April 20,, 2013 – Tampa, FL – It seemed Mother Nature would spoil the night, but it turned out to be a very cool evening while Late Models, Open Wheel Modifieds, Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association, Outlaw Fours and the Street Stocks were all on hand to put on a show.
First up was the Outlaw Fours with Billy Howard and Stephen Hohlbaugh winning their heats. For the feature it was Dorsey Strickland and Jesse James Foster on the front row. Strickland led the field until Thomas Braswell brought out the first caution. Strickland took the green once again until lap five when Chris Zimmerman spun in turn four.
Strickland was being chased by last week’s winner Hohlbaugh until lap eleven on the restart when Hohlbaugh tried to make a move on the inside spinning and bringing out the final caution. Strickland went on to pick up the win with Zach Amundsen, Nick Hebrank, Jesse James Foster and J.R. Baker rounding out the top five.
Next feature event was the Gagel’s Open Wheel Modifieds. Winning the heat was Dale Kelley. Matt Miller and Austin Sanders made up the front row for the feature. Sanders had led every lap of the race with a hard charging Matt Miller trying to pass several times but was not able to get by him. Sanders went on to win back to back feature wins with Tim Gay, Roger Crouse, Matt Miller and Bill Howard rounding out the top five.
Next was the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association as they had five classes to run for their features. Picking up feature wins were for the Speedsters was Ed Daniels. Fred Stickland won his class as he drove the original sprint car that Donnie Tanner first drove owned by Robert Delgado. For the Midgets it was Phil Pete picking up the win. In the modified division it was Steve Parrish and the V8 class was won by Jason Lenharts. And in the Caged Sprint division Roger Herbach went on to make it two in a row as he won the last feature last year when DAARA last race here.
Late Models were next as cars were tuning up for next week’s 5o Lap Feature for race #1 of the Donnie Tanner Memorials Series for Late Models. Winning heats were Rich Pratt and David Schmauss. For the front row of the feature it was Phillip Cobb and Steve Miller. When the green dropped Cobb took over the top spot on lap one until the first caution on lap three. When the race resumed it was Miller taking over the lead on lap five trying to pick up his firsrt feature win of the 2013 Season. Several cautions came throughout the race, but it was on lap seventeen when Josh Peacock took over the lead from Miller. Falling short last week on his birthday was Maverick Varnadore who would then pass Peacock on lap twenty two and go on to win the feature. “Things didn’t go quiet my way last week but I made up for it this week” Varnadore stated in Victory Lane. Matt Miller would come back to finish second while Rich Pratt third, Peacock fourth and David Schmauss rounding out the top five.
Last feature of the night went to the Street Stocks. Winning their heats were Buck Woodhouse and William Burnside. The front row consisted of Ronnie Whitley and Eric Moon. After lap one was done it was William Burnside who had charged up from the fourth position to take the lead. First caution came when point’s leader Dennis Wilson, Jr. spun on the front stretch. Several more cautions came out when race control decided to start the field single file. Burnside was still the leader with Eric Moon and Hunter Gustafson your top three. Moon battled with Burnside until lap eleven when he spun in turn one putting Gustafson in the second spot. For the final four laps, Gustafson tried to go to the inside of Burnside but was unable to as Burnside went on to pick up his very first feature win. Just several weeks ago in the feature, Burnside flipped his car and had to rebuild the whole car. “My dad worked on the car for three straight weeks every night putting this new car back together” Burnside stated in Victory Lane. He thanked his brothers and family for helping him get it back together and the first night out, in Victory Lane. Rounding out the top five were Gustafson, Mike Wilson, Ronnie Whitley and Eric Moon.
ASA racing continues next weekend as the first race of the Donnie Tanner Series for the Late Models as they compete for 50 Laps. Along with them will be the Limited Late Models, Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers, V8 Warriors and Fan Participation. For further information, log on to www.eastbayracewaypark.com for call 813-677-7223 for more information.
