East Bay Raceway Runs Feature Only to Beat the Rain!!
by Bill Green “From Behind The MIC”
Tampa, FL (August 16th, 2003). Well Mother Nature visited East Bay Raceway Park for what I believe to be the 13th weekend in a row, but luckily it was a short visit. After an hour rain delay and a heroic effort by the track guru’s, feature only racing started at it’s normal 9PM race time. With 132 cars signed in, everyone really wanted to see some great racing.
First up were the Limited Sprints that saw Larry Brazil, Jr. extend his point lead as he took the win with Tim George second, Donnie Maxwell third, Travis Bliemeister forth and John Ratzlaff fifth.
Limited Late Models saw lots of action with Roger Crouse going from outside the front row to Victory Lane. Second went to Timmy Bronson, from 13th starting spot. Third was Forest Gough, from 14th starting position. Timmy Gay made a longer trip from 19th to fourth, with Terry Bronson surviving a flat tire for fifth.
Late Models put on an exciting show, with Keith Nosbisch “The Sheriff” winning from the pole. While the “Mr. Consistency” Donnie Tanner maintained a big points lead as he finished third, second went to a hard charging Devon Dixon who would not let “The Sheriff” rest throughout this one. Finishing fourth would be Roger Crouse, while Bobby Alexander, Sr. got the final top-5 spot.
The Hill’s Dirt Pit, Pioneer Tire & Auto, Buzbee Aquatics Mini-Stocks brought 23 cars to the green and Dorsey Strickland won the Feature and chipped away a big chunk of the points lead, while Chad Rose sat the final 4 laps out in the infield. Second would go to Ryan Mitchell, while third was Scotty Williams, fourth would be Jim Courson and Rich Livernois would come back from an early race altercation to settled for fifth.
Street Stocks started the Feature Only night with all 31 cars taking the green flag. After a survival of the fittest high attrition event it was Danny Paris in Victory Lane. Second would go to Eric Johnson. Third would be Tim Hunts at the end, with forth going to the hardest of hard chargers Richard Peacock, coming from 30th starting spot. Fifth went to outside pole sitter Rob Hall.
The 1-800-A$K-GARY DA$H-4-CA$H was contested by the Limited Late Models with Bill Howard using the pole start to take the $200 1st Place prize. Second went to an inside move off turn 4 by Roger Crouse, leaving Doug Decker third.
Open Wheeled Modifieds started 26 cars and a hard fought battle ended with Jeff Mathews in Victory Lane as the time limit allowed only 7-laps to get in the books. Second would be John Bradley, with Bill Howard third, Jerry White forth and Ed Hill picks up the top 5 finish.
Look for special announcements from East Bay Raceway Park and Knoxville Speedway, as well as Eldora Speedway as these three tracks begin to work together for Winter Nationals and Knoxville Nationals co-sponsored specials. Next week the 360 Sprints are back in action, along with or 4 regular classes. Friday Night Go-Karting Under-the-Lights returns on August 23rd and will have a make-up the following week. Also racers remember Friday, August 28th is practice night at East Bay Raceway Park. Call the track office at 677-RACE for more information on any of our racing events.
