IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 16, 2004 FSCR East Bay sees Plenty of Racing Action 5/15 by Bill Green TAMPA, Fla. -- Fans from all over the Sunshine State came to East Bay Raceway Park for tonight’s 6 class clash. The track conditions couldn’t have been better for 112 cars to be in the pits and ready for action! First up would be the Gagel’s Auto Parts Open Wheeled Modified feature with the points battle really heating up in this class. For what is sure to be a great after race party, the son & father duo of Rusty Dixon and Bobby Dixon finish one, two, out battling Greg Reutimann, David Borner and Buzzie Reutimann for most of the feature. Rusty use his restarting abilities to hold off the field over several restarts, but "Prime Time" Bobby Dixon had to work past several of those front runners for the second place finish. Third would go to Greg Reutimann, as Buzzie would stumble in turn -1 and fall from 4th to 8th, but showed those veteran driving skills in spinning 360 degrees and continuing to the finish. Fourth would go to David Boerner, with Devin Dixon coming from his 16th starting spot to the final top-5 finish in fifth. Mini Stocks brought 19 cars to the green and saw 14 go the distance. The action would be up front as lap traffic came into play on lap 11. Sending Jimmy Waldrop from challenging for the lead to the back of the pack. Scotty Williams would continue his winning ways with feature win number 8 on the young season of only 11 weeks of racing. Second would go to Ryan Mitchell, with Chad Rose out dueling Daniel Bowman, Jr. for third, Bowman fourth and Cecil Martin getting fifth. Late Models put on a fantastic show after last weeks confusion, this weeks guaranteed purse announcement seemed to ease their concerns. As I was calling this one, I referred to Bobby Alexander, Sr. as a, "foxy ole’ veteran." Now he is known as "The Fox," Bobby Alexander, Sr. hung on for the win and out distanced "The Mayor of Muddville" Roger Crouse going second and "The Master" Donnie Tanner finishing third. The win also kept Bobby’s streak of winning a feature event in every year he’s raced, alive and well. Fourth was David Schmauss showing a little smoke and Marshall Austin came from 14th to finish fifth. Limited Sprint saw more ACTION than pole sitter Rich Alexander and racer Danny Jones wanted to see. Alexander would get sideways in turn-3, save the car enough to cut the infield and launch over a barrier-burm, landing just in time to hit the turn-4/front stretch wall, plus make contact with Jones. As the #8 sprint began to barrel roll done the front stretch, Danny Jones found no where to go and tumbled onto his right side slowly. Both drivers were OK and after a quick clean up by the track fire crew, we were back in action. Then the racing action really heated up as "Big" Tim George, who was battling his way toward the front, from his 9th starting spot, started reeling in leader Tim Holston. Coming to the white flag, Holston had a 2 to 3 car length lead on the #1-Star, but a bobble in turn-4, allowing George to scoot past for the last lap and victory. Second would go to Holston, with the "Mopar-Missile" Frank Beck III coming home third. Fourth would go to Larry "Buzz" Brazil, Jr. and Travis Bliemeister drove to fifth. Limited Late Models saw "Tigger" Bruce Harvey bounce to a win, with David Simpson second and William Hampton third. Fourth finisher would be Shane Koperda and a hard charging Jason Bronson would come from 12th to fifth. Street Stocks almost got the green to checkered run with no yellows, as they cruised to lap-11 before trouble. Danny Paris once again brought the "Phantom-309" to Victory. The third win in a row, was number 5 on the season for the happy winner. Second went to Richard Peacock, with Tony Traina third, "Colonel" Austin Sanders fourth and Jack Rowland fifth. Next week the racing is on Friday, May 21st, with the first ever East Bay Raceway Park "BIG CLAY OVAL SCHOOL BUS" race. The 15-lap event will pay $1000 to the winner and guarantee $200 to start, but only 12 buses will run for the A-Main, with all buses qualifying through time trials or heats depending on the number of buses entered. Call 813-677-RACE to register your bus. Also on the Friday night’s special program, Late Models will battle for a $1200 to win first prize. Fans will also get to see Limited Late Models in action, as well as a "Ladies Only" Fan Participation Race. Call the track to enter the Ladies Only race also. Saturday Night, May 22nd, East Bay Raceway Park will be closed. We’ll See You At the RACES! RESULTS Open Wheeled Modifieds 1. 97-Rusty Dixon 2. 205-Bobby Dixon 3. 00-Greg Reutimann 4. 3X-David Boerner 5. 2D-Devin Dixon Heat-1: David Schmauss Heat-2: Rusty Dixon Mini Stocks 1. 63-Scotty Williams 2. 5K-Ryan Mitchell 3. 7jr-Chad Rose 4. 3-Daniel Bowman, Jr. 5. 15-Cecil Martin Heat-1: Daniel Bowman, Jr. Heat-2: Cecil Martin Late Models 1. 15-Bobby Alexander, Sr. 2. 32-Roger Crouse 3. 88-Donnie Tanner 4. 105-David Schmauss 5. 42-Marshall Austin Heat-1: Bobby Alexander, Sr.. Heat-2: Trevor Merrell Limited Sprints 1. 1*-Tim George 2. 30-Tim Holston 3. 2-Frank Beck III 4. 21-Larry Brazil, Jr. 5. 3-Travis Bliemeister Heat-1: Donnie Maxwell Heat-2: Tim Holston Limited Late Models 1. 27-Bruce Harvey 2. 23D-David Simpson 3. 29-William Hampton 4. 83-Shane Koperda 5. 25-Jason Bronson Heat-1: William Hampton Heat-2: Terry Bronson Street Stocks 1. 309-Danny Paris 2. 17-Richard Peacock 3. 92-Tony Traina 4. 64-Austin Sanders 5. 89-Jack Rowland Heat-1: Mac Kersey Heat-2: Austin Sanders Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!