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May 1, 1999 by Rick Anges EastBay Raceway.....Doin' It In The Dirt!!!
The 25 cars took the track for the limited late model feature. From the drop of the green flag the racing was hot and heavy. The #02 Keith Heard jumped out to an early lead. The first caution came out on the third lap as the #7 of K.D. Kelley hit the front stretch wall hard ending his race early. After the green came back out the #03 Philip Cobb flashed by Heard and took the lead. The next lap saw the early leader Heard pulling into the pits with something broken in the steering. Randy Crouse in
the #15 pulled into 2nd and then moved up to challenge Cobb for the lead
eventually taking the lead right before the half way point.
The battle then began for the 2nd spot with #21 of Forrest Gough running side by side for the spot til Gough moved in on Cobb and Cobb ending up on the inside wall then being sent to the rear for bringing out the caution. When the green fell
again the #35 of Tim Gay moved right into 3rd from a 13th starting position.
When the checkers fell it was Randy Crouse coming across first Gough 2nd, Gay
3rd ,#87John Norris 4th,and from the tail end of the field after an early
spin the #105 David Schmauss 5th.
Late Models took the track next and from the drop of the green it
was slamming and banging from the front to the rear with action everywhere on
the track. On lap 2 the #42 of J.R. Austin who started inside the pole spun
on the front stretch in front of most the field causing a near pile up with
all cars escaping major damage except for the 46 of Hamp Conley who had to be
taken off by the tractor. On the restart the #41 of Ken Nosbich and the #15
of Bobby Alexander, who overcame a broken brake pedal in the Dash for Cash
race, jumped out to the lead and broke away from the pack. Meanwhile the #02
of Keith Nosbich began moving up and then started reeling in the leaders. On
a great move coming out of turn 2 he dove under the leaders and came out in
front. With Nosbich pulling away the battle for 2nd back to 6th was hot and
heavy and on the 13th lap #41 Nosbich spun bringing out the caution and
forcing him to the rear. With the field bunched up for the restart it was a
mad dash for the finish line with #02 Kieth Nosbich taking the win, the #12
of Jack Nosbich sr.2nd,#47 Bill Howard 3rd,#105 David Schmauss 4th and 5th
going to a hard charging #88 of Donnie Tanner .
The always wild Street Stocks took the track next and before the
first lap was completed the caution flew for 0x who was leading but spun in
the front of the field almost causing a major wreck but with all the
contestants returning. With cars flying and spinning and after many cautions
the #10 Paul Davis who lead from almost the begining took the win followed by
the #17 of Jerry Lape,3rd went to #22 Danny McCall, 4th was #90Terry Gay,and
rounding out the top five was #0jr of Steve Johnson.
The High Powered Outlaw Winged Sprints took the track next. The
#41 of Buddy Alvis fired out to the early lead til the first caution came out
for heavy contact when the #1a of Robbie Smith went over top of the #02 Gene
Lasker with Smith taking the worst of it and going out of the race with some
bad suspension damage. With Alvis running out front the #42 Paulie Milum was
hot on his tail til going high into turn 4 and hitting the wall ending his
bid. With the track hard and dry the former asphalt drivers were showing
their experience, like former Open Wheel driver Mike Senacal of Bradenton in
the #22 who ended up 6th. #42x of Sport Allen started making his way through
the field and caught the 2nd place car and passing him with Alvis in his
sights. On lap 10 Allen took the lead and never looked back, Alvis came home
2nd, #88 Joe Melnick 3rd, the #3 4th,and the spinning #21 taking 5th.
With fenders flying and radiators exploding the #686 of
Charlie "Bulldog"Broward repeated his winning ways and took the win again in
the Demo Derby with Mike Dwayne repeating in 2nd. The Mini Stock
division started off with cars going 3 and sometime 4 wide. By lap 4 the 98
car of Robie Mena spun coming out of turn 4 collecting the 39 car of Larry
Stepp. The green flag came out but not for a long. On lap 4 the 53 car spun
also coming out of turn 4. The breen flag came back out and the 27 car of
Scotyy Williams took the lead from the 20 of Thomas Hampton. Lap eight saw
another car spinning out of turn 4. This time it was the 70 car. The green
flag came out but once again not for a long time. The 63 car spun again and
was sent to the pits for spinning twice during the race. On lap nine another
car spun out of turn 4, this time it was the 82 car of Steve Metzmeier. When
the green flag came back out the 27 car pulled away from the rest of the
field. Lap 13 the 03 car spun coming out of turn 4. On lap 14 the 70 spun
again and was sent to the pits for also spinning twice during the race. In
the end the 27 car of Scotty Williams was Diqualified for being to light so
the win was given to Thomas Hampton, followed by Devin Dixon finishing
second, the 11 car of Chris Nobisch, third, the 29 of William Hampton
finishing fourth. The 5th place driver is unknown due to he DQ of the 27
car.( Mini Stock Report by Joe Anges)
Eastbay is a class facility in everyway and they provided a
great night of racing. Dirt racing is alive and well in Central Florida
thanks to the great fans and racers here............
- From East Bay Raceway.......... Rick Anges |
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