WILSON WINS O'REILLY USCS EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK FALL BRAWL
By Roby Helm
Marshall Skinner West Memphis, AR was uninjured in this nasty wreck in turn one during the USCS 25 lap feature...photo Russ Calabrese
TAMPA, FL - Greg Wilson of Benton Ridge, OH drove the Tim Hogan's Carpets Maxim/Hampshire to victory lane Saturday night in the O'Reilly United Sprint Car Series 35-lap Fall Brawl finale at East Bay Raceway Park.
Wilson dominated the race leading every lap, but there were several determined drivers behind him also wanting the victory, a fact Wilson was well aware of.
Wilson took the lead at the start of the race from his outside front row starting spot in turn one followed by Mayes, Kenny Adams of Malabar, FL, Allen, Sides, and Tiffany. Marshall Skinner of West Memphis, AR made a big move early in the race, moving from the tenth starting spot to sixth on lap three in the Parts Plus Maxim/Ott.
Adams passed Mayes for the second spot in turn three on lap seven, but the move by the 2005 O'Reilly USCS National Champion was negated when the caution flag flew for a turn four spin by Bob Auld of Largo, FL in the Matco Tools Shaw/Gaerte. Wilson led Mayes, Adams, Allen, Sides, Skinner, Tiffany, Godwin, Greg Leonard of Tampa, FL, and Smith down for the restart.
Allen got a big run on the restart and not only passed Adams for third, but also powered around the outside of Mayes to move up to the second spot. Allen then tried to get close enough to Wilson in lapped traffic to make a bid for the lead, and repeat his feat of 24 hours earlier.
The red flag came out on lap 18 for a three-car tangle that saw Skinner flip several times in turn one. Skinner was uninjured in the tumble that also involved the defending race champion Leonard in the Snap On Tools/WRP J&J/Hampshire, and Stephen Darvalics of Venice, FL in the CineMoves Shaw/Gaerte.
East Bay Raceway Park was a packed house on Saturday for the USCS show.
When the field went back to green, it was Wilson leading Allen, Mayes, Adams, Sides, Godwin, Tiffany, Smith, Martin, and Brian Maddox of Brandon, FL. Maddox spun the Concrete Science/Crawford Tire Shaw/Central Florida Machine in turn three on lap 19, collecting Gray. That moved Hafertege into the top ten for the restart.
After the restart, Wilson pulled out to a half-straightaway lead over Allen by lap 20, but in the meantime, Godwin showed that he is going to be a driver to watch in the future. Godwin drove around Sides for the fifth spot on the restart, and on lap 27 followed Adams around Mayes, to drop him to the fifth position. Mayes got back around Godwin to reclaim fourth on lap 28.
Bubba Clem of St. Petersburg, FL spun the Miller Lite Clem/Wesmar down the front straightaway to bring out the yellow flag on lap 28. That set up an eight-lap dash to the checkered flag. It's amazing what can happen in a short time span on a one-third of a mile on a dirt track. The race leader Wilson was certainly feeling the pressure.
"When you're leading the race, the cautions and red flags are agonizing because you never know what is going to happen on a restart," Wilson said. "I just wanted to get to the checkered flag, but it wasn't there. I kept seeing cautions."
Wilson had the rest of the field covered, as Allen couldn't get close enough to make a winning pass, but the third-place driver Adams knew what Wilson was talking about. Video clip of Kenny Adams introduction. Adams was trying to make a move on Allen to take the second spot on the last lap, but his Milk Movers, Inc/Goodson Farms Shaw/Ott spun to the infield coming off the second turn. Adams recovered, but dropped to the 11th spot. Sides also made a lap 29 move, and reclaimed the fourth spot from Godwin.
"I've been coming here for years and it feels great to finally get a win at East Bay," Wilson said. "My car owner Ron Hammons and my crew chief Bob Hampshire make this the best team I've ever driven for. Even though we led every lap, it was tough to stay there with the competition here tonight. The O'Reilly USCS regulars and the local drivers here are some of the toughest competition in the country." Video from Winners Circle with Greg Wilson.
Sport Allen of Pinellas Park, FL was trying to double up his Friday night O'Reilly USCS win at East Bay Raceway Park, and made a bold move at the start of the race to power up from the fifth starting spot to second. Allen got close, but couldn't make the winning move on Wilson, and had to settle for second in the American Well Drilling Schnee/ZRE.
K&N Filters Pole Award winner Brock Mayes of Bucyrus, OH accepted a third-place gift in the All Star Plumbing Heating and Air Eagle Hampshire. Mayes and the rest of the drivers in the top ten got an extra spot on the last lap, when a veteran driver made a rare mistake.
Jason Sides of Bartlett, TN took the fourth spot in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim/Gray, and Tyler Godwin of Tampa, FL was fifth in only his second O'Reilly USCS start driving the Godwin Racing Schnee/Gaerte. Matt Tiffany of Daytona Beach, FL finished sixth in the Independent Printing Shaw/Ott and was the Robison Racing Products Rookie of the Race.
Daryl Smith of Riverview, FL drove the Buddy's Home Furnishings Beaberbuilt/Gaerte to the seventh spot. Danny Martin Jr. of Sarasota, FL finished eighth and won the Huggins Cams Hard Charger Award after winning the 12-lap B-Main, and starting the Martin Structures, Inc./Food Grade Transport Schnee/ZRE from the 16th starting spot.
Sam Hafertege Jr. of Sunnyvale, TX won the Longest Tow Award and finished ninth in the Smiley's Racing Products J&J/Shaver. Four-time O'Reilly USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN came back from a mid-race spin to round out the top ten in the C&B Mushrooms/Goodson Farms Maxim/Wesmar.
In preliminary action, Paulie Milum of Bradenton, FL won the Engler Machine and Tool first ten-lap heat race in the American Well Drilling Eagle/ZRE, and Smith won the ButlerBuilt second ten-lap heat race. Leonard took the win in the Koolbeans Trophies third ten-lap heat race, and Mayes won the six-lap Air Flow Research Power Dash.
The 2005 season finale for the O'Reilly USCS will take place at North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia, AL with a two-day show on November 11-12.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 50 AT EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK IN TAMPA, FL ON 11/5/05:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS 1. 2 6 Greg Wilson Benton Ridge, OH 35 2. 5 42x Sport Allen Pinellas Park, FL 35 3. 1 20 Brock Mayes Bucyrus, OH 35 4. 6 7 Jason Sides Bartlett, TN 35 5. 11 4c Tyler Godwin Tampa, FL 35 6. 4 19t Matt Tiffany (R) Daytona Beach, FL 35 7. 8 3 Daryl Smith Riverview, FL 35 8. 16 00 Danny Martin Jr. Sarasota, FL 35 9. 17 15 Sam Hafertege Jr. Sunnyvale, TX 35 10. 15 10 Terry Gray Bartlett, TN 35 11. 3 4a Kenny Adams Malabar, FL 35 12. 7 42 Paulie Milum Bradenton, FL 34 13. 13 17n Jamie Neaves Daytona Beach, FL 33 14. 19 20b Bubba Clem St. Petersburg, FL 33 15. 20 4b Bryn Gohn (R) Malabar, FL 33 16. 21 32 Stephen Darvalics Venice, FL 33 17. 12 3x Brian Maddox Brandon, FL 26 18. 10 26 Marshall Skinner West Memphis, AR 17 19. 9 11 Greg Leonard Tampa, FL 17 20. 22 71 R.J. Johnson Decatur, TN 9 21. 18 59 Darrin Miller Tampa, FL 9 22. 14 83 Bob Auld Largo, FL 7
FAILED TO TRANSFER TO A-MAIN: 88 Shane Kreider Jupiter, FL 99 Danny Jones Tampa, FL 91 Michael Tharp N. Fort Myers, FL 6x Frank Scimeca Tampa, FL 19 Jerry Jones Clermont, FL 21 Johnny Gilbertson Dover, FL 8m Tim Holston Lutz, FL 11jr Tom Winegardner Jr. Pierson, FL 20c Frank Carlsson Oxford, FL 6 Skeeter Faulconer Lutz, FL
ENTRIES: 32
K&N FILTERS POLE AWARD: Mayes
PROVISIONAL: Johnson
LEAD CHANGES: None
LAP LEADER: Wilson, 1-35
CAUTIONS: 4 (1 Red)
OUTLAW RACING DISC BRAKES FAST BRAKE AWARD: Wilson
SPEEDMART YOUNG GUN OF THE RACE: Tiffany
ROBISON RACING PRODUCTS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Tiffany
HUGGINS CAMS HARD CHARGER: Martin (started 16th and finished 8th)
K&N FILTERS 3RD-PLACE AWARD: Mayes
BUTLERBUILT 4TH-PLACE AWARD: Sides
SPEEDMART TOP 5 AWARD: Godwin
AIR FLOW RESEARCH 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Tiffany
FSR 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Smith
SIMPSON SAFETY PRODUCTS 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Martin
AIR FLOW RESEARCH 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Gray
FSR PERFORMANCE AWARD: Clem
WELD RACING HARD LUCK AWARD: Skinner
AIR FLOW RESEARCH POWER DASH - 6 LAPS: 1. Mayes; 2. Wilson; 3. Adams; 4. Tiffany (R); 5. Allen; 6. Sides.
HEAT RACES - 10 LAPS (Top 3 Finishers Transfer To A-Main):
Video clip of Kenny Adams introduction.
"I've been coming here for years and it feels great to finally get a win at East Bay," Wilson said. "My car owner Ron Hammons and my crew chief Bob Hampshire make this the best team I've ever driven for. Even though we led every lap, it was tough to stay there with the competition here tonight. The O'Reilly USCS regulars and the local drivers here are some of the toughest competition in the country."
