After two months of scaled back racing action East Bay Raceway Park returned to regular weekly racing Saturday night.
The Late Model class had not seen action since the end of June, and 32 cars and drivers showed up to test their skills on the clay oval. The car count required 3 heat races with the top seven cars of each heat transferring to the feature. The 24 car field was completed by 3 cars transferring from the consi.
In heat action Josh Peacock,Mark Haase,and David Schmauss garnered wins. Marshall Austin, Travis Varnadore, and Frankie Erskine were the transfers from the consi.
When the green flag waved on the main Josh Peacock jumped to the lead from his outside front row starting spot.Peacock held off all challengers over the 25-lap distance and took the win. Keith Nosbisch started in the 20th position and came back from an early trip to the back of the field and charged back to the front to put on a last lap challenge that had the fans standing and cheering.Nosbisch would come up one spot short and have to settle for second place at the finish. David Schmauss, Mark Haase, and Matt Miller would all take shots at the lead but wound up rounding out the top five.
In Limited Late Model action Tim Gay raced his way to the lead after starting in the 8th spot. Bruce Harvey came from 9th to finish 2nd over the 15 lap distance. The rest of the top 5 consisted of J R Prather Jr. Cheryl Cochran, and William Pugh. Jeremy Simpson and Prather won the heats.
In the Gagel’s Auto Parts Open Wheel Modifieds action, Jamie Burrows bested the very competitive field of cars to take the win. Jeff Mathews would put on repeated challenges to take the lead but wound up finishing 2nd Roger Crouse, Dale Kelly, and Scotty Williams completed the top five in that order. Kelly and Borrows found the checkers in the heats.
Outlaw 4s completed their 15-lap feature in short order, with Cecil Martin taking the top spot from the 4th place starting position. Early leader Matt Haynes held on to finish 2nd ahead of Shane Burrows, Jim Coursen, and points leader Chad Rose.Coursen and Martin took the prelims.
Convire Auto Catalytic Recycling 4cyl. Bombers capped off the nites racing with Collin Kruse winning their feature. Kruse came from the 8th position starting spot to best 10th starter Randy Tyler, pole sitter Paul Huffstutler, Kyle Eash, and Frank Miller would complete the top five.Kever Raulerson and Miller won the 2 heat races.
The Clay By The Bay will host the 360 Sprints on Sept.8th with weekly racing now back on schedule until mid-December. Several special events are on tap during the remaining 2007 schedule. Go to www.eastbayracewaypark.com for details or call the track office at 813-677-RACE (7223).
