IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 15, 2009 Bobby Alexander, Sr. tops Late Model Field at EastBay Mother Nature cooperated with race fans and teams alike this past Saturday for what turned out to be another memorable night of spectacular racing at Eastbay Raceway Park. The Limited Late Models kicked off the night’s feature events and Plant City driver Tim Gay continued his dominance of the division with a convincing win. Forrest Gough had the piece to challenge Gay, but after tagging the rear of the field due to an accident, could only manage a 5th place finish. Bobby Johns started on the pole and held on to finish 4th. William Pugh and JR Prather, Jr. had a great battle for 2nd, running side-by-side for the final 5 laps. Prather, Sr. squeezed out a 2nd place finish while Pugh settled for 3rd. Ricky Land and John Bradley were winners in the two Heat Races. The Outlaw-4’s continued to electrify the crowd as newcomer Amanda Rogers battled a strong Matt Haynes for the lead. Rogers made a run off turn 2, but turned Haynes around and brought out a caution, sending her to the rear of the field. Haynes retained the lead and went on to pick up the win, while Rogers toughed-out a 6th place finish. Stephen Hohlbaugh, Sean Bass and Shirlene Hammond went three-wide several times to finish 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively. Hohlbaugh and Maverick Varnadore were winners in the heat races. While not as competitive, but certainly as impressive was the run “Mean-Gene” Lasker had in the Eastbay Sprints. In normal Lasker fashion, the #01 Army machine shot to the lead and never looked back. Paulie Milum held on to the Points Lead with a good 2nd place run. Rich Alexander finished 3rd, Kurt Taylor 4th and Tony Agin 5th. Milum won his heat race and Tampa resident Rocky Sullivan won heat race 2. A full 24-car field made up the South Shore Auto Sales Late Model 25-Lap A-Main Feature event. Names like David Schmauss, Jeff Mathews, Keith Nosbisch, Roger Crouse and Josh Peacock had everyone on the edge of their seat in anticipation of another “clash of the titans.” Nosbisch took the early lead, stretching it out to almost a 10 car-length advantage. Dirt phenom Jeff Mathews was caught in an early caution along with David Schmauss. Mathews was able to continue, and after tagging the rear of the field, burned his right-rear off to finish 5th. Schmauss was unable to continue and limped to the pits. Both Jimmy Waldrop and Doug Watson had good runs finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. Temple Terrace veteran Bobby Alexander, Sr. had steadily been making his way to the front in what appeared to be a good 2nd or 3rd place run, but as Nosbisch began to fade, the #15 car found the horsepower they needed to pick up the lead and ultimately the win for his 1st victory of the 2009 racing season. Nosbisch’s 2nd place finish along with his heat race win showed he is still strong at his home track. 2008 Late Model Rookie of the Year driver Travis Varnadore won heat race #2 and the hottest driver in Florida, Jeff Mathews won heat race #3. Al Larson, Greg Leonard and Rich Kessinger all transferred from the B-Main. Another incredible field of 27 Motorstats.com 4-Cylinder Bombers were the last to take to the track for their A-Main Feature. Raymond Vann, Jim Baker and Roberto Morphin, Jr. had won their heat races earlier in the evening, and continued their excellent runs in the feature event. Morphin, Jr. beat down the competition to hang onto a 5th place finish. Robert Kissam finished 4th and Frank Miller 3rd. Baker raced his way to a solid 2nd place finish, but didn’t have enough for Vann who picked up his 1st win of the year. Late Models - Feature Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 6 15 Bobby Alexander Sr. - 40 2 1 101 Keith Nosbisch - 38 3 8 9W Jimmy Waldrop - 36 4 12 07 Doug Watson - 34 5 3 33 Jeff Matthews - 32 6 2 41 Travis Varnadore - 30 7 10 21P Josh Peacock - 28 8 14 0 Rich Pratt - 26 9 4 2 Marvin Gibbs - 24 10 7 73 Jim Courson - 22 11 17 27 Maxx Bennett - 20 12 24 8 Richard Kessinger - 18 13 15 8M Matt Miller - 16 14 22 4L Allan Larson - 14 15 19 46 Hamp Conley - 12 16 18 24 Dennis Williams - 10 17 21 29 Daniel Woody - 9 18 9 115 Roger Crouse - 8 19 5 32 Phillip Cobb - 7 20 16 105 Dave Schmauss - 6 21 13 17SS Shan Smith - 5 22 20 444 Ted Erskine - 4 23 11 8S Steve Miller - 3 24 23 85 Greg Leonard - 2 Limited Late Models - Feature Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 4 35 Tim Gay - 40 2 3 007 J.r. Prather Jr. - 38 3 6 6 William Pugh - 36 4 1 11 Bobby Johns - 34 5 5 21 Forrest Gough - 32 6 11 29 William Hampton - 30 7 12 15 Alex Boerner - 28 8 8 66 Ricky Land - 26 9 9 102 Jason Pope - 24 10 7 45 John Bradley - 22 11 10 25 Jim Rewley - 20 12 2 99 Jason Dyal - 18 13 14 99X Keven Devrieze - 16 14 13 9 Justin Gurley - 0 East Bay Sprints - Feature Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 5 01* Gene Lasker - 40 2 1 42 Paulie Milum - 38 3 8 8 Rich Alexander - 36 4 10 20 Kurt Taylor - 34 5 3 38 Tony Agin - 32 6 4 30 Rick Byerly - 30 7 11 83 Christine Auld - 28 8 2 15 Rocky Sullivan - 26 9 6 1* Tim George - 24 10 9 44A Mike Steinruck - 22 11 7 85 Clyde Poole - 20 12 12 27 Troy Knowles - 18 13 13 47B Alexis Beagle - 1 Out Law 4 s - Feature Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 5 2 Matthew Haynes - 40 2 3 8S Sean Bass - 38 3 7 75 Stephen Hohlbaugh - 36 4 6 22 Shirlene Hammond - 34 5 2 9 Mickey Wright - 32 6 9 10 Amanda Rogers - 30 7 11 75R Jason Russell - 28 8 10 7JR Jesse Brown - 26 9 8 14 Mavrick Varnadore - 24 10 4 05 Brian Danforth - 22 11 1 89 Austin Gillman - 20 12 12 1 Chris Woody - 18 4 Cylinder Bombers - Feature Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 4 15 Raymond Vann - 40 2 2 69X Jim Baker - 38 3 7 13 Frank Miller - 36 4 11 911 Robert Kissam - 34 5 3 7M Roberto Morfin, Jr. - 32 6 16 38C George Christensen - 30 7 8 48 Kyle Kruse - 28 8 9 07 Wayne Kissam - 26 9 6 238 Collin Kruse - 24 10 14 22 George Handy - 22 11 19 93X Chris Knoof - 20 12 20 25 Matthew Odell - 18 13 13 8 Johnnie Alexander - 16 14 5 119 Robert Purcell - 14 15 15 03 Patrick Tabb, Jr. - 12 16 29 94 Vera Leonard - 10 17 21 29 Robert Williams - 9 18 24 007 Kelli Hill - 8 19 25 4 Kayla Jones - 7 20 23 50 Gary Killeen - 6 21 17 28J Benny Metzger - 5 22 12 53 Mark Poole - 4 23 26 21 Cody Decker - 3 24 28 24 Bubba Puyear - 2 25 10 27 Jimmy Odell - 2 26 1 46 Roberto Morfin, Sr. - 2 27 18 73 Landy Font - 2 28 22 57 Curtis Book - 0 29 27 222 Troy Dittebrand - 1 30 30 54 Jason Font - 1 Have an opinion on this story? 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