Greg Leonard drove to victory at East Bay Raceway Park Saturday night.
The racing family has been characterized as a tight knit group that will take care of its own in time of need. The compassion was evident at East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday night.
Two weeks ago, during a Victory Lane interview, Limited Sprint driver Greg Leonard shared the struggle faced by his two-year-old son, who is battling an as yet unidentified health issue. On this night, Leonard returned to Victory Lane for the 20-lap main, but the events that led to the win were quite telling.
Leonard started the night on the short side of a photo finish in his heat race, coming up second to winner Donnie Maxwell. Prior to intermission, Leonard shared the details of potential treatment for his son David. The treatment is in Michigan and the expenses involved are quite daunting. Drivers from several divisions came into the stands with their helmets to take up a collection to help the young fighter. When it was all said and done, $2,800 had been raised for young David.
In the Limited feature, Leonard took the lead on the 12th lap to secure his return to the winner’s circle. The 20-lap main started with Frank Beck taking the early lead in the 18-car field. Tim George started his move into the top five by taking fourth on the third lap. Beck and the lead pack moved into lapped traffic by the seventh circuit.
On a lap eight restart, Beck and Leonard pulled off to an immediate eight length lead with Roger Crouse battling Paulie Milum in one of the best position wars on the track. Heat winner Maxwell was trying to gain ground, slipping into fifth by lap 14. A caution flew when Joe Wengerd jumped the wheel of a competitor and hit the wall, requiring the car to be trundled from the track. On the restart, George went to third and Maxwell took fourth, but Maxwell’s car slowed and he dropped from competition. A similar fate befell David Kelly, who dropped from competition in the late stages and lost a promising top five finish. Leonard was followed to the flag by Beck, George, Danny Jones and Milum. Crouse joined Maxwell as a heat race winner.
The feature events had started with the Outlaw 4 class, which featured two teenage heat race winners. Alex Boerner, the current point leader in the division, and Travis Varnadore, both 14 years old, claimed the preliminaries. In the main event, Cecil Martin grabbed the early lead with Varnadore right behind. Zach Amundsen made his pass for third on the fourth lap. Chad Rose eased into the top five a lap later.
As the field neared the halfway mark, Varnadore made his move to take the lead from Martin, who was also bypassed by Pete Grantham. Varnadore kept Grantham, a previous feature winner, at bay, but Grantham took over the point on lap 13. Varnadore gave it an effort, but could not chase down Grantham who crossed the line first. A post-race tech inspection changed the outcome as Grantham’s car was found in violation of the rules. The infraction gave the win to Varnadore, his first career checkered. Martin was moved to second, ahead of Amundsen. Point leader Boerner was protested and found to be legal, which kept him fourth with Marty Dailey rounding out the top five.
A straight up start in the feature put heat winners Brian Maddox and Sport Allen in the first row for the 25-lapper for a field of 19 360 Sprints.
Allen grabbed the early lead and found himself faced with lapped traffic by the fourth circuit. Deeper in the field, Paul Sides used the outside line to move from tenth t the top five in less than five laps.
Sides was on the move on each restart, pestering Daryl Smith for third until finally making the pass stick. Allen was having no problem at the head of the field while Maddox tried to run safely through the crowd of cars. Sides was able to sweep by Maddox in the late stages to secure second, but could not hunt down Allen, who notched his second 2006 victory. Allen dedicated the win to the father of sponsor Rick Chancey, who passed away last week. Sides, in his first 2006 East Bay start, claimed second ahead of Maddox, Smith, and Gene Lasker.
Jimmy Alvis added his name to the list of first time winners, capturing the opening heat and the 15-lap feature for the 4-Cylinder Bombers. Johnny Lookedoo won the second heat. Alvis’ win in the main was a wire-to-wire drive in a race that saw plenty of position changes. Alvis was trailed by Tim Albright, who scored his best finish of 2006 with the second place run. Clarence Harrell, George Christensen, and J.L. Moorehead rounded out the top five.
A rough night for the Street Stocks saw the feature race end one lap short of a complete distance. The race was red flagged late when Rick Mayer rolled on the backstretch and his upside down car was tagged by Randy Thomas. Both drivers were unhurt.
The drivers were chasing previous feature winner Charles Paris Jr., who was involved in a mishap on the initial start that ripped away bodywork. Paris inherited the lead in the early stages, but proved to be worthy of the task. Dave Floyd provided the first threat until he spun, giving Daniel Lewis the chance to chase down Paris. Lewis had his hands full with Paul Gibbs and the duo went side-by-wise on several occasions. After the long red flag delay, the green-white-checkered finish sent Paris to Victory Lane. Lewis claimed second, ahead of Gibbs, Matthew Grissom, and Mac Kersey. Paris and Donnie Reed won the preliminary races.
Racing action returns to East Bay Raceway Park Saturday with a five-division program on tap on Saturday. Complete information is available at www.eastbayracewaypark.com.
