Paulie Milum took the green flag in two divisions Saturday night at East Bay Raceway Park and nearly picked up the checkered first in both divisions. Milum scored the win in the 360 Sprints, but couldn’t reel in Greg Leonard in the Limited Sprints for the rare daily double.
Milum prevailed in a wild 360 Sprint race that ended up a few laps short due to curfew and numerous red flags. The race got off to a rocky start when Mike Tharp tumbled in the early stags, collecting Danny Jones. The incident resulted in five cars dropping out, reducing the field to 13 starters. As polesitter Tim Holston led the pack at the green, Milum set of in pursuit as Gene Lasker and Sport Allen slipped by Daryl Smith and Paul Sides in top five running. A Bryan Eckley spin bunched the field for a restart that saw Lasker and Allen tangle in the backstretch with Eckley catching the cars. Allen and Lasker exchanged blows and were escorted off the track as the accident scene was cleared. When the green returned, Holston and Milum were locked into a side-by-side battle for three laps until Milum grabbed the lead. With glowing brakes, Holston set sail for a return trip to the lead, grabbing it briefly, but Milum grabbed the lead before the field returned to the flagstand. As Milum motored out, Holston and Smith made contact, leading to Smith stalled in turn one. Milum moved away on each late race restart as Sides started to charge through the field. Smith was making his charge, but he was called for a restart violation and set back in the finishing order. A smiling Milum thanked the crew for the great work. He was followed by Sides, Holston, Smith and Bob Auld. Sides and Milum claimed heat wins.
In Limited Sprint racing, Greg Leonard raced from the rear of the field to capture his fifth victory of the year. Leonard took the lead from heat winner Michael Smith by the sixth lap in the 15-lap main. Once Leonard captured the lead, he moved away as Danny Jones pulled past Smith for second. Tim George was another late race mover as was Milum. Milum took the runnerup spot by passing Jones as Smith dropped from contention. Leonard headed off for the win with Milum, Jones, George, and Travis Bleimeister in the turn five. Leonard backed his feature win with a heat victory.
The 4-Cylinder bomber main saw K.C. Laramee become a double winner, backing his heat win with the feature triumph. Laramee, who has entered racing after a life-threatening motorcycle accident a few years ago, thanks his supporters for the winning effort. The race was marred by a flip that saw Tim Albright’s car roll two times. Albright was unhurt, but the incident wiped out a sure top five finish. B.W. Hogwaller rebounded from heat race troubles to finish second. Kever Raulerson claimed third, ahead of Calvin Moore and Frank Miller. Point leader George Christensen suffered feature race problems, but started the night on a positive note with a heat win.
The Outlaw 4 class saw Pete Grantham back in Victory Lane for an emotional win. Grantham dedicated his victory t late racer Scott Thompson, who was killed returning from a race event. Grantham’s march to the front was a textbook effort of using the available grooves as he took the lead before the halfway mark. Previous week’s feature winner Jim Coursen came from deep in the pack to move into contention, but couldn’t catch Grantham. Travis Varnadore ran a steady race for third with 2005 champion Chad Rose fourth, Kevin Haynes recovered from an earlier spin to lock down fifth. Alex Boerner and Steve Miller added their names to the list of heat winners.
The 24-car field of Street Stocks closed off the night’s program and the race got off to a shaky start with several spins in the early going. Steven Johnson assumed the early race lead and observers could note something amiss in the leader’s car. Buck Woodhouse was able to close on Johnson and follow closely. Johnson lost the handle in the second turn, but refired the car only to see caution waved for another incident. Since the lap wasn’t completed, Johnson regained the lead that he would never relinquish. The problem turned out to be the loss of power steering, which forced the driver to manhandle the ride for the remainder of the race. It was a tired winner who climbed from the car in Victory Lane. Johnson prevailed over Woodhouse, Cam Canova, Gary Sheffield, and Steve Burch. Three of the drivers in the top five, Burch, Woodhouse and Johnson, also won their preliminaries.
Bob Fink beat Ken Brock and Jamie Frankland to the line in the Florida Old Time Modifieds event, which also saw a companion Sprint race.
Racing action returns to East Bay Raceway Park Saturday with five disisions and th special Lori Baker Dixon Powder Puff race. Complete information is available at www.eastbayracewaypark.com.
