With the full moon shining brightly above the turn two gate, it proved to be one of those nights in racing at East Bay Raceway Park. A pair of features were shortened by curfew and tempers proved to be as short during some of the racing action.
The competitive heat races gave no indication to foretell the night's events. Good close competition prevailed in all preliminaries and the track opened for the annual Easter gathering with drivers handing out candy to youngsters. When the track was cleared for the features, the fireworks started.
Limited Late Models started the night's activity as a full field of 26 cars rushed to the night's first feature green. Austin Sanders had the early lead but the caution was quick in coming as J.R. Prather Jr, was collected by John Kemper, sending both to the sidelines. On the restart, Forrest Gough and Ryan Mitchell moved up into the top five as Tim Gay went to work on the race leader. Gay made his pass to the outside on lap three, taking the lead in the backstretch. Shane Koperda, David Simpson and Jeff Mathews were sparring for position and close quarters racing saw a spin draw the caution.
Mitchell shot to second on the restart and came after the leader. The front duo swapped positions until another yellow was tossed on lap 6. The action was heated in the front five on the next restart and Mitchell was forced to the high side on the frontstretch. His car hurdled into the turn one gate, flipping twice before coming to rest, bringing out a long red flag. Mitchell was taken for observation. Koperda inheritred second and his move to the low side provd to be a good choice. Koperda took the lead while Gay and Gough battled, leading to contact between the pair. That contact ended Gough's race as well as Gay's and gave a new lease on life to others in the top five. Simpson and Rich Kessinger hooked up in their own battle, but no one had anything to offer Koperda, who notched his first 2006 win, in a race shortened by curfew. Simpson claimed second ahead of Kessinger, Randy Shields, and Sanders. Heat wins went to Tommy Evonosky, Timmy Bronson, and Mathews.
Dale Kelley brought the Open Wheel Modified field to the green flag, but it was Billy Boyd Jr. taking the early race lead. Heat winner John Bradley charged up from third to grab the lead. On a lap two restart, Boyd's engine let go, moving Kelley back to the runner-up spot. Several more cautions kept tightening the field with Matt Miller and William Hampton lurking in the top five. A Roger Crouse spin sent cars scattering and Buzzie Reutimann ended up against the turn two wall.
A charge from the rear of the field put two-time feature winner Raymond Rogers into contention, but Rogers and Hampton collided, ending the chances for each driver. David Schmauss was working his way up into the top five, but Bradley clearly had the field in his grasp. Bradley crossed the line first, but his car did not meet minimum weight at the scale house. That violation gave the win to Dale Kelley with Matt Miller second. David Schmauss claimed third, ahead of Brian Hollifield and David Boerner. Rogers and Jeff Mathews joined Bradley on the heat winner's list.
The 25-lap Late Model chase started with Bobby Clark easing out front at the first green flag. Caution came quickly for a Steve Hardy spin, forcing the field to a single file restart with one lap in. Wallace Peacock looped his ride ahead of Todd Alexander to re-rack the field again. When the green returned, Clark's car refused to stay on the bottom of the track, giving an opportunity for Outlaw 4 class graduate Jeff Conyers to snatch the lead. Clark held second, but Josh Peacock was closing fast.
After bypassing Clark for second on lap five, Josh Peacock wasted little time in sweeping by the leader, bringing heat race winner Bobby Alexander Sr. along. Peacock had command with Alexander working him over. On lap 22, Peacock developed a flat tire, which gave Alexander the opportunity for the winning pass. As Peacock fell back in the field, Alexander took the checkered ahead of K.D. Kelley, Marshall Austin, Todd Alexander, and Conyers. Clark claimed the other preliminary event.
Street Stocks provided the fewest cautions of the night with their 23-car field. Joseph Luce shot from the pole for the opening race lead as Cam Canova and Donnie Reed made contact through the frontstretch. Reed spun and retired with Canova remanded to the rear of the field. Outside polesitter Tim Spencer ran second as he and Luce were evenly matched. Matthew Grissom ducked past Dave Floyd, who found himself crossed up with contact with Doug Johnson.
Both drivers went to the tail, bringing Paul Gibbs into the top five. Gibbs swept past Grissom for third, then took second as Spencer went up the track while protecting his spot. Gibbs caught Luce and eased by, moving out to a convincing win. Luce kept second, ahead of Grissom. Canova came from the back of the field for fourth ahead of Steven Johnson, who started on the tail. Reed, two-time feature winner Charles Paris Jr., and opening night feature winner Daniel Lewis snared heats.
A healthy field of 4 Cylinder Bombers saw Jimmy Alvis claim his second feature win. Alvis prevailed by making a last lap pass on race leader Buck Skinner, who had led from the start. The race had been red flagged for a turn four rollover that saw Lance Scott topsy-turvy. Scott was not hurt, but the car was retired. Skinner held on for second, ahead of Johnny Lookedoo. Frank Miller, who had started 21st in the 22-car field, finished fourth with heat winner K.C. Laramee taking fifth. Alvis and Skinner started their nights with heat wins.
Racing action returns to East Bay Raceway Park Friday and Saturday with the arrival of the National Late Model Series. Limited Sprints and Street Stocks will join the traveling series for the Friday program, which gets underway at 7 p.m. the Saturday card will feature the National Late model Series finale, along with Open Wheel Modifieds, Outlaw 4s, 4 Cylinder Bombers, Fan Participation race and vintage cars. Complete information is available at www.eastbayracewaypark.com.
