New Winners in 2011 East Bay Features
April 2, 2011 – With the second month of the 2011 season underway, it was a host of new names in victory lane at East Bay Raceway Park.
First to get a feature win was Jimmy Odell, whose Motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bomber feature was his first career main victory. Odell swapped the lead with Roberto Morfin Sr. as the two were the only ones at the head of the field. Odell led the first five laps before yielding to Morfin. Last week’s feature winner kept the top position before Odell bounced back in front. Morfin fell out of the race shortly after that, leaving Odell with new challengers. No one was able to mount a serious threat through the remaining five laps. Darrell Taylor came from his 11th starting spot to gain second with Thomas Burnside using a late race charge from fifth to third. Dalton Epps claimed fourth with Don Quinn rounding out the top five. Michael Lacey won the B main. Morfin Sr., Quinn and Richard Humfeld claimed heats.
2010 Street Stock champion Donnie Reed was able to break through and gain his first win of the young season. Reed led wire to wire, immune from the troubles that confounded his challengers. Early runnerup Jeff Rodgers fell out of contention with a flat right rear tire on the 11th lap. Just before that happened, three drivers in the top five were wiped out when Billy Carlbert, Jarod Gay and Locke Brown were collected in a frontstretch incident on a restart. Andy Lee moved to second on lap 12, despite having to come from the tail due to an early lap spin. Trailing Reed and Lee were Buck Woodhouse, who pitted with a flat tire on lap 9, Curtis Book and Roy Woodhouse. Reed and Buck Woodhouse started the night as heat winners.
The Late Model feature took an interesting twist from the beginning. Polesitter and point leader Bryan Bernhardt took a challenge to move from his pole starting spot to the rear of the 22-car field. Bernhardt, who has been the only winner in the class, slotted in 18th as a few other drivers chose to fall deeper in the pack. 
At the start, Ryan Mitchell took off and left everyone else to pursue. Bernhardt found himself in a three-car tangle on the first lap, pushing him deeper in the field. At the front, Mitchell was holding his own while Steve Mathis and Dave Schmauss started trading second. Mathis would exit the track on lap 6 with smoke trailing from the car. Behind Schmauss, Roger Crouse and Philip Cobb were battling with Cobb slipping past and challenging Schmauss. Cobb grabbed second on lap 9, but lost it a lap later to Schmauss. Crouse and Travis Varnadore began exchanging fourth place with one in position, then the other. With fewer than five laps remaining, Schmauss found a line and scooted past Mitchell to claim the victory. “That was a lot of fun. I hope y’all enjoyed it. I sure did,” said the happy winner in Victory Lane. Mitchell kept second, ahead of Cobb, Crouse and Varnadore. Heats were taken by Schmauss, Crouse and Varnadore.
The East Bay Sprints were able to run their first event of the season, losing their scheduled start on March 5 to weather. The lidlifter was not without drama as unofficial winner Danny Martin Jr. found his car protested by Greg Leonard. Post-race inspection found Martin’s winning ride to be within the rules and the victory stood. Martin grabbed the lead on the fourth lap. Jimmy Ballew led the first two, then drifted off the track with a broken oil pump. It gave the lead to Billy Boyd Jr. who kept it until Martin swept by. Boyd had to deal with a hard-charging Greg Leonard and lost second only to gain it back. Boyd crossed the finish in second with Leonard, Kurt Taylor and Johnny Gilbertson finishing out the top five. Ballew and Boyd took heat wins.
Russ Bolle took top honors in Dirt Daubers.
ASA sanctioned racing returns to East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday, April 9, 2011. The program will include Late Models, Gagel’s Auto Parts Open Wheel Modifieds, Street Stocks, motorstats.com 4 Cylinder Bombers and Outlaw 4s. For more information, go to www.eastbayracewaypark.com or call the track office.
