East Bay Sprints Race Report – 09.04.10 Part 1

And now for something completely different…two race reporters dispatched to one race, both turning in race reports. Up first is our (vastly more reliable) Editor at Speed “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose with his take on the action. Without further ado…

After watching this year’s Knoxville Nationals replay for about the fifth time, I just had to take in a dirt sprint car race. Thank you East Bay Raceway for filling that need.

DATE: September 4th, 2010.

SERIES: East Bay Sprints

ADMISSION PRICE: $25 Pit Pass

FOOD ORDERED: Cheeseburger & Hot dog

FOOD GRADE: A. The pit side cheeseburger was average but the hot dog more than made up for cheeseburger. The hot dog had good size and flavor.

DRINKS ORDERED: Water & Sweet Tea.

DRINKS GRADE: A. The sweet tea was full blown sweet.

CROWD GRADE: A. The place was packed. I would like to think it was for the return of the sprint cars after a more than a month lay off.

NUMBER OF SPRINT CARS: 19

WHO WON: Kurt Taylor

FSCF.COM DRIVER OF THE RACE: Plain and simple answer, Danny Jones. He started deep in the field and worked his way to a second place finish in the feature.

SERIES GRADE: B. Nice car count but I know there are more cars out there that have run at East Bay.

TRACK GRADE: B-. The surface blacked off a little but cars could run both the bottom and the top.

REST OF THE RACING GRADE: D. For the late model feature I watched after the sprint feature, it was painful to watch.

OTHER NOTES:

* Keith Butler continues to impress with his diverse driving talents from dirt to asphalt, both winged and non winged.

* It’s a shame to know that three sprint car hot shoes (Sport Allen, Greg Leonard & Tyler Godwin) were sitting in the stands and not racing. Plus Danny Martin.

* Lots of pavement racers in the house. Good to see Stan & Shane Butler, David Slawiak and retired racer Wendy Mathis.

* The Top Gun Sprints Series points championship between Ryan Partin & Tim George will be decided on the final race night. Mark my words. Tim George put in another strong and consistent run with a third place finish in the feature. Its looking like Tim will win the East Bay track championship.

* Great to see just about all the drivers tie ribbons on their top wings in honor of longtime East Bay car owner Bob Long. Bob passed away recently from his battle with cancer. Our condolences to the Long Family.

* Good to see some East Bay weekly lower division team members getting their “minds right” out behind their pick up truck. Just remember when the police ask about it, it was for medicinal purposes.

* I can honestly report that “Roller Derby” Josh “The Ladies Choice” Wichers was really in the house last night. Even sported a bit of a sunburn from his trip to Gainesville for the Gator game earlier in the day. Welcome back to the track Josh!

RACE REPORTER: “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose

Also, our crack pits photog Gary “Walk Quietly But Carry A Big” Johnson snapped some photos. Our apologies for a few of the blurry ones, particularly the one of Mean Gene and Crew, which would have been a nice one. We’ll get a better one next time guys.

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