| Sprint Car Racing Highlights East Bay Raceway Park | By Larry Jewett
 Sport Allen became the first two-time winner in the Sprint class in open wheel competition.
Godwin jumped out front at the start of the 15-lap main event for the 19-car field, moving to the lead from the front row. Bryan Eckley became the first challenger and held the spot until falling from the field before a lap 7 restart. Donnie Maxwell inherited the runnerup position, but the action was frantic behind them. Frank Beck III gained a couple of positions while Tim George was on the move, going from eighth to fourth in short order.
George passed Beck on a lap 10 restart and Michael Smith moved into the top five. A late spin by Smith moved Beck back into the top five, but Godwin was not headed. He crossed for his first victory, keeping the division without a repeat winner in 2005. Maxwell, winner of a heat race, posted second with George taking third and padding his point lead. Beck held fourth with David Kelley coming on for fifth. Joe Wengerd also won a heat race.
The 19-car field for the Sprints saw heat race winners Sport Allen and Mike Senecal charged with leading them to the green in the 25-lap main. Allen moved into the top position with Senecal in tow. Brian Maddox snatched second from Senecal , who was also bypassed by Joe Melnick. Senecal spun in the backstretch on lap nine, forcing him to the back of the pack and setting up what proved to be a thrilling drive forward. Senecal rallied back to fourth by lap 11 when the red flag flew for Bob Auld’s frontstretch flip. Auld climbed from the car and bowed to the crowd. He was not hurt.
The restart saw Melnick, who started 13th, line up behind Allen with Johnny Gilbertson third. Senecal picked up his charge using the outside line and moved up to second place, but only momentarily. Melnick and Senecal swapped the spot on several occasions over the next few laps until Melnick moved into position as Senecal faded back. Danny Curry, who started in the ninth row, charged up to take third with less than five laps remaining. Curry used the outside line, but Allen and Melnick were strong. Allen claimed his second win of 2005 with Melnick and Curry finishing in the top three. Senecal came home fourth with Frank Carlsson taking fifth.
Tyler Godwin became the fifth different winner in Limited Sprint racing in 2005 with a strong performance on Saturday night at East Bay Raceway Park.
The Street Stocks opened the night’s racing and brought the biggest field with 21 of the 25 scheduled starters on track for the 15-lap main. Daniel Lewis led the first lap, but Mac Kersey claimed the front spot on the second circuit. Tony Traina was caught up in an incident while running third and sent to the pit area for repairs. Wayne Hays grabbed third as the field worked to settle down from a rash of cautions.
Lewis had problems, allowing Hayes to move up with Austin Sanders coming on. Sanders grabbed second on lap 10 as Steven Johnson moved by Hays for third two laps later. Sanders was chasing Kersey, but a spin in turn four left Sanders out of the top five. Kersey enjoyed a jubilant Victory Lane celebration in snaring his second main event win. Johnson added a second place run to his two feature wins of the season. Hays brought a badly damaged car to third with Steve Burch quietly taking fourth. Another steady run saw Buck Woodhouse notch another top-five finish. Sanders and Kersey took checkers in the heats.
The Outlaw 4 feature event brought a dozen cars toward the green flag with Kris Douglas at the head of the pack. Jeff Conyers moved out front on a restart after one lap was completed. Point leader Chad Rose moved to the front, grabbing second from Douglas, who was charged with a caution on the next restart. Rich Livernois shot past Jim Murphy to take third when racing continued. Rose started dropping back with a flat tire and caution flew. The crew was able to get the car back on track without losing a lap.
Steve Miller inherited second after passing Livernois. Rose regained a top five spot a couple laps later, going from fifth to third on lap 11. Miller spun in turn two, giving Rose second behind Conyers. Livernois rallied back to third late in the race. At the checkered, Conyers appeared to have won back-to-back mains in front of Rose, Livernois, Wallace Peacock and Miller. Peacock failed to weigh, resulting in a DQ. Protests of the winner and third place cars froze the official results until further investigation of potential tech violations.
The Gunslinger Truck class is growing, but the winner remains the same. Jim Cowhey Jr. prevailed in the heat and the feature.
The Florida Old Time Modifieds brought 10 vintage racers to the line for a heat and a feature. Jamie Frankland’s Flathead won the heat race and led most of the feature. Eddie Grant’s 8-ball sedan used a late race pass to score the win. The 68-year-old Grant has 42 wins in that car, which has won more than 200 features in a long career.
Kid’s bicycle races were held with six-year-old Michael Macaully winning the under 8 class and Chris Kelley prevailing in 9-12 age group.
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
<news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!
|
