Irish eyes were smiling on East Bay’s Victory Lane for a St. Patrick’s Day racing program. A field of 120 cars entered the five-division clash that marked the second regular season weekend of the 2007 season.
Three of the five scheduled classes were starting off the new year, but the Street Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers already had one event under their belts. The quest to be a different feature winner came up as empty as the pot of gold at a phony rainbow. Charlie Paris Jr. (Street Stocks) and Frank Miller (4 Cylinder Bombers) made it two-for-2007 with their Saturday wins.
Open Wheel Modifieds kicked up the night’s action as Dale Kelley and Steve Miller prevailed in the heats. A 15-car, 15-lap brought a number of early cautions. Brian Hollifield took the early lead, but lost the top spot to Dakotah Stephens on lap three. Stephens took advantage of a strong race car and some close racing behind him. As the checkered flag neared the shuffling inside the top five stabilized and Stephens scored the win. The race was only his sixth in the race car and he now has a feature win on his record. Heat winner Miller came home second with Scotty Williams third. Alex Boerner, a graduate of the Outlaw 4 ranks, notched a fourth in his first Modified race. Chad Hadlick finished fifth.
Limited Late Models brought 15 cars to the lien for their main event, which saw Bruce Harvey take early command. Harvey, Roger Crouse and Tommy Evonosky were locked in a strong battle, but more joined the fray. Tim Gay and Forrest Gough charged into contention. Evonosky had a brief, but Harvey took it back, only to lose it to Gough on lap 10. Crouse closed to second, but couldn’t improve upon the position and had to settle for a runner-up pay. Harvey ran third, ahead of Evonosky and Gay. Heat wins went to Crouse and Evonosky.
The second week of Street Stock action brought three heats with Tim Spencer and Charlie Paris repeating preliminary wins from the week before. Donnie Reed added his name to the heat winners list. Nearly two dozen Street Stocks prepared to tackle a 15-lap feature run, but a spin at the front of the field by Dave Floyd brought anxious moments. Remarkably, even though he was sitting stationary in the middle of the track, no one made contact with Floyd and a complete restart was called. Paris Jr. took the lead from the front row with Spencer giving chase. Reed was on the move from deeper in the field, coming up to second by the sixth lap. On a lap seven restart, Buck Woodhouse and Dan Wooten made heavy contact with Woodhouse’s car getting up in the air. Both drivers walked away, but the damage was severe to both cars. On the restart, Reed shot inside to grab the lead. He kept the top spot, but Paruis put on pressure until a lap 13 caution moved the field to a single file restart. On the final lap, Spencer spun while running third, but the Reed/Paris race was far from over. Paris sliced to the inside in the third turn and the two made contact as Reed tried to protect his spot, spinning from the lead. The checkered flag was displayed over Paris, who scored back-to-back wins. In the scramble to the finish, Buck Skinner avoided the carnage to grab second. David Strickland, Bob Smith and Lonnie Smith came home with top five runs.
The 24-car field for the 25-lap Late Model go saw K.D. Kelley and Ryan Mitchell pick a heat race duel that brought Mitchell to Victory Lane in the preliminary. Kelley got the best of the early exchange, but Mitchell didn’t go quietly. Philip Cobb and Donnie Tanner were charging forward with Bill Howard and David Schmauss making their moves. Josh Peacock, lined up third on a lap 10 restart, vaulted to the high line to grab the lead. The same high line proved to be his undoing a bit later in the race as Jack Nosbisch went back to the top after an early excursion. Nosbisch found what he was looking for and took the point by lap 16. Nosbisch was never headed. Howard, who took second on lap 19, made that pass count for his runner-up finish. Peacock maintained third, ahead of Kelley and Tanner. Heat races were won by Mitchell, Nosbisch and Jeff Mathews.
The final event brought 25 4 Cylinder Bombers to the track. Frank Miller had his hands full in trying to wrest the lead away from his nephew, Collin Kruse. Miller was successful to claim his second win of the year. Kruse ran a respectable second, ahead of Randy Tyler, D.B. Hogwaller and Shawn Wolford. Heats were won by Miller, Hogwaller, and James Adler.
East Bay Raceway Park resumes ASA-sanctioned racing on Saturday, March 24 with five divisions on the card. Late Models, Limited Late Models, Limited Sprints, Street Stocks and Outlaw 4s round out the menu. Racing action starts at 6:30 p.m.
