March 1, 2014, – Tampa, FL – It was the Season Opener for East Bay Raceway Park with five divisions on hand to compete. Late Models, Limited Late Models, Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Street Stocks, V8 Warriors and the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers were all on hand to see who will find themselves in Victory Lane.
The first feature of the night belonged to the Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Street Stocks. Winning their heats were David Barwick, II and Tim Gay which would also make up the front row for the 15 Lap Feature Event. When the green flag waved it was Tim Gay leading the way until the first caution came out as Roberto Morfin, Sr. found himself spinning and winding up almost on the go-kart track. Morfin, Sr. was able to pull away and continue on. Several more cautions would come out but no one was able to catch Tim Gay as he went on to win the feature. Finishing in the top five were Billy Barstow, Buck Woodhouse, David Barwick, II and William Burnside.
Next were the Limited Late Models. Winning their heats were defending Champion Dale Pope and Jason Dyal. For the feature it was Jesse Brown and Randy Shields would make up the front row. When the green waved it was Shields spinning in front of the field in turn one collecting Curtis Book. Book was unable to continue as Shields was able to drive away. So the field was re-aligned as Brown and Stephen Hohlbaugh would now make up the front row. Green waved and it was Brown leading until the next lap as Jason Dyal spun in turn four while Rich Livernois, Jr. broke something on the right front and ended his night as he went to the pits. The green waved once again and Brown would continue to lead until lap eleven as Roger Crouse would take over and get the checkered flag first. But after tech Crouse was dq’d for having a beadlock on the right rear which gave Brown the win with Forrest Gough, Dale Pope, Jason Dyal and Stephen Hohlbaugh rounding out the top five.
V8 Warriors were next with Mike Wilson and Henry Wiley winning their heat races early on and would make up the front row for the feature. Caution came out on the first lap with Nicholas Snyder going for a wild ride in turn three almost going over on his roof. But the car stayed on the ground but would end his night. On the restart it was Mike Wilson leading the way until caution came out on lap four as Doug Morris slowed with smoke coming from the car ending his night as well. On the final restart on lap four Wilson was battling team mate George Gorham, Jr. lap after lap. On the final turn before the checkered would wave, Gorham found himself side by side with Wilson coming out of turn four with Gorham, Jr. picking up the win by just merely inches over Wilson. Gorham, Jr. said it was his first time racing on dirt after racing on asphalt for years. He thanked the car owners for allowing him to race and thinks it is gonna be hard to beat racing on dirt now he stated in Victory Lane. Rounding out the top five were Mike Wilson, Raymond Vann, Jimmy Baker and Tim Stoffel.
Late Models were next with former Champion Bryan Bernhardt and defending Champion Dave Schmauss winning their heat races early on. The front row for the feature would be Doug Horton and Dave Schmauss. When the green waved it was Schmauss leading the first eight laps until Horton took over the top spot. By lap thirteen Horton found himself catching lapped traffic trying to hold off Schmauss. By lap fourteen it was Jack Nosbisch, Jr getting by Schmauss for the second position. In a caution free 25 Lap Feature, Horton took the checkered flag. Horton stated in Victory Lane it has probably been since 2012 since he had last been there and it felt good to be back. Rounding out the top five were Jack Nosbisch, Jr., Dave Schmauss, Bryan Bernhardt and Doug Watson.
The final event of the night belonged to the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers. Winning their heats early on were Patrick Fiore, Sr and Wayne Kissam. Richard Humfeld and Chris Morris made up the front row for the feature. Problems would occur on the first lap as several cars tangled on the back stretch involving 5 cars. When the green waved on the restart it was Wayne Kissam leading the way. A caution would come out as Devon Smith was turning off the track and with nowhere to go, Frank Italiano collided into Smith ending Smith’s night along with Italiano’s. Kissam took the green once again as Defending Champion John Moore was now trailing Kissam. On lap nine Kissam had a slight lead over Moore at the line until Moore took the lead on lap twelve and went on to win the feature. Rounding out the top five were Wayne Kissam, Jimmy Williams, Robert Gullet, Sr. and Aaron Yahnke.
ASA racing continues next weekend with the Late Models, Gagel’s Open Wheel Modifieds, Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Street Stocks, Outlaw Four’s and the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers. For further information, log on to www.eastbayracewaypark.com for call 813-677-7223 for more information.
Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Street Stock 15 Lap Feature
1. 90 Tim Gay
2. 75 Billy Barstow
3. 55 Buck Woodhouse
4. 89 David Barwick, II
5. 31 William Burnside
6. 55R Roy Woodhouse
7. 13 Thomas Burnside
8. 84 Ronnie Whitley
9. 58 Matt Bozeman
10. 56 Brett Koch
11. G95 Chris Graebner
12. 26 Jeff Weaver
13. 51 Roberto Morfin, Sr.
14. X Rick Martin (DNS)
Limited Late Model 15 Lap Feature
1. 7JR Jesse Brown
2. 21 Forrest Gough
3. 88 Dale Pope
4. 77D Jason Dyal
5. 360 Stephen Hohlbaugh
6. 49 Randy Shields
7. 222 Troy Dittebrand
8. 0 Darrell Taylor
9. 71 Richard Livernois, Jr.
10. 57 Curtis Book
11. 61 Thomas Scott (DNS)
12. 45 Roger Crouse (DQ in tech-Beadlock on right rear)
V8 Warriors 15 Lap Feature
1. 68 George Gorham, Jr.
2. 89 Mike Wilson
3. 32 Raymond Vann
4. 69X Jimmy Baker
5. 08 Tim Stoffel
6. 19 Beau Ferris
7. 13 Brett Phillips
8. 28X Bill Bill Smith
9. 11 Henry Wiley
10. 78 Doug Morris
11. 18 Nicholas Schneider
12. 15 Bill Whitney (DNS)
Late Model Topless 50 Lap Feature
1. 11 Doug Horton
2. 12 Jack Nosbisch, Jr.
3. 105 Dave Schmauss
4. B69 Bryan Bernhardt
5. 07 Doug Watson
6. 46M Kyle Musselman
7. 15 Roger Crouse
8. 11M Megan Meyer
9. 14 Mavrick Varnadore
10. 09 Scott O’Neil
11. 87 John Norris
12. 9 Jimmy Waldrop (DNS)
13. 1* John Koller (DNS)
14. 88 David Pollen, Jr. (DNS)
Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers 15 Lap Feature
1. 66 John Moore
2. 07 Wayne Kissam
3. 27N Jimmy Williams
4. 2 Robert Gullet, Sr.
5. 5Y Aaron Yahnke
6. 09x Brett Calonge
7. 5 Eddie Summitt
8. 0 Britt Mann
9. 16 Terry Cannon
10. 86 John McCutcheon
11. 813 Stephen Morris
12. 23 Gary Lucas
13. 8 Frank Italiano
14. 04x Richard Humfeld
15. 82 Devon Smith
16. 318 Chris Morris
17. 88 Patrick Fiore, Sr.