July 14, 2012 – Tampa, FL – Five divisions were on hand tonight here at The Clay By The Bay. It was the first night of the new class, the V8 Warriors. Along with them were the East Bay Sprints, Street Stocks, Old Time Mods and the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers.
The first feature of the night went to the Street Stocks. Garry Sheffield and Eric Moon won their heat races. For the feature, it was Jeff Rodgers and Garry Sheffield making up the front row. For the first lap, the two were side by side until lap one when Sheffield got loose and tagged the wall in turn two. Roberto Morfin, Sr. and Kenny Meyers were also collected in the incident. On the restart, Rodgers held on to the lead with Moon and Scotty Kay, Jr. trailing him. Several more cautions came out before a single file restart was given with just five laps to go. Rodgers was still leading with Moon and Kay, Jr. still on his back bumper. On one of the final restarts, Rodgers fell back as Kay, Jr. took over with just two laps to go. Another caution came out bringing the field right on Scotty’s back bumper. Kay, Jr. took the checkered flag with Buck Woodhouse and Tim Gay with a tight battle at the finish line. After tech inspection, Kay, Jr. was dq’d for no working gears in transmission handing the win over to Tim Gay. Buck Woodhouse, Jeff Rodgers, Donnie Reed and Dennis Wilson, Jr rounded out the top five.
Next were the Old Time Mods. Mark Steve and Lars Amundsen won their heat races. For the front row, it was Charlie “Fireball” Mixon and Mark Steve. Mixon lead early but it was Pete Silva taking over the top spot on lap two. Several laps later it was Roger Herbach taking over the lead and picking up the win. Dan Darnell charged thru after starting in the back of the field. Steve Parrish, Pete Silva and Gary Riccio rounded out the top five.
Next it was the first night of the V8 Warriors for the feature event. Tim Miller and Kenny Thorton won their heat races. William Bolle and Thorton made up the front row. On the start, Thorton lead early but before the first lap was completed, Marco Reyes took over the top spot and never looked back. The Warriors went caution free for their first feature event. Reyes crossed the line first, but was dq’d in tech for illegal heads and carburetor. Tim Miller picked up the win with Brett Phillips, Jeff Weaver, Don Jones and Tracy Maynard rounding out the top five.
East Bay Sprints were next with Sport Allen, Billy Boyd, Jr. and AJ Maddox winning their heat races. Maddox and Boyd, Jr. made up the front row for the feature. Maddox took off as the green flag waved and never looked back. The first caution came out as Joe Metcalf spun on the front stretch ending his night. Several more cautions came out but Maddox was still holding on to the top spot. The final caution came out with four to go as Gene Lasker, Stephen Darvalics and Collin Cabre spun in turn two. As the final green waved, Maddox went on to pick up his second feature win of the season. Sport Allen, Tyler Godwin, Tony Agin and Tim George rounded out the top five.
Before the final event of the night, Mother Nature looked like she was going to spoil the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bomber feature. But just as quickly as she moved in, she went away and the feature was able to run. Red Vann and Patrick Fiore, Sr both won their heat races. It was the same two on the front row for the feature. Fiore, Sr. got the early advantage, but it was the Vann brothers, Red and Raymond battling for the top spot before the first caution came out. Fiore, Sr and Raymond Vann got together in turn four sending the leader into the pits. Problems for Fiore,Sr. put him several positions back handing the lead over to Bubba Puyear. Puyear was challenged several times by John Moore. Several cautions came out as Moore continued to try and get by Puyear but was not able to get by him as Puyear went on to pick up the win. John Moore, Robert Gullet, Richard Humfeld and Red Vann rounded out the top five.
ASA Racing continues on July 21st as the Top Gun Sprints and the East Bay Sprints run in a combined event. The Street Stocks, Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers, and the Outlaw Fours all return to action. For further information, log on to www.eastbayracewaypark.com or call 813-677-7223 for more information.