| Mathews Prevails in East Bay Showdown 100 | By Larry Jewett
 Racers helping racers is a well-known aspect of the sport and the results can often be satisfying. Saturday night at East Bay Raceway Park, Jeff Mathews parked his Late Model in Victory Lane, but earlier in the day, it looked like that would be impossible.
“At 4 o’clock this afternoon, the engine blew in this car,” said Mathews in Victory Lane. “Stephen Ramsey loaned us this engine and I have to thank him for that,” he continued. A relieved Mathews thanked his sponsors and car owner J.R. Prather, standing in front of his huge trophy.
Mathews’ visit to Victory Lane came with a late race pass of David Schmauss as the field found lapped traffic on lap 92. Schmauss, who had started on the pole as the fast qualifier, had led the entire race to that point. After losing the lead, Schmauss rallied back to grab it momentarily, but Mathews asserted himself in the top position to stay.
The 24-car field earned their starting spots through two laps of qualifying. At the drop of the green for the 100-lapper, Schmauss outgunned outside front row racer Marshall Austin to snatch the initial lead. With caution laps counting in the first 50, the field was slowed several times, but laps clicked off on the scoreboard.
 Philip Cobb was one of the early movers, slicing into the top 5 by lap three and used the outside line to pull into the top three before a dozen laps were in the book. Devin Dixon, who had earlier won the Modified feature, slipped past Austin for second. K.D. Kelley picked off one spot per lap to charge into fourth by lap 13 with Roger Crouse in tow. Cobb took second on lap 29. Spots inside the top five were swapped regularly with the lone exception being the lead which Schmauss held strong.
Schmauss was the leader on lap 38, which paid a special $638 bonus in memory of late racer Scott Thompson. On the next lap, Jack Nosbisch spun, which ended his effort. Nosbisch had been relegated to the tail after a lap one incident and the latest bit of misfortune dropped him to a 23rd place finish.
A few laps later, Austin collected Roger Crouse, sending point leader Crouse around and forcing both drivers to the rear. Dixon had regained second, but Cobb slid by, only to lose a driveshaft two laps later. By lap 55, Jeff Mathews had stepped into the top five and took three laps to move to second.
 The front four cars drive straight to the bottom of the race track, chasing Schmauss in nose to tail fashion. With Schmauss easing out to a six-length lead, the best battle on the track proved to be Mathews and Dixon for second. Mathews would close on Schmauss, but lapped traffic allowed Schmauss to squirt away.
 That strategy would only work until the leader crept up on another lapped car that had the bottom groove. The car moved up to allow Schmauss to pass, but Mathews carried the car hard into the corner and prevailed from the outside on lap 92. Despite a trio of cautions in the last six laps, no one could catch Mathews, who collected $5,000 for the win. Kelley slipped past Schmauss for second with Crouse charging seventh on lap 97 to finish fourth. Dixon rounded out the top five.
Joining the Late Models for the Saturday night racing action were the Open Wheel Modifieds, Street Stocks, and Four Cylinder Bombers. Devin Dixon and Matt Miller won the Open Wheel Modified preliminaries and started on the front row. The red flew quickly when William Hampton slammed the turn one wall. Hampton was taken into the ambulance for observation. Dixon, Miller, Scottie Williams, Buzzie Reutimann, and Jeff Mathews composed the top five early.
East Bay Raceway Park Late Models In Action - Video Clip.
Mathews started picking up spots, moving to second by the eighth lap, but the caution waved to put Mathews back to third. Two laps later, Mathews came back to the runner-up spot to pursue Dixon. Reutimann gained third, ahead of Williams while Miller faded. Dixon prevailed at the checkered on lap 15, with Mathews, Reutimann, Williams, and Miller in the top five.
A green-white-checkered finish for the Street Stocks saw Charlie Paris Jr. pick up his fourth win of the season. Paris took the lead from Daniel Lewis on the third lap, but the caution for debris wiped out the pass. Paris went to the high side a lap later to assert himself in front. Lewis couldn’t close the gap, but had to hold off challenges from Jeff Stewart, and heat winner Cam Canova.
Canova spun to fade from competition and Stewart slipped back when Donnie Reed charged up. The checkered flew on lap 14 with Paris defeating Lewis, who won a heat in the class earlier. Third place went to Reed, ahead of Stewart and Paul Gibbs.
The feature event for the 4 Cylinder Bomber was postponed to Sept. 23, due to curfew. Heats for the class were won by Mario Shelton, Jimmy Alvis, and Frank Miller.
Racing action resumes September 23 with racing in Late Models, Limited Late Models, Limited Sprints, Outlaw 4s, and double features for the 4 Cylinder Bombers. The monthly Fan Participation race will also be contested. Complete details can be found at www.eastbayracewaypark.com
Showdown 100 – Complete results
Jeff Mathews, K.D. Kelley, David Schmauss, Roger Crouse, Devin Dixon, Josh Peacock, Marshall Austin, Todd Alexander, Shan Smith, J.R. Prather Jr., Ted Erskine, Wallace Peacock, Jeff Conyers, Michael Cherry, Dorsey Strickland, Frank Erskine Jr., Hamp Conley, Chris Livernois, Steve Gillman, Bobby Alexander Sr., John Norris, Phillip Cobb, Jack Nosbisch Jr., Frank Erskine Jr. (DNQ – Dan Darnell, Tom Megginson, Randy Thomas, Carl Polk)
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