In victory lane for the first time ever at East Bay, Shannon Babb (18)was very excited.
TAMPA, FL (February 8, 2007)-Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, IL passed Terry Casey on lap 32 and went on to take the 40 lap Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event on Thursday Night at East Bay Raceway Park. Babb’s first career win at East Bay Raceway earned him $7,000 for his efforts as he became the fourth different winner in four nights of the 2007 East Bay Winternationals.
Babb behind the wheel of the Bill Moyer/Car City/J&J Steel/Watters Auto Land/Performance Rod and Custom/Allstar Performance/Imperial Motors/Hoosier Tires/Dargie Race Engines/C.J. Rayburn Monte Carlo crew chiefed by Jay Hunt beat Casey to the line for the victory. Casey of New London, WI had a strong run in finishing second in the Arnie Ranta Motorsports/Pro Power/C.J. Rayburn Monte Carlo.
Third place went to Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, WI is his Miller Brothers Coal/Pro Power/C.J. Rayburn Monte Carlo with 13th starting Steve Francis of Ashland, KY coming home in fourth and Terry English of Benton, KY was fifth in the Petroff Towing/C.J. Rayburn Monte Carlo. A total of 90 were on hand for the event.
Brady Smith would race to the lead on the opening lap from his pole starting spot with Dennis Erb, Jr. and Schlieper in hot pursuit. Casey, who started third, was around Schlieper for the third spot by the second lap with Babb, who started sixth now up to fourth. Casey would make a run for the lead passing Erb to take second and then made the move on Smith to take over the point on lap four.
Casey then started to pull away from the field as Babb went around Smith on lap seven to take second. Traffic was quickly playing a role in the race with Casey and Babb reaching the back of the field by the ninth circuit. Casey and Babb would open up a good sized advantage over the third place running Smith with Babb pulling even with Casey on lap 12 at the start-finish line. Schlieper then entered the top three taking that spot away from Smith.
A caution flag on lap 18 for Brian Birkhofer slowed the fast paced event. At the halfway mark it was Casey still showing the way with Babb right on him followed by Schlieper, Smith and Tim McCreadie who was up from his 14th starting position. Smith would lose four spots as cars went by him on lap 22. The third caution of the race would then come out for Tim Dohm, Wednesday’s night’s winner who lost a tire in turn three.
On the restart, Casey and Babb would duke it out again for the top spot going wheel to wheel to the excitement of the large crowd on hand. The fourth and final caution of race came out for Smith whose car stalled on the backstretch as he was out of the race. With 13 laps to go it would set up a classic battle for the win between Casey and Babb as the green came back out to restart the race.
Schlieper would make things interesting closely up on the outside of Babb and challenging him for second. But Babb would have none of it as he pulled back in front of Schlieper in the race for second. With ten laps to Casey was really starting to feel the heat from Babb as Babb would make the move coming off of turn number four on lap 32 to take over the lead from Casey.
Babb would then open a two to three car length lead over Casey which would carry him all the way to checkers for his first ever win at East Bay Raceway Park. Casey finished second followed by Schlieper, Steve Francis, who came up from the 13th starting position was a solid fourth and Terry English would make a late race charge to finish fifth.
In victory lane for the first time ever at East Bay, Babb was excited to me there. “We finally got a win here we’ve been close so many times at this track.” “I just followed Casey there for a while, he was running good, but we were able to get the inside of him there and pass him, it was good race I’m sure for the fans, but it almost wore me out.” Babb also won despite suffering a broken arm several weeks ago which is just now healed up.
Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Billy Drake, Don O’Neal, Billy Moyer and Darrell Lanigan.
In preliminary action Earl Pearson, Jr. was the LifeLong Locks Fast Time Award Winner with a lap of 14.831 seconds around the 1/3 mile track. The Hawk Brake and Quarter Master sponsored heat race winners were Terry Casey, Shannon Babb, Billy Moyer, Jimmy Mars, Brady Smith, Dennis Erb, Jr., Dan Schlieper and Terry English. The Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno and Penske Shocks sponsored B-mains were taken by Tim Dohm, Don O’Neal, Scott Bloomquist and Eddie Carrier, Jr. with the Performance Rod and Custom Strawberry Dash win grabbed by Doug Horton, who earned a starting spot in the A-main for his victory.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series quickly returns to action at East Bay Raceway on Friday night, February 9th with a complete show of LifeLong Locks Time Trials, Hawk Brake and Quarter Master sponsored Heat races, Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno and Penske Shocks sponsored B-Mains Performance Rod and Custom Strawberry Dash and the $10,000 to win A-Main.
Catch all of the action of the 31st Annual East Bay Winternationals live on the internet all week long at www.racetalklive.com.
Race Summary Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series East Bay Raceway Park-Tampa, FL Thursday, February 8, 2007
LifeLong Locks Fast Time: Earl Pearson Jr- 14.853
Hawk Brake First Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Terry Casey, Darrell Lanigan, Dean Carpenter, John Mason, Dan Stone, Jeff Beyers, Jason Riggs, Rick Rogers, Earl Pearson Jr., Tommy Bailey
Hawk Brake Second Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Shannon Babb, Adam Hensel, Tim Dohm, Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Jordan Bland, Chuck Harper, Scott James, Anthony White, Josh McGuire, Michael England
Quarter Master Third Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Billy Moyer, Billy Drake, Mike Marlar, Steve Shaver, Chris Hackett, D Jay Miller, Wayne Chinn, Mike Mataragas, Jason McBride, Kristin Flory, Wendell Wallace
Quarter Master Fourth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Jimmy Mars, Brian Birkhofer, Don O’Neal, Damon Eller, Gerald Davis, Steve Casebolt, Rick Aukland, Randy Korte, Jeff Gress, Marshall Austin, Freddy Smith
Hawk Brake Fifth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Brady Smith, Steve Francis, Scott Bloomquist, Matt Miller, Tim Fuller, Darren Miller, Greg Johnson, Victor Lee, Jeep VanWormer, Ray Cook, DJ Wells, Roger Crouse
Hawk Brake Sixth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Dennis Erb Jr., Tim McCreadie, Jackie Boggs, Bryan Collins, Ivedent Lloyd, Doug Horton, Kevin Cole, Ricky Arms, Brad Neat, Mark Andersen, Mike Petersak
Quarter Master Seventh Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Dan Schlieper, Donnie Moran, Eddie Carrier Jr., Garrett Durrett, John Blankenship, Davey Johnson, Richard Hedrick, Matt Hubbard, CJ Rayburn, Bob Geiger, Eric Wells
Quarter Master Eighth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Terry English, Ches-ley Dixon, Eric Jacobsen, Justin Rattliff, Bub McCool, Shane Clanton, Christian Rayburn, Vic Coffey, Brian Nuttall, Frank Shickel, Joe Morris
Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno First B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Tim Dohm, Dean Carpenter, Rick Eckert, Anthony White, Josh Richards, John Mason, Daniel Stone, Jeff Beyers, Scott James, Earl Pearson Jr., Jeff Fortner, Jason Riggs, Jordan Bland, Chuck Harper, (DNS-Rick Rogers, Josh McGuire, Tommy Bailey, Michael England)
Penske Shocks Second B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Don O’Neal, Mike Marlar, Damon Eller, Steve Shaver, Chris Hackett, Wayne Chinn, Gerald Davis, Jeff Gress, Jason McBride, Marshall Austin, Steve Casebolt, D Jay Miller, Rick Aukland, Freddy Smith, Mike Mataragas, Randy Korte, Wendell Wallace, Kristin Flory
Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno Third B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Scott Bloomquist, Bryan Collins, Matt Miller, Darren Miller, Victor Lee, Tim Fuller, Greg Johnson, Ivedent Lloyd, Doug Horton, Jeep VanWormer, DJ Wells, Brad Neat, Mark Andersen, Ray Cook, Roger Crouse, Jackie Boggs, Ricky Arms, Kevin Cole, Mike Petersak
Penske Shocks Fourth B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Eddie Carrier Jr., Eric Jacobsen, Christian Rayburn, Garrett Durrett, John Blankenship, Davey Johnson, Bub McCool, Eric Wells, Vic Coffey, Richard Hedrick, Bob Geiger, Shane Clanton, Brian Nuttall, CJ Rayburn, Matt Hubbard, Frank Shickel Jr., Justin Rattliff, (DNS-Joe Morris)
PRC Strawberry Dash: (8 Laps- 1 Advances): Doug Horton, Jeep VanWormer, DJ Wells, Greg Johnson, Bub McCool, Wayne Chinn, Anthony White, Christian Rayburn
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Earl Pearson Jr., Scott James
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Feature Finish: (40 laps): Shannon Babb, Terry Casey, Dan Schlieper, Steve Francis, Terry English, Tim McCreadie, Billy Drake, Don O’Neal, Billy Moyer, Darrell Lanigan, Bryan Collins, Dennis Erb Jr., Jimmy Mars, Mike Marlar, Earl Pearson Jr., Dean Carpenter, Eric Jacobsen, Ches-ley Dixon, Scott Bloomquist, Brady Smith, Tim Dohm, Donnie Moran, Brian Birkhofer, Eddie Carrier Jr., Doug Horton, Adam Hensel, Scott James
Race Statistics Entries: 90 Yellow Flags: 4 Red Flags: 0 Lap Leaders: Brady Smith 1-3, Terry Casey 4-31, Shannon Babb 32-40 Edelbrock Hard Charger Award: Bryan Collins (Started 23rd and Finished 11th-Advanced 12 Positions) Allstar Performance Performer of the Race: Steve Francis K&N Filters Clean Pass Award: Shannon Babb Comp Cams Rookie of the Race: None
2007 DART Winternationals Points Fund Standings (After February 8) 1) Steve Francis (Ashland, KY)-835 2) Dan Schlieper (Sullivan, WI)-790 3) Shannon Babb (Moweaqua, IL)-760 4) Earl Pearson, Jr. (Jacksonville, FL)- 710 5) Terry English (Benton, KY)-695 6) Matt Miller (Waterville, OH)-690 7) Don O’Neal (Martinsville, IN)-675 8) Terry Casey (New London, WI)-670 8) Tim Dohm (Cross Lanes, WV)-670 10) Ricky Arms (Moss, TN)-660 10) Rick Eckert (York, PA)-660 10) Donnie Moran (Dresden, OH)- 660
