The evening didn’t look very positive for Frank Carlson when the car ended up in the frontstretch wall on the last lap of his heat race. The damage, though, was repaired and the car was presented for the 360 Sprint feature. Twenty-five laps later, that car was sitting in Victory Lane.
The five-division program saw the feature events underway before 8:30 p.m. as the Street Stocks rolled out for their 15-lapper to open the mains. Doug Johnson grabbed the early lead from the pole, but heat winner Buckshot Mexiner took over on the second circuit. Buck Skinner had a fast race car, leaping into third by the fifth lap, then picking up another spot a lap later. Contact between Johnson and Skinner put Skinner on the berm and into the pits on lap 6.
When the green flag returned, Charles Paris Jr. proved to be one of the fastest cars, vaulting in the high line and taking second. The caution returned before the lap was completed as Donnie Reed and Johnson tangled. With two of the top five cars sent to the rear, Tim Spencer inherited second with Paris third. Paris moved to the lead on the restart and built up quite a margin en route to his fifth triumph of the young season, adding to his heat race win earlier in the program. Meixner held second at the finish. Skinner, who returned to the track on the lead lap after making repairs, claimed third.
Spencer and Buck Woodhouse rounded out the top five.
A field of 10 Limited Sprints gathered with heat winner Dakotah Stephens taking the lead from the pole. Caution waved when Rick Byerly lost a wheel, but kept the car from flipping. On the restart, Stephens was smooth, keeping Michael Smith back in second. Gene Lasker eased past Rick Martin for fourth while 2006 division champion Tim George was going to work on Smith. George made his pass by the fourth lap, but no one had anything for the young Stephens. The strong car was unchallenged for the remainder of the race, bring victory in the Limited Sprints and adding to Stephens resume. The youngster also won an Open Wheel Modified at East Bay this season. George tallied second, ahead of Smith, Lasker and Martin.
Cecil Martin and Matt Haynes opened the night’s action for the Outlaw 4s by claiming heat wins. Haynes got down to the business at hand at feature time by taking the early lead. His first challenge came from last week’s feature winner Alex Boerner, who lost the handle on lap six. Shane Burrows picked up second with Steve Miller slotted third on the restart.
On lap 9, Martin experienced flames from beneath his car while running in the top five and safety crews raced to the vehicle with the caution waving. On the late race restart, Miller used a familiar move, hopping to the outside for the lead. With his reskinned ride devoid of anything other than the car’s number, Miller motored out to park in the winner’s circle. Haynes kept second with Burrows third. Point leader Chad Rose took fourth ahead of defending champion Travis Varnadore.
The stage was set for the 25-lap 360 Sprint feature. Frank Carlson had the early lead, but T.J. Winegardner used the outside line to grab second. With Carlson running a half groove lower, both drivers were evenly matched in hunting for the best line. Tyler Godwin was on the move, charging to fifth by lap 7. Frank Beck III slipped past Danny Curry, who was experiencing some handling problems that saw the car looped in the fourth turn. Curry kept the car under power to drive away, only to retire off the backstretch.
Winegardner closed in on Carlson as the lead duo approached the backmarkers. Winegardner was able to secure the lead, only to tangle with Bob Auld on the next lap and spin on the frontstretch. Winegardner was able to continue but only had six laps to get back into contention. It proved to be too little time as Carlson ran a flawless set of laps and wasn’t threatened. Beck III rolled home second with R.J. Johnson claiming third. Matt Stegeman finished fourth, ahead of Stephen Darvalics. Gene Lasker, who did not start the feature, and Curry were heat winners.
The final race of the night brought 20 4 Cylinder Bombers out for 15 laps of action. Kyle Eash took an early lead and made it count, but there was no shortage of action behind the eventual winner. At one point, a group of five cars were locked in a battle that was waged for the rest of the top five positions. When it was all said and done, Eash finished up front with point leader Frank Miller taking second. D.B. Hogwaller, Robert Kissam and Collin Kruse notched top five runs. Heats were won by Kruse, Randy Tyler and K.C. Laramee.
The 2007 season for East Bay Raceway Park is being conducted under the sanctioning of the ASA. The next racing action will be a doubleheader weekend with the arrival of the National Late Model Series. Joining the touring Late Models on Friday will be the Limited Sprints, Outlaw 4s, and 4 Cylinder Bombers. The Saturday program will see the NLMS main with local divisions including Open Wheel Modifieds and Street Stocks. Complete details can be found at www.eastbayracewaypark.com,.
