Sept. 10, 2011 – The fall portion of the East Bay Raceway Park 2011 racing season got into full swing as Mother Nature took a night off from pestering outdoor activity. The result was a perfect night for exciting racing action and the competitors were glad to oblige.
The night opened with a pair of outlaw 4 heat races, won by Stephen Hohlbaugh and point leader Nick Hebrank. For the 15-lap main, Hebrank grabbed the early lead, but spun on the second lap. That mishap gave the lead to Kyle Kruse who kept it for a few laps before a strong run by Jesse Brown put the three-time feature win into the lead. Brown had company with Shirlene Hammond, who swept past on a restart. All was going well for Hammond until she spun in turn two on lap 11. Fortunately, a caution came out for Megan Rae, resetting the field to the last completed lap. Hammond was able to keep the point to the checkered to claim her second East Bay win of the season. “This car has been in seven features and led all seven,” she said about the ride that is nicknamed White Lightnin’. “It has won five of those races.” Brown was able to stay second with Billy Howard, Eric Knight and Kyle Worden trailing.

The Gagle’s Auto Parts Open Wheel Modifieds saw heat winner Austin sanders boost his point lead with his fifth feature win of the season. Sanders started sixth, but took the lead early and was never headed. The best battle on the track through the late stages came as Kyle Bronson and heat winner Bobby Dixon sparred for third. Buzzie Reutimann had grabbed second on the fifth lap and never yielded that spot. Dixon won the battle for third with Bronson in close pursuit. Thomas Pratt made a late race pass to gain fifth.

Bryan Bernhardt backed up last week’s feature win with a wire-to-wire run in the Late Model main. Bernhardt, who joined Josh Peacock and Kyle Musselman as winners of the preliminaries, knew he had a race on his hands as Jackie Nosbisch stayed in pursuit from the start. Nosbisch had his hands full with Josh Peacock until an incident on lap 7 collected most of the field including Peacock. After a 10-minute red flag, the field, reduced to 13 from the 18 original starters, picked up the pace, but could only get a lap or two in before the yellow flag returned. On lap 9, Roger Crouse, who had started dead last on the field after failing to race in the heat, had moved to third. Bernhardt, Nosbisch and Crouse never yielded those spots to finish in the top three. Dennis Williams recorded a fourth place with Mavrick Varnadore climbing back into the top five after a heat race issue and an early feature race spin.
Tim Gay notched his third feature win of the year, grabbing the lead from the start for a wire-to-wire run. In a car paying tribute to his father’s career, Tim pointed out that his dad often won when there was a full moon, just like Tim experienced tonight. Gay’s biggest challenge came from Andy Lee after Eric Moon had started the early stages in contention. Gay’s son, point leader Jarod Gay, suffered engine woes early while running third. At the conclusion of the 15-lapper, Tim Gay, Andy Lee, Curtis book, David Barwick II and Jim Baker composed the top five. Jarod Gay and Lee had the victories in the heats.
Mike Meadows, Kayla Jones and Johnnie Alexander opened their nights in the motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers with heat wins. Wayne Kissam won the 10-lap B main to lead three more cars into the 24-lap main. The race started with several lead changes with Raymond Vann becoming the third leader in three laps. No one was able to get the lead away from Vann, who became the ninth different winner in the division’s 18 races. Don R. Quinn had one of his best finishes of the year, charging to second. Brett Calonge recorded his first top five with a third place run. Fourth went to Meadows while Robert Kissam persevered to gain fifth.
ASA sanctioned racing returns to East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday, September 17, 2011. The program will include the Late Models, Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, Outlaw 4s, motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers and Dirt Daubers. For more information, go to www.eastbayracewaypark.com or call the track office.