham prevailed with Coursen second. Rose took third, ahead of division newcomers Matthew Haynes and Kenny Baggerly. Heat winning drives were put on by Alex Boerner and Coursen.
Racing action returns to East Bay Raceway Park Saturday with a five-division program on tap. Complete information is available at www.eastbayracewaypark.com.
