Mother Nature stepped back and let the fun happen at East Bay Raceway Park as a perfect Saturday night brought fans and race cars in high numbers for five divisions of excitement.
Street Stocks opened the night with more than 20 in the class, leading to three heat races. Matthew Grissom, David Strickland and Tim Spencer claimed preliminary wins. The 15-lap feature brought some hard charging from deep in the pack with point leader Charlie Paris Jr. grabbing the lead on lap five. Paris would have some misfortune on a restart, bringing out a caution that collected three other strong runners. Buckshot Meixner claimed the top spot by the halfway mark and no one could catch him. Mexiner’s win moved him closer to the point lead in the late stages of the year. Dave Floyd ran steady to claim second, ahead of Buck Woodhouse, Gary Sheffield , and Steven Johnson.
Limited Sprints saw Jimmy Ballew and Frank Beck post heat wins. The 15-lap feature got off to a rocky start as Dakotah Stephens’ mount showed flame into turn one. Stephens stopped the car and bailed out of the flames as safety crews rushed to his rescue. On the restart, the red flew again when Ballew toppled slightly with Tim George caught up in the altercation. Once the race began, Texas racer Clint Reynolds made a strong move to assert the top position.
Stephens, who had returned, caught the berm and tumbled on lap 4, ending his run in the class. On the restart, Reynolds drew the attention of Mike Steinruck and then Gene Lasker, who snatched away the lead near the halfway mark. A few cautions slowed the pace with Reynolds’ spin on lap 13 setting up high drama. Greg Leonard, in a rare East Bay start, had hunted down the front pack using the high line and had a fast race car. The restart put Leonard on Lasker’s tail, but Lasker didn’t give up his position, notching his sixth Limited Sprint win. Leonard came home second, ahead of Rich Alexander, Travis Bliemeister, and Tim George.
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A dozen Outlaw 4 racers entered, but 11 took the green in the feature. John Napier’s night ended early as caution waved for spilled fluid. Cecil Martin moved to the lead, ahead of Art Gulvin and Stephen Hohlbaugh, but Hohlbaugh spun on lap three. Point leader Chad Rose moved to Martin’s tailgate for the restart and took the lead on lap 5. Martin and Shane Burrows went high and low on Rose, moving him back to third with Burrows leading the way. Rose was able to bypass Martin, but couldn’t catch Burrows, who scored his fourth feature win of the season. Rose crossed second, ahead of Martin, Matt Haynes and Danny Bowman Jr. It was Burrows’ second win of the night after capturing a heat. Martin took the other heat victory.
A trio of spins opened the 360 Sprints 25-lap main event, but the race did get underway after the drivers settled their nerves. Gene Lasker vaulted to the lead from the outside pole with Robbie Smith giving chase. Dakotah Stephens spun on the third lap, but Lasker kept strong pace on the high line. Matt Tiffany bypassed polesitter Bob Auld, then shot past Smith for second. Lasker had a big lead, but the young Tiffany race a consistent line and closed the gap.
On lap 15, Tiffany swept below Lasker, sliding up to take the lead in the fourth turn. From there, Tiffany made no mistakes, making it impossible for the contenders to make up any ground. The checkered came out, bringing Matt Tiffany his first East Bay victory in impressive fashion. Lasker would tally second with Robbie Smith third and point leader R.J. Johnson fourth. Brian Maddox rounded out the top five. Smith and Auld took heats.
The Convire Four Cylinder Bombers rewarded heat wins to Robert Kissam and Collin Kruse. Both drivers would have strong runs in the feature, but point leader Frank Miller proved to be the class of the field. Kruse would take second with Kissam closing in third. Howie Woods hung tough for fourth while Kyle Eash drove from deep in the pack to post fifth.
East Bay Raceway Park continues ASA-sanctioned racing on October 20 with action for Late Models, Limited Late Models, Open Wheel Modifieds, Street Stocks and Four Cylinder Bombers. Racing starts at 6:30. For complete information, visit www.eastbayracewaypark.com
