IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 8, 2009 Josh Peacock wins Late Model Feature By Jason Loughren 3/7/09 Another great crowd was on hand at East Bay Raceway Park for the second week of racing of the 2009 season. Four classes of cars took to the track as the sun set over Tampa Bay on another beautiful night for racing on the “Clay by the Bay”. The Street Stocks started the night off with a bang. Buck Skinner dominated the event and it looked like he had won his 2nd feature race of the young season. Skinner’s machine though would lose the feature win and his heat win in post race technical inspection as his 00B machine was disqualified. Also disqualified was the apparent 2nd place finisher Danny Hill. Matthew Grissom was the beneficiary of the disqualifications picking up his first feature win of the season. Buck Woodhouse ran in the top-5 all night long and wound up 2nd. Dave Floyd finished 3rd. Thomas Pratt started in the 12th sport and was credited with a 4th place finish. Donnie Reed rounded out the top-5. Gary Sheffield won his heat race. In the Limited Late Models Forrest Gough appeared to have the car to beat as he lead many of the early laps. Tim Gay started in the 6th position and quickly made his way through the field. With three laps to go Gay made the pass on Gough and took the lead. Gay went on to win his first feature race of the season. Gough finished 2nd. JR Prather, Jr. started 5th and finished 3rd. John Powers finished 4th. William Pugh recovered from an early spin and finished 5th. Bobby Johns and John Bradley won the heat races. Twenty South Shore Auto Sales Late Models hit the track for their 25-lap feature event. Josh Peacock started on the front row and pulled out to the early lead. He lead the entire race in dominating fashion taking his first win of the season. As the laps wound down the eventual 2nd place finisher Jack Nosbisch, Jr. found his line and was gaining ground on the leader but ran out of time. Travis Varnadore started in 9th and finished 3rd. Jimmy Waldrop came home 4th and Shan Smith rounded out the top-5. Doug Watson, Nosbisch and Jeff Mathews won the heat races. The Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers had another strong field of cars coming off their first week showing of thirty-four cars. The 15-lap feature race was filled with side-by-side door banging excitement. Robert Kissam’s night ended early last week and he was a man on a mission as he battled his way to the front from the 8th starting position. The lead pack raced three and four cars wide for the entire race. Near the end of the race Kissam was able to get past the Jim Baker machine to take the lead and eventually the win. Baker had a strong run and finished 2nd. Kyle Kruse was part of the lead pack all night and wound up 3rd. Roberto Morfin, Jr. started 6th and finished 4th. Roberto Morfin, Sr. charged to a 5th place finish. Kissam, Kever Raulerson and Morfin, Jr. won the heats. ASA sanctioned racing resumes at East Bay Raceway Park Saturday, March 14th, 2009 at 6:30pm. USA Concessions Night will feature the South Shore Auto Sales Late Models, East Bay Sprints, Limited Late Models, Outlaw 4’s, and the Motorstats.com 4 cylinder bombers. The Vintage Sprints and Modifieds will be in action as well. For more information call the track office at 813-677-7223 or visit us on the web at www.eastbayracewaypark.com. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!