| Wednesday, November 13, 2002 | |
| Sport Allen Gets Win and Championship At East Bay Raceway | By Leo Dougherty
 East Bay Raceway Park (Nov 9, 2002)- With just a four point lead over Kenny Adams in the Mr. Bud Series in Florida, Sport Allen went into the final night of racing at East Bay expecting a knock down, drag out battle with Adams.
The general consensus was that Adams would run all out right from the beginning. Unfortunately for Adams, his night ended with a crash on the first lap and Allen took the win and the championship.
Sport Allen after winning the 35-lap race at East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday.
Adams started outside Brian Maddox on the first row of the 35-lap race. After bringing out the first caution the track was cleared and Allen took command. It looked like a sure win for him in the early going but several cautions and a red flag period allowed Jeff Swindell to methodically move from his seventeenth starting spot to third place.
Allen looked to a crewmember for advice during the red flag, asking what he should do to keep his lead. In an understatement only a racer could appreciate the crewmember shouted to Allen, “Just do what you do.” Whatever it was, it was enough to keep the hard-charging Swindell at bay.
Sport Allen shouts at a crewmember in the infield during a red flag for advice while waiting for my buddy Jim Knapp to push him off. He knew Jeff Swindell was gaining on him.
A caution flag with just five laps left found Swindell in third place and looking much like he had a faster car. He quickly moved to second on the restart and, while he could get close to Allen he could never get close enough to really threaten the leader.
Jeff Swindell works his way under Brian Maddox on his march to the front.
Roland Johnson wound up facing the wrong direction against the wall.
Mike Tharp’s night ended badly.
East Bay, now known as East Bay Raceway Park, changed hands in September of this year. I spoke to a number of employees I knew from last February’s Winternationals and they had good things to say about the new owners. They indicated that crowds have increased and that the atmosphere is better. Attendance looked very good but the track still seems to have a problem of completing a show in a timely manner.
The problem doesn’t seem to be one of disorganization but one of trying to fit too many classes into one night of racing. On this night, there were six classes and a late model dash race. Despite the fact that only feature races were scheduled, it was a little after 11:00 PM when I left the track and only three of those features and the dash had been completed. The racing is otherwise enjoyable.
The schedule for the 2003 Winternationals is now posted at www.eastbayracewaypark.com. The 360 sprint cars will run January 29 through February 1, paying $1,500 to win the first three nights and $10,000 to win the final night. If you followed this column last February during the 2002 Winternationals you might remember that I reported then-owner Stan Kolan was increasing the final night winner’s share to $25,000. It’s unfortunate that competitors won’t see that commitment kept but it wasn’t a commitment made by the new owners. It’s entirely conceivable they don’t even know about it.
The 410 sprint cars take to the track February 12 through 15. The first three nights pay $4,000 to win and the final night pays $15,000 to win. The All Star Circuit of Champions has signed on once again to run the 410 series at East Bay.
All in all, there will be seventeen nights of racing at East Bay Raceway Park when you throw in the modifieds and late models. Racing starts January 23 and continues until February 15. If you are an RV enthusiast, there’s plenty of space to park your motorhome for the entire schedule.
During the fall and spring I often run into racing people from my home state of New York Last year at the USCS show at Volusia Raceway Park I ran into Empire Super Sprint competitor and defending champion Mike Woodring. I ran into him again in the spring at East Bay and Volusia. In a profile I did of him then he told me he was committed to winning yet another ESS championship. True to his word, he won his eighth (and seventh consecutive) championship this year. In just a few short days the group will host its banquet at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY and Woodring will take home over $10,000 in cash and prizes. $7,000 of that amount will come from the club’s point fund.
In fact, Woodring nearly made a clean sweep of every championship title available this year. In addition to the ESS tour championship he also won the Walt’s Hobby Dash championship and the Brodix Heat Points final standings. The only thing he didn’t win was the VSM Canadian Challenge points, finishing second to Ryan Coniam.
Saturday night at East Bay I ran into Mike VanDusen, a frequent competitor with ESS and URC. His son, Jeff, was with him and has taken over the driving chores, finishing 11th in the ESS point standings this year.
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