Weaver Repeats on preliminary Night Three of OWM at East Bay
WEAVER REPEATS ON PRELIMINARY NIGHT THREE OF OWM AT EAST BAY
TAMPA, FL…..2/16/07……Kevin Weaver made history Friday night at East Bay Raceway Park in the 8th Annual Open Wheel Modified Winternationals when he became the first driver to score two wins on preliminary nights (Wednesday and tonight) of the four-day series.
It was a wild and crazy 25-lap feature with two previous leaders spinning out and Weaver making a switch to the high groove to lead the last three laps and collect the $l,500 prize.
When track announcer Chris Stepan reminded Weaver that he had just made history with repeat preliminary night wins, the subject quickly focused on the fact that Weaver had been the winner of the big finale in the very first OWM Winternationals in 2000 and there have been no repeat winners since then. Weaver said, “It would sure be nice to win that one again, but 75 laps is a different story and my focus will be on tire management.”
Once again Weaver and his crewmen, Mason Fisher and Josh Beebe, made very little changes on his Bob Pierce chassis which is powered by a Hixon engine, utilizing Bilstein shocks and Hoosier Tires. The car displayed sponsorship from Jimmy John’s Gormet Sandwiches and Rigsby Homes.
Finishing second in the second of 10 heats for the 88 cars on hand, Weaver was relegated to start in the sixth row of the A-Main. The front row starters were Jason Lakey and Steve Arpin, however, after pile-ups on the first two attempts to complete a lap, it was Arpin who jumped to an immediate lead once the race was officially underway.
A long string of green flag laps let Arpin build a four second lead over Shawn Peterson with 10 laps in the books. Three laps later, Arpin ran the high groove and passed lapped traffic at will to build a straightaway lead for himself. The lapped cars would be his downfall on lap 18 when he tangled with three of them in between turns one and two. Raymond Rogers had moved into second ahead of Peterson, Jamie Burrows, Weaver and Corey Connelly at this point and he inherited the lead when Arpin had to restart at the tail.
Rogers lead was short lived because on lap 21 he too was the victim of a spin to the inside in turn four and this gave the lead to Burrows on lap 22. Meanwhile, 21st starting Stan Donahoo discovered the fast outside lane and was making his way into the front four.
Weaver admitted, “I drove the wheels off this thing tonight. I looked at the high groove in one and turn turns and it look pretty hairy and choppy, but the top was definitely faster, so I went for it.”
The move to the top did it for Weaver who took the lead on lap 23 and headed Burrows, Peterson, Jeff Mathews and Ray Guss, Jr. at the finish. Next came Joey Jensen, Denny Schwartz, Donahoo, Arpin and Bobby Bittle with top ten finishes.
Matt Goulden and Dakota Stephens advanced from the lst C-Main while Frank Marshall and Brady Short went to the B-Main from the 2nd C-Main. In the 1st B-Main Donahoo and Justin Carlson advanced to the A-Main, but a tangle inside between turns one and two resulted in a hard hit to Julie McDermid who was transported to the hospital for observation. Charles Patrick and Guss earned starting spots in the A-Main after coming from the 2nd B-Main.
Thanks, Jean Lynch for East Bay Raceway Park
WEAVER REPEATS ON PRELIMINARY NIGHT THREE OF OWM AT EAST BAY
TAMPA, FL…..2/16/07……Kevin Weaver made history Friday night at East Bay Raceway Park in the 8th Annual Open Wheel Modified Winternationals when he became the first driver to score two wins on preliminary nights (Wednesday and tonight) of the four-day series.
It was a wild and crazy 25-lap feature with two previous leaders spinning out and Weaver making a switch to the high groove to lead the last three laps and collect the $l,500 prize.
When track announcer Chris Stepan reminded Weaver that he had just made history with repeat preliminary night wins, the subject quickly focused on the fact that Weaver had been the winner of the big finale in the very first OWM Winternationals in 2000 and there have been no repeat winners since then. Weaver said, “It would sure be nice to win that one again, but 75 laps is a different story and my focus will be on tire management.”
Once again Weaver and his crewmen, Mason Fisher and Josh Beebe, made very little changes on his Bob Pierce chassis which is powered by a Hixon engine, utilizing Bilstein shocks and Hoosier Tires. The car displayed sponsorship from Jimmy John’s Gormet Sandwiches and Rigsby Homes.
Finishing second in the second of 10 heats for the 88 cars on hand, Weaver was relegated to start in the sixth row of the A-Main. The front row starters were Jason Lakey and Steve Arpin, however, after pile-ups on the first two attempts to complete a lap, it was Arpin who jumped to an immediate lead once the race was officially underway.
A long string of green flag laps let Arpin build a four second lead over Shawn Peterson with 10 laps in the books. Three laps later, Arpin ran the high groove and passed lapped traffic at will to build a straightaway lead for himself. The lapped cars would be his downfall on lap 18 when he tangled with three of them in between turns one and two. Raymond Rogers had moved into second ahead of Peterson, Jamie Burrows, Weaver and Corey Connelly at this point and he inherited the lead when Arpin had to restart at the tail.
Rogers lead was short lived because on lap 21 he too was the victim of a spin to the inside in turn four and this gave the lead to Burrows on lap 22. Meanwhile, 21st starting Stan Donahoo discovered the fast outside lane and was making his way into the front four.
Weaver admitted, “I drove the wheels off this thing tonight. I looked at the high groove in one and turn turns and it look pretty hairy and choppy, but the top was definitely faster, so I went for it.”
The move to the top did it for Weaver who took the lead on lap 23 and headed Burrows, Peterson, Jeff Mathews and Ray Guss, Jr. at the finish. Next came Joey Jensen, Denny Schwartz, Donahoo, Arpin and Bobby Bittle with top ten finishes.
Matt Goulden and Dakota Stephens advanced from the lst C-Main while Frank Marshall and Brady Short went to the B-Main from the 2nd C-Main. In the 1st B-Main Donahoo and Justin Carlson advanced to the A-Main, but a tangle inside between turns one and two resulted in a hard hit to Julie McDermid who was transported to the hospital for observation. Charles Patrick and Guss earned starting spots in the A-Main after coming from the 2nd B-Main.
