Oct. 29, 2011 – Six divisions on hand tonight here at The Clay By The Bay. At Intermission, drivers gave out candy to kids of all ages for Halloween with a kids costume contest for 12 & under.
The first feature of the evening went to the Street Stocks. Thomas Burnside and Donnie Reed won heat races early in the night. When the green flag dropped for the feature, Jarod Gay quickly grabbed the lead with Donnie Reed, Jeff Rodgers and Locke Brown once again battling for the front spot. Reed was able to make his way around Gay on lap six and showed why is the defending Champion of the Division. Gay held on to second place while Rodgers held onto third. Locke Brown finished fourth and Jason Burnside rounded out the top five.
Gagel’s Open Wheel Modifieds returned with a good field of cars. John Inman and Jerry Bruce, Jr. won their heats. Bruce, Jr. and Inman started on the front row for the feature with Buzzie Reutimann starting in the ninth position. When the green flag waved, Bruce, Jr. quickly jumped out in front with Bobby Dixon right behind him. On lap five, after starting thirteenth, Kyle Bronson quickly took the lead and looked like he was on a mission. Reutimann followed him as they made they way to lead the field. Bronson was able to hold off the veteran Reutimann for his first win of the 2011 season. Reutimann finished second while last week’s feature winner David Pollen, Jr. finished third. Thomas Pratt fourth and Bruce Harvey rounded out the top five.
Next was the third race for the Donnie Tanner Series for the Late Models for a $2,000 to win 50 lap feature. Heat winners early on were Josh Peacock, Devin Dixon and Kenny Monahan. The veteran Dave Schmauss and Bill Gould made up the front row. When the green flag waved, Dave Schmauss jumped out in front and led the field while Bryan Bernhardt was in second. A caution came out and bunched the field back up. Bernhardt in second went high on the green flag in turn one, enabling Hayden Campbell and Mavrick Varnadore to take second and third putting Bernhardt back to fourth. Schmauss led almost the entire race. On one of the restarts on lap thirty four, Campbell made a move and passed Schmauss, but the veteran didn’t give up as he drove into turn three and regained his lead and never looked back. “Tanner raced me clean for years and I had a lot of respect for that man. He raced until he couldn’t race no more. This is a sweet victory for me because of who he was” Schmauss said in victory lane. Devin Dixon finished second while Campbell, Bernhardt and Josh Peacock rounded out your top five.
Q Auto & Injury Attorney’s Limited Late Models were next with Jason Pope and Forrest Gough capturing the heat wins. Pulling double duty was Phillip Cobb on the front row with Scotty Williams on the Pole. Williams and Cobb battled side by side for several laps with Cobb finally taking over the top spot. Williams had trouble and took his car to the pits later on in the race, but was able to make it back out before he went a lap down. Forrest Gough chased Cobb to the finish line and a three way battle between Ricky Land, JR Prather, Jr and Scotty Williams at the line. Land ended up third while Prather, Jr. and Williams made up the top five.
Outlaw 4’s were next with Shirlene Hammond and Chris Zimmerman picking up the heat wins and starting on the front row. Hammond, Zimmerman, Billy Howard and Stephen Hohlbaugh battled, but caution came out and Howard and had to be towed of the track while Hohlbaugh and Hebrank were tangled up. After starting dead last, Jesse Brown patiently made his way to the front and picked up his fourth feature win of the night. Second place finisher Megan Meyer had her best finish of the year. Hammond finished third while J.R. Baker and after starting twelth, Sherman Pope picked up the fifth spot.
The Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers were the last feature of the night with twenty eight cars starting the race. Mathew Odell and Don R. Quinn started up front. At the drop of the green flag, Quinn was looking to pick up his first feature of the year leading the part of the race. Quinn fell back when Raymond Vann passed Quinn for the top spot. Last week’s feature winner Patrick Fiore made his way up to second place and battled Vann till the end like they did last week. Checkered flag waved and Vann picked up his fifth feature win of the season. Fiore finished second, while points leader Troy “Sox” Dittebrand finished third. Another good finish tonight for a driver was Brett Calonge as he finished fourth with Mathew Odell finishing fifth. Jason Burnside, Vann and Quinn won the heats early on in the nite.
ASA sanctioned racing returns to East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday, November 5, 2011 as it is the first of five races presented by Budweiser for the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers paying $150 for a 20 lap feature event. Also racing will be the Late Models, East Bay Sprints, Street Stocks, Outlaw 4’s, Dirt Daubers and the popular Fan Participation races. For more information, go to www.eastbayracewaypark.com or call the track office.