April 9, 2011 – Three drivers added to their 2011 win totals while two more names were added to the victory list at East Bay
Jesse Brown moved through to victory in the Outlaw 4s, claiming his second career victory but first of the year. Brown inherited the lead when Shirlene Hammond fell by the wayside with a flat tire just a few laps remaining. Brown was pestered by Ray Etheridge, but managed to keep the top spot for the checkered. Jason Russell had his best finish of the year with a third ahead of Megan Rae and Kyle Worden. Hammond and Brown won their heat races.
The Late Model event saw two-time winner Bryan Bernhardt and single feature winner Dave Schmauss on the front row for the start of the 25-lap main. Bernhardt took the early lead and never trailed. Schmauss stayed in the leader’s tracks throughout the race to claim second. The best battles on the track were behind the top two as the rest of the spots in the top five were often changing hands. Josh Peacock claimed third with Wallace Peacock using a steady drive to register fourth. Mavrick Varnadore was fifth. Bernhardt, Travis Varnadore and Jack Nosbisch were heat winners.
The motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers brought 30 cars to the party and another new winner put his name in the victory rolls. Thomas Burnside, who had held the division point lead coming into the night, made sure he would keep it for next week by topping the 15-lap main. It was his first career win. Bill Bill Smith came from the fourth row to gain second at the end with Mathew Odell, Don R. Quinn and Charlie Paris Jr. in the first five. Jason Burnside won the B main. Don T. Quinn, Paris Jr. and Johnnie Alexander took preliminaries.
Yellow fever struck the Gagel’s Auto Parts Open Wheel Modifieds. The first caution nearly came out on the first lap, but Austin Sanders chose to drive out of a spin rather than stop the whole field. When lap five hit, so did the yellow flags as the field needed eight restarts before completing another lap. One of those cautions involved Sanders and Kris Douglas. It led to a thrilling drive by the 2010 champion Sanders to get back to challenge for the lead, settling for an apparent second behind David Pollen Jr. A post-race inspection found illegal heads on Pollen’s car, giving Sanders his second feature win and the division point lead. Dale Kelley’s steady run yielded an official second, ahead of Roger Crouse, rookie of the year candidate Thomas Pratt and Douglas. Kelley and Crouse started their nights with heat wins.
The two-time defending Street stock champion Donnie Reed backed up last week’s with another in the class finale. Jeff Rodgers fell short by about a car length and had to settle for second. Curtis book added a third. John Clark took a fourth in his first 2011 start. Buck Woodhouse came back from a pit visit to change tires and took fifth. Rodgers and Andy Lee were heat winners for the division.
ASA sanctioned racing returns to East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday, April 16, 2011. The program will include Late Models, Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers and Dirt Daubers. For more information, go to www.eastbayracewaypark.com or call the track office.