Sept 13, 1999                           

                    The Eight Hours of East Bay

No that's not the official billing but it's appropriate. The racing got under way at 3:30 on Sunday afternoon and the final checkered flag was thrown at 11:30 that night. Fans who made the trip to the 1/3 mile dirt track got more than their money's worth, with enough action and excitement to satisfy any race fan.

A racing card that had a little something for everyone included some firsts for the East Bay Raceway fans. The SARA Open Wheel Modifieds made their first appearance on a dirt track with only four drivers in the high powered field who had ever taken a car on dirt. The 100 lap 'run what you brung' with anything goes rules was a first time East Bay event, but according to track manager Tom Hall certainly won't be the last. Accompanying the qualifying time trials and last chance races for the two main features was fan participation races, a 25 lap $2500 to win East Bay Street Stock race, and one of the best demo derbys seen in a while.

The Sunday afternoon welcomed a crowd of 2500 or so to a warm day that eventually cooled into perfect weather for Florida racing. We saw fans and officials from many other tracks in attendance, with the carnival atmosphere evident as always at the nationally famous speedway. By the time the dirt started flying everyone knew this was going to be a day of excitement and the majority of the fans who were there for the beginning of the show stayed until  Kenny Adams took the checked flag in the 100 lap main event.

The legendary racer Buzzie Reutimann came to have some fun with the SARA Open Wheel Modifieds, and it looked for a while as if the 'old man' was going to steal the show. After starting last in the field, and working his way up to the fourth spot, he ran into some trouble and had to drop back a few positions. As he came around through turn three, the #26 car and the famous #00 got together causing Buzzie to spin out. As the cars lined up under yellow and the Reutimann machine approached the flag stand behind the #26, he sped up under the catuion, got under the #26 and lifted it into the air. Needless to say this was all to the delight of the fans who cheered approval for the sentimental favorite.

Talking with Reutimann in the pits he was obviously having fun, which after all is what it's all about, a tired but still smiling Buzzie Reutimann said, "I thought we could've won the thing". It was certainly a thrill and a great pleasure to meet him finally after hearing so many stories about him. There's just something about the man that brings out the kid in you.

One of the more memorable moments of the marathon was the driver and fan reaction to the disqualification of about 20 drivers in the East Bay Street Stock race. After a terrible crash on the back straight many of the drivers continued to race even though the red flag was thrown immediately. The officials made the decision to disqualify all but 6 cars of the field leaving approximately 20 drivers in a state of extreme dissatisfaction, to put it mildly. Irate fans surrounded the flag stand screaming obscenities while the drivers paraded in front of the flag men from track side voicing their displeasure. At least on beer can became a missile flying onto the track. After order was restored the pole sitter Danny McCall continued on to take the $2500 winner's purse in a race he dominated.

Though the vast majority of the fans were upset at the officials, track manager Tom Hall and his team should be commended for their call. Speaking with Hall today he pointed out the same thing happened recently with the Limited Sprints, and commented on the track's dedication to safety. "You can never have enough safety"  He further expressed the track's ongoing commitment to safety is a strong one. Though the controversy surrounding the call made for great entertainment, cars buzzing around a speedway while ambulances and safety personnel are dealing with an emergency is uncalled for and we applaud their decision and dedication to running as safe an operation as possible. In the spirit of fairness, after reviewing the situation in more detail the speedway, according to Tom Hall, is probably going to run a special race for those who did stop but may have been caught up in the mass disqualification. Speculation and rumors that a week's suspension is in store for the drivers is unfounded, according to Hall.

We felt a little sorry for Scott Hawkins, the entertaining announcer for the SARA series, who had a bit of a rough time trying to get the fans attention turned to open wheel as the Street Stock chaos slowly subsided.  With very little dirt track experience among the starting field and some qualifying speeds slower than the East Bay Street Stocks, no one knew quite what to expect. But what a great show the drivers put on!  Richard Ledoux, came down from Georgetown, Kentucky and outlasted “Iron Man” Dwayne Dempsey to take the $2500 winners share of the purse.

Look for the Open Wheels to return to East Bay Raceway with more races next year including possibly a national event during Speedweeks 2000. The SARA management is also talking with East Bay about an expanded schedule for next year.

Just when you thought you'd seen it all, drivers protesting, fans protesting, flag men in hiding, wrecks, spills, guys learning to slide through turns, guys wondering what the heck they were doing here anyway, the 100 laps 'super race' cars prepared to get under way for the "Run What You Brung Race" for $6000 to win.

But first we had to see Jim Bargo, owner of Bargo Auto destroy a perfectly good 83 Mustang. The fan participation races were going along as they normally do until the Bargo Mustang tangled with a souped up Camaro, sending the Bargo machine slamming into the back straight wall. The car was totaled with a bent frame, and Jim Bargo with possible broken ribs. The Camaro eventually took the $500 prize in a winner take all race against another Bargo Auto Sales machine, a very late model Lincoln Continental. The driver of the continental was a little more cautious and stayed far enough behind the Camaro to not run any risk of wall crunching damage.

Kenny Adams brought the only sprint car to East Bay for the first annual "Run What You Brung Race". The rest of the field of, including the only serious threat to Adam's domination Keith and Jack Nosbisch in high powered Late Models, were probably glad the other sprint drivers stayed home. Street Stocks, Modifieds, Late Models, and mini stocks were surrounded by a swirl of dust called the #2 Adams converted sprint machine. "I guarantee that's the longest I ever went...man I'll tell you I didn't think it would ever be over. They all raced me clean, nobody run into me, we were concerned about that because this car is a lot more fragile than a late model. I take my hat off to these guys, they're clean racers, they're good racers, and I enjoyed racing with them".
Adams went on say from the winner's circle to the tired but satisfied fans " It got to be an awful lot of work there after awhile."

We won't soon forget 'the eight hours of East Bay', so much happened It may take a bit to absorb it all. The SARA racing series, Florida's most popular took a big step toward expanding it's audience. The dirt show was as good, if not better, than their regular asphalt races. Racing is after all a show for the fans, and competition for the drivers. There was a whole bunch of both at East Bay Raceway Sunday. East Bay proved once again that innovation, and not being afraid to stretch the envelope and do things differently, is a good thing for Florida racing.

Yesterday was the first time in memory that I missed opening day of NFL football. If they have the 'eight hours of East Bay' next year on opening day, I'll gladly miss it again.

                                                               -Jack Smith

                               Also see the  Rick Anges race report!