By:  Jason Loughren

04/24/2010

It was another awesome night for racing at the Clay by the Bay as over 100 cars hit the track for the six classes of racing with a twist.  Last week two feature events were rained out when the skies opened up for a second time after a rain delay and rendered the track lost for the evening.  Fans always know that they will get their money’s worth at East Bay Raceway Park, so when the bad weather cancelled the The Racecar Engineering Late Models and Outlaw 4’s feature events last week the solution was simple for the management at East Bay, they decided to run double features for those classes this week. 

The Race Car Engineering Late Models and Outlaw 4 make up feature events were sandwiched into the pre intermission portion of the race program.  In the Late Models Jack Nosbisch, Jr. dominated the early laps until a muffler fell of his car disqualifying him from the event.  The beneficiary of that was Josh Peacock as he took the lead and held on for the win.  The feature win was his 3rd of the season.  Philip Cobb started 5th and finished 2nd.  David Schmauss had a strong run and came home third.  David Pollen and Frankie Erskine, Jr. rounded out the top-5.

Then in the completion of the Outlaw 4’s feature event Billy Howard took the win, which was his second in a row.  Matthew Haynes started 2nd and finished 2nd.  Keith Heard came home 3rd.  Stephen Holhbaugh and Chris Zimmerman rounded out the top-5.

The regular feature program began with the Limited Late Models hitting the track for their 15 lap feature event.  Tim Gay started in the 5th position and had the car to beat.  Early on in the event Philip Cobb appeared to be in control but his car was taken to the garage with a mechanical problem.  Gay was the beneficiary of Cobb’s trouble and wound up in victory lane for his first win of the season.  JR Prather Jr. finished 2nd.  Alex Boerner started 6th and finished 3rd.  John Bradley and Forrest Gough rounded out the top-5.  Dan Darnell and Boerner won the heats.

The Street Stocks were up next and did not disappoint as Thomas Pratt started on the pole and led the caution filled main event from start to finish.  The win was Pratt’s second of the year.  Jeff Rodgers started 8th and had a strong run finished 2nd.  Buck Woodhouse ran in the top-5 all night long and finished 3rd.  Jarod Gay and Eric Moon rounded out the top-5.  Reed, James Hook, and Buck Woodhouse were victorious in the heat events.

Another great field of Old Time Mods was on hand for their 12 lap feature event that saw an exciting battle between Lars Amundsen and Tommy Zwally as the laps wound down.  Lars Amundsen took the slim victory over Zwally.  Zwally finished 2nd.  Bobby Bush finished 3rd.  George Hall and Jamie Frankland rounded out the top-5.

The Race Car Engineering Late Models were back on the track for the second time of the evening with their 25 lap main event as twenty five cars took the green flag.  David Schmauss started on the pole and lead every lap until a late restart.  On the restart Bryan Bernhardt was able to gain position on Schmauss as he made the pass on the outside lane in turn 4.  Berhhardt appeared to have his first feature win of the season but was declared to be too heavy in post race technical inspection.  Schmauss was credited with the win.  Travis Varnadore ran in the top-3 all night and finished 2nd.  Roger Crouse started 6th and finished 3rd.  Ted Erskine picked up his first top-5 of the season with a 4th place finish. Philip Cobb rounded out the top-5. Schmauss, T. Varnadore and David Pollen won the heats.

The regularly scheduled Outlaw 4 feature event saw a great race between first and second in the points standings.  Billy Howard and Haynes battled for the early laps before Howard slipped to the middle of the pack.  Haynes was able to take the win which was his third of the season.  Chris Zimmerman finished 2nd.  Amanda Rogers started 5th and finished 3rd.  Charlies Staats had a good run and wound up with a 4th place finish.  Travis Staats started shot gun on the field and was able to finish 5th.

DB Hogwaller won the wet and wild Dirt Dauber event in exciting fashion.

ASA Sanctioned racing returns to East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday, May 1, 2010 with May Madness.  The Racecar Engineering Late Models, Limited Late Models, Gagel’s Open Wheel Modifieds, and Street Stocks will all be in action. There will also be the Fan Participation Races at the intermission.  For more information go to www.eastbayracewaypark.com or call the track office.