Defending Outlaw 4 division champion Chad Rose has had a steady season in the defense of his title. His fortunes took a positive turn Saturday night with a feature win in the class. The win was dedicated to his brother Robbie, who had passed away earlier this year.
Rose grabbed the lead on a lap four restart but the pass was nullified by a Travis Varnadore spin. Rose fell back in line in this spot for the restart and repeated the magic that helped him gain the margin the first time. From there, he could not be caught, though the competition was certainly trying.
Kenny Baggerly grabbed the initial lead, but polesitter Zach Amundsen rallied back on the inside to take the lead on lap three. Amundsen tried to protect against the Rose charge, but there was no denying the eventual winner. As Rose assumed command, Jim Coursen was coming on strong from deep in the field. Coursen came into the top five with five laps remaining, gathering another spot when Alex Boerner experienced mechanical problems while running third.
Steve Miller had followed Rose to the front, but tire problems dropped him from contention with a few laps remaining. Coursen passed Amundsen, but Rose worked traffic masterfully to claim the win. Coursen claimed second, ahead of Amundsen, Cecil Martin, and Brad Boerner. Preliminary winners were Alex Boerner and point leader Pete Grantham, who was caught in an early feature mishap for a DNF.
A 14-car Limited Sprint field saw all eyes on a trio of fast cars that lined up deep in the pack. Greg Leonard’s domination was on the minds of many, but Paulie Milum and Tim George had the potential to march their rides to the head of the field. At the start, polesitter Michael Smith prevailed over Danny Jones as Rich Alexander moved to third. Alexander had a challenge coming from Donnie Maxwell.
Milum was the first to show his strength as he came into the top five by lap 12, easing past Maxwell, then Alexander. Leonard closed to fifth and then camped on Milum’s tail. The first caution came on lap 15, tightening the field behind Smith.
A lap later, George passed two cars in one corner to move into the top five. With the white flag shown to the leaders, Rich Alexander tumbled in turn four, bringing the red. Alexander was not hurt and the race resumed with a one-lap dash. Smith held on for a wire-to-wire win, trailed by Jones, Milum, Leonard, and George. Heat race wins went to Smith and Rick Martin.
The Late Models opened their program with heat wins for Marshall Austin and 2005 Late Model champion David Schmauss. Anxious moments early saw Jack Nosbisch Jr. spin on the first lap, forcing him to the rear. Josh Peacock led Bobby Clark on the restart, but Schmauss dispatched Clark in short order. Clark spun on the next lap, taking Bobby Alexander Sr. out of action.
While Schmauss wanted to challenge the leader, he had to worry about last week’s winner, Phillip Cobb, who was hunting on the inside. Both drivers slipped by Peacock with Schmauss taking command. Point leader Roger Crouse, who did triple duty with his Limited Sprint and Limited Late Model rides in addition to the Late Model, gained a top five by the sixth lap and moved to fourth two laps later.
His next challenge would come from K.D. Kelley and that side by side action would stretch over the next several laps. On a restart, Kelley found the outside to his liking and he shot to the lead in the backstretch. Austin bypassed Crouse, who charged back a few laps later. Cobb had some handling issues and slipped out of the top five with Nosbisch now occupying fifth.
Schmauss took a low line look on Kelley as the pair headed to the first turn and slid up the track. Schmauss regained control with the lead and held on as Crouse also ducked under Kelley, who finished third. Austin claimed fourth while Josh Peacock came in fifth when Nosbisch’s car expired on the white flag lap.
Street Stock racers saw some slam bang action that brought medics to a couple of the cars in a lap 5 incident. Daniel Lewis held the early lead as Tim Spencer slipped back to third when Steven Johnson moved by. Charlie Paris Jr. was asserting his control, moving the car to third. Ahead of him, Johnson was able to pass Lewis. As Buck Woodhouse moved to fifth, trouble struck when Paul Gibbs turned sideways on the backstretch and contact from several cars sent race machines going in several directions.
Matthew Collins required assistance for minor injuries while Buckshot Meixner was helped from his car on the backstretch as the wind was knocked out of him. Neither driver required additional assistance, but the cars were out of the event. On the restart, Lewis spun while second, but got the car going again before the yellow flew for Doug Johnson.
Since no laps were completed, Lewis went back to second. He took the lead from Johnson, but a caution for a pair of spinning cars made the move moot. Johnson never gave his opponents a chance to take the lead again as he moved out to the 15-lap victory, his second in three weeks. Lewis was second, trailed by Woodhouse, last week’s winner Paris, and Spencer. Heats were won by Paris and Mac Kersey.
fter a rough week last week, the Limited Late Models settled down to provide some exciting action for their 15-lapper. J.R. Prather Jr. and Forrest Gough started the night right with heat wins. Prather started the race on the outside front row, but it was Tim Gay with the early lead from a second row starting spot.
Timmy Bronson bypassed Cheryl Cochran for second, but Prather moved to the spot a lap later. Three wide racing took its toll as Jeremy Simpson and Ricky Land ended up stationary on the backstretch. On the restart, Prather made his move to charge to the lead. Two laps later, contact between Tommy Evonosky and Michael Cherry resulted in Cherry sliding into the frontstretch water barrier.
Cherry walked away from the crash and the field tightened for the showdown to the finish, but Roger Crouse, who was running third, pulled off and out of contention. Prather could not be denied, but Evonosky bypassed Gay for second at the finish.
Timmy Bronson claimed fourth ahead of Shane Koperda. In Victory Lane, Prather stated that the car was just finished earlier that afternoon and he had not intended to race, but was glad his crew changed his mind.
Late Models, Limited Late Models, Open Wheel Modifieds, Street Stocks and 4 Cylinder Bombers will open the month of June at East Bay Raceway Park. Complete information is available at www.eastbayracewaypark.com.
