It was a beautiful night for racing and a great night for the kids at EastBay Raceway Park as the Easter Bunny made his stop at the “Clay by the Bay” and passed out Easter baskets and lots of candy to all the children on the front straightaway with all the drivers as well.
Street Stock action was intense as points leader Eric Moon battled with Donnie Reed, Buck Woodhouse, Billy Carlbert, Jr and birthday boy Jim Baker. Dennis Wilson started on the outside of row one, but quickly grabbed the lead and kept the #42 out front for the 15 lap feature event. Reed finished 2nd Moon 3rd, Woodhouse 4th and Jim Baker rounded out the top 5. Woodhouse and Baker both picked up wins in their respective heat races.
The Q Auto & Injury Attorney Limited Late Models came out for their 15 lap feature and Phillip Cobb shot to the lead and never looked back. Ricky Land battled with points leader Shane Koperda, Terry Jones in the D99 machine, Forrest Gough in the #21 car and Tom Evonosky, Sr who made his return in the 19 car. On lap 3, Crouse, who was driving Bullet Bob Peterson’s #45 machine, got involved in an accident with Jones in the D99 car and sent Crouse to the pits. Onj the restart, the #15 car of Koperda got sideways bringing out the caution and sending him to the rear for the restart. Forrest Gough took advantage of the restart and moved underneath Land to take over 2nd, but Cobb proved to be too much for the field and he easily brought home the win. Forrest Gough had a solid 2nd place finish, Tom Evonosky, Sr. finished 3rd with Ricky Land and Shane Koperda rounding out the top 5. Late Models took to the track for their 25 lap feature event.
Phillip Cobb was looking to make it back to back on the same night with a win in the Late Models, but Roger Crouse, Travis Varnadore, Maverick Varnadore & Kyle Musselman would have different thoughts on the matter as the race got underway. Cobb jumped out to the early lead as Crouse and John Koller in the 1* car battled for 2nd until caution came out working lap 7 on the track when the #87 machine of John Norris went around in turns 1 & 2. The restart was attempted, but the #46 car of Musselman made contact with Hayden Campbell in the #5 machine coming off turn 2. The field lined up behind Cobb for the restart and while he dropped the hammer and pulled away from the field, the action was heavy for 4th on back. Both Varnadore boys went side-by-side for 4th and 5th with Peacock, Frankie Erskine, Jr and Kyle Musselman going at it for 6th. Caution on lap 17 gave everyone renewed hope to take the win away from Cobb, but this time, Crouse went around all on his own coming off turn 4 and would be forced to tag the rear of the field with 6 laps remaining. Just when it looked like no one had anything for Cobb, John Koller took advantage of the leader off turn 3, took over the lead on lap 24 and brought home the win for his 1st visit ever to Victory Lane. Koller thanked his sponsors and his crew, which consisted completely of his wife alone. “I said a prayer before the race started” she said, “and someone was listening!”
The Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers came out 28 cars strong for their always extreme brand of racing. The young hotshoe Johnnie Alexander started on the pole, but had problems early and dropped back quickly. Last year’s track champion Troy Dittebrand started on the outside of row 1, lead wire-to-wire and hung on for his 1st win of the 2012 season. George Handy had a strong run to finish 2nd, Don R. Quinn in the #33 machine crossed the stripe 3rd, William Burnside in the #13 car finished 4th and Jimmy Williams rounded out the top 5.
ASA Racing continues next week with EastBay Sprints, the Gagel Open-Wheel Modifieds, Street Stocks, Outlaw 4’s, the Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers and the Dirt Daubers. For further information, log on to www.eastbayracewaypark.com for call 813-677-7223 for more information.