March 3, 2012 – Tampa, FL – It was opening night for the 2012 Season at East Bay Raceway Park. Over 80 cars were in attendance tonight. Fans were ready as the season kicked off with Late Models, East Bay Sprints, Street Stocks and the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers.
First feature of the night went to the Street Stocks. David Barwick, II, Eric Moon and the defending Champion Jeff Rodgers all won heat races early on. It was Barwick and Rodgers on the front row for the start of the feature. Barwick took the early lead, but it was Moon coming from the third position to take the first lap.
First caution came out for debris in turn four. On the restart, Moon quickly jumped out in front again and by lap four had a straight away lead over second place Donnie Reed. Caution came out once more as the 95 of Rodgers had a flat right rear.
The green flag waved again and it was Moon showing the way once more. But on lap six, second place Tim Gay and third place Reed tangled in turn two bringing out the final caution. The field was then a single file restart and Moon continued to show the way and crossed the line first. A great battle for second was put on as John Kinsey and Thomas Burnside battled to the line with Kinsey second and Burnside third. Buck Wood house finished fourth while Tim Gay battled back to finish fifth.
Next up was the Late Models. Kyle Musselman, Phillip Cobb and Roger Crouse won their heat races. The front row for the 25 lap feature event was Crouse and Cobb bringing the field to the green. Crouse quickly jumped out in front with Cobb right behind him.
The first caution came out on lap four as Al Larson spun in turn two. On the restart, Mavrick Varnadore quickly jumped past Cobb to take over the second position and chase Crouse down. Caution came out on lap six and Brian Barse spun on the back stretch and ended his night.
On lap nine, Bobby Clark spun in turn two almost collecting. Crouse put on the brakes and was able to avoid him.
On the final restart, Crouse looked like he was on cruise control and picked up the win keeping his streak alive with 28 years of consecutive wins here at East Bay Raceway Park. Cobb, Josh Peacock, Wallace Peacock and Musselman rounded out your top five.
In Victory Lane, Crouse was emotional and said that his win was for Harris Pugh who recently passed away. Crouse stated he was a neighbor and a former car owner to Crouse.
Next up was the East Bay Sprints. Billy Boyd, Jr. and Tony Agin won heats early on. On the front row, it was Jason Webster and Jimmy Ballew. On the green flag Ballew quickly went into turn one taking the lead over Webster. The first caution came out as last year’s Champion Tim George appeared to have motor problems as smoke came from his car ending his night.
On the restart, Ballew stayed out front and AJ Maddox drove by Webster and now had second place. Lap after lap, Maddox was trying to reel in Ballew thru the turns and lapped traffic. On lap ten, Ballew went a little high in turn two along with Maddox, almost collecting the wall. With just two laps to go, Tony Agin collects the back stretch and flips bringing out the red flag.
On the restart, it was a green, white checkered finish. Ballew quickly went to the lead, but Maddox was right behind him not giving up. When the white flag waved, Maddox was still there and the two went in turn three, Ballew went high and Maddox dove to the bottom and Ballew tried to pull the slide job off, it was Maddox crossing the line with his very first feature win. He thanked his Mom and Dad for sticking with him thru the years and believing in him. Ballew finished second while Bily Boyd, Jr., Stephen Darvalics and Kerry Gilbert rounded out your top five.
The final event of the night belonged to the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers. Bubba Puyear, Patrick Fiore, Jr and Raymond Vann all won heat races. On the front row for the feature, it was last year’s Champion, Troy Dittebrand and Don R. Quinn on the front row. Quinn quickly jumped out in front with Dittebrand and Vann right behind him.
The first caution came out as Dittebrand slowed in turn one and brought out the caution ending his night on lap six. When the final caution waved, Quinn was on a mission and held off Fiore, Jr. and Vann as they tried to pass Quinn.
Quinn was able to hold on to pick up his very first feature win as well. He quickly thanked his Mom and Dad as well for helping him out. Fiore, Jr finished right behind him at the line with Richard Humfeld, Kayla Jones and Robert Gullet rounding out the top five.
ASA Racing continues next weekend with the Late Models, Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, Outlaw 4’s and the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers are in action. For further information, log on to www.eastbayracewaypark.com for call 813-677-7223 for more information.