Date: May 28, 2011

Track: East Bay Raceway Park (Tampa, FL)

Sprint Series: East Bay Sprints

Admission:

Adult ………………………………… $12
Senior ……………………………… $10
Teens 13-17 …………………….. $ 7
Kids 12 and under ……………. FREE
Pit Pass …………………………… $25

# of Sprint Cars: 18

Who Won:

Heat 1 – Tim George
Heat 2 – Billy Boyd Jr.
Feature – ROBBIE SMITH

Crowd Grade: A-. It wasn’t quite the crowd that East Bay had seen the previous week for the visit of the Top Gun Sprint Series, but a very good crowd nonetheless. Solid car counts and good, hard Saturday night short track racing keeps East Bay at the top of the list in many race fans hearts. With much speculation revolving around the other dirt track about an hour and a half to the north, the staff at East Bay continues to deliver a great product on a weekly basis.

Track Grade: A. Other than the dust, the track was in great shape. As some of you may know, the track crew not only has to deal with inclement Florida weather when preparing the track surface, but also the rise and fall of the tide. While I was enjoying the Limited Late Model heat races from my new favorite spot to take in the action at East Bay, the mini grandstands in turn 2, I got a funny hunch to check the tide charts for Port Tampa. As the LLM’s were slipping and sliding around for their heat race, the moisture was concerning. But with my handy dandy Droid in hand, I Googled the tide chart for the area. With a dead low tide at 7:36 pm, the track had definitely done their homework to provide the best surface possible. By feature time, the track was just getting dry slick, but super racy.

Drinks Ordered: Diet Coke, in a bottle.

Drinks Grade: A+. It’s not real easy to mess up bottled drinks, unless you serve them warm. But I think East Bay must have the coldest ice in the state, because I have yet to get an even remotely warm drink there. And yes, Diet Coke….. After my Friday night men’s softball team politely encouraged me to try Creatine, it’s time to get busy shedding the extra baggage. Especially after seeing the much slimmer and trimmer version of the Flyin’ Flatfoot, Brian Penrose last week. Tony Stewart like, he is no more. Speaking of drinks, notice there was no mention of sweet tea yet and for good reason friends. Check out the notes below to see why.

Food Ordered: Cheese Pizza, but not by me.

Food Grade: A. I had the distinct pleasure of having “The Bushnell Bullet” Shane Butler, do my dirty work on grading the food. Since Hungry Howies is the official pizza supplier for East Bay, we knew it would be good. Shane gave it two thumbs up.

Series Grade: A-. The East Bay Sprints technically aren’t a series, but with the quality of cars that show up, they definitely could be. My only argument would be for more laps. A 15 lap feature just isn’t quite enough. Now I understand that the purse structure isn’t as good as the other series, but the show is just as good. I would, as a fan, like to see more of it, even if it was only another 5 laps. Just something to consider…

FSCF.com Driver of the Race: Kerry Gilbert. Many eyes were on the front of the field in the early stages of the race. But as Robbie Smith, Billy Boyd Jr., Johnny Gilbertson, and Tim George were battling hard to be at the point when the checkers flew, the man on the move was Kerry Gilbert. Gilbert started the feature on the outside of row 7, whereas the furthest back of the aforementioned was Gilbertson, who was in row 3. Gilbert had moved into the top ten by lap 6 when the red flag stopped action for the tumbling Greg Leonard. Gilbert was closing in on Jimmy Ballew and the 5th spot when the caution came out for Jason Webster, who had spun in turns 1 & 2, on lap 13. Gilbert was able to get by Ballew on the ensuing green to take over the 5th position and hang on to come across the stripe just ahead of Ballew and Rich Alexander.

FSCF.com Hard Luck Award: Greg Leonard. Leonard had a rough night in many ways. After pulling to a stop in turn 3 on lap 2 of the heat race, his 80 machine was pushed to the infield. The crew thrashed to resolve the mechanical issues and get Leonard back out for the feature. With bad weather rapidly approaching, the call was made by track officials to move the sprint car feature up, in order to get it in. As a result of not finishing the heat race, Leonard was relegated to start on the last row for the feature. On lap 4, Leonard’s night would come to an abrupt end as he flipped end over end down the backstretch. Leonard walked away from the carnage unscathed as  the remains were loaded onto a rollback.

Other Notes:

• Kudos to Jason Pope and his team for a solid 3rd place finish in the Limited Late Model feature. Jason is another reason for the Diet Coke. He said that when I can fit through the window, that he may let me take his 102 rocket around the clay by the bay on a practice night. That will definitely be a sight to see. Great job to Jason and his crew chief John Leonard.

• Not only was defending TBARA Champion Shane Butler, in the house, multi team owner, Shane Miller, was also in attendance. Miller’s cousin, Todd Miller, was making his East Bay debut in the 3 car. East Bay veteran, Danny Jones was spotted in the car for the heat race to shake the bugs loose. Miller looked very impressive in the first few laps before pulling in. Also spotted was one of Shane Miller’s pavement aces, Mickey Kempgens. For all of your graphics, logo design, vehicle wraps, and vinyl needs, be sure to contact MK Graphics.

• Jimmy Ballew and Tim George made up the front row for Heat #1. George jumped out to the early lead as they went into turn 1. On lap 2, the caution flag would wave for Greg Leonard as he pulled to a stop at the entrance of turn 3. When the green flew, it was again George who would take to the point with Ballew, Danny Jones, and Rich Alexander in tow. As George pulled away from the field, Ballew and Jones would wage the battle for 2nd behind him. On lap 5, Jones made the pass on Ballew, and held on for 2nd in front of Ballew, Andrew Griffin, Alexander, Troy Knowles, Christine Auld, and Tyler Eaton.

• Heat 2 would find Jason Webster and Billy Boyd Jr. with an open track ahead of them from their front row starting spots. Boyd powered his Monster Energy machine in front of Webster as they charged down the front stretch and into turn 1. Boyd would open up his lead on Webster and led by nearly a straightaway by the 2nd lap. On lap 3, the 5th place starter, Robbie Smith, would challenge and capture the 2^nd spot from Webster. Smith set his sights on Boyd, but was unable to make up the distance in the 6 lap affair, as it went caution free. As Boyd and Smith had their eyes on the checkers, the battle to watch was between Johnny Gilbertson and Webster. Gilbertson and Webster exchanged positions 4 times in as many laps with Gilbertson edging Webster at the line to come home third. Following Boyd Jr. to the stripe were Smith, Gilbertson, Webster, Clint Reynolds, Ken Laureno, Kerry Gilbert, Joe Metcalf, and Rick Martin.

• With Mother Nature’s light show in the background, the night air cooled off dramatically, and the breeze began to blow. With Old Glory standing at attention high above the infield on Memorial Day weekend, the 18 combatants slowly rolled onto the Clay by the Bay in preparation for battle. As the engines were fired one by one, you could feel the excitement in the air begin to build. As they found their way into formation, it was the 6s of Robbie Smith and the 3 of Todd Miller that would lead the way to the green flag. Smith used the power from his Gaerte engine to take the early jump on the field. Smith was a full straightaway lead ahead of 2nd place runner, Billy Boyd, when the red flag brought the field to a stop on lap 4. The 80 car of Greg Leonard tumbled down the backstretch end over end several times before coming to a rest right side up. Leonard was unharmed by the incident, and walked away under his own power. With the engines fired once more, it was Smith out front leading the field to green ahead of Boyd Jr., Johnny Gilbertson, Miller, and Tim George. The track stayed green for 9 circuits, until a lap 13 spin by Jason Webster in turns 1 and 2 brought out the one and only caution flag of the race. Webster was able to re-fire and joined the field at the tail of the lead lap. As the air cooled down, the battled heated up for 2nd place between Boyd Jr. and Gilbertson. Gilbertson had captured the position from Boyd on lap 14, but was unable hang on as they bumped wheels heading to the flag stand for the final time. Smith was followed to the double checkered flags by Boyd Jr., Gilbertson, Tim George, Kerry Gilbert, Jimmy Ballew, Rich Alexander, Andrew Griffin, Clint Reynolds, Troy Knowles, Webster, Ken Laureno, Tyler Eaton, and Christine Auld. As the checkers fell, so too did the rain drops.

• Okay – as promised earlier, the sweet tea issue. Who knew that one report could create such an issue. I had based my report from last week’s Top Gun Sprints Series race on the info that I was given by the concessionaire in the pit area. Apparently the track has known for years that the water at their facility is unfit for human consumption. After speaking with Janet in the front office, she informed me that the track has even been purchasing their ice from an outside source for quite some time now. She also said that the concessionaires were asked to bring in water from another source for which to make the tea with, which they declined to do so. I never realized that a subject as basic as sweet tea could cause such a ruckus. At the time of this report, I haven’t taken the time to contact Todd Hutto, Vice President of East Bay Raceway Park. But, rest assured, I will. As soon as I have more info to pass along, I will. I apologize for any misleading information that I may have passed along.

• Check out www.EastBayRacewayPark.com to keep track of the entire goings on over at “The Clay By The Bay”.  Whether you’re into, Go Karts, or Late Models, they’ve got it all covered.

• The “Bushnell Bullet” and I had a very informative conversation with Doug Shaw. Doug is the car owner for Danny Martin Jr., and the chassis builder for some of the quickest cars in the country. If you’re thinking of going dirt racing, sprint car style, or you’re looking to upgrade, be sure to get a hold of Doug. He is a wealth of knowledge and a super nice guy!!

Race Reporter: Josh “I’m Finally Off Probation” Wichers

As always, international playboy Gary “Walk Quietly But Carry A Big” Johnson roamed the pits and took pit walk photos for you, the adoring public. Enjoy.

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And now, the same race, as seen through the eyes of our currently on probation staff reporter, Josh “The Man Formerly Known as The Ladies Choice” Wichers.

Date : 09.04.2010

Track : East Bay Raceway Park ( Tampa, FL )

Series : East Bay Sprints

Admission :
Grandstand : Adult – $12, Senior – $10, Teens 13-17 – $7, Kids
12 and under – FREE
Pit Pass : $25

# of Sprint Cars : 19

Who Won :
Heat 1 – Travis Bliemeister
Heat 2 – Tim George
Feature – KURT TAYLOR

Crowd Grade : A+. This was definitely the best crowd that I’ve seen at East Bay in a very long time. It was nearly a full house in the grandstands. I’m not sure what they did for promotion, but it worked. It was Sunshine Speedway Alumni Night and also double features in all of the other classes, including two Late Model features.

Track Grade : B. The track was fairly smooth throughout the night, but started taking a lot of rubber before the sprints rolled out. It was dry, but not too dusty as we characteristically see at East Bay. The surface made for good racing in all of the classes.

Food Orderered : Deviled Crab

Food Grade : B. I was really looking forward to enjoying the best deviled crab in the Tampa area. After spending a long day on the road and in the sun, I skipped lunch so that the crab roll would be just that much better. I guess that I should have got a hot dog while I was at the UF game. The crab roll was good, but nothing like the ones that I’ve had in previous trips to the Clay by the Bay.

Drinks Ordered : Sweet Tea (of course ), and Coke Zero ( bottle ).

Drinks Grade : A. The sweet tea at the pit side concession was as good as any that I’ve had. And that says a lot. But the sweet tea at the grandstand concession was far from sweet. Thankfully, they had ice cold coke zero in a bottle to quench our thirst. And speaking of drinks, while at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville earlier that day, I noticed that their only choice of Gatorade flavor was red Fruit Punch. No orange, no blue. I’m just saying.

Series ( Class ) Grade : B+. The East Bay Sprints came out swinging with a very strong car count. It was unfortunate to see two of the heavy hitters go out early. Rich Pratt didn’t make the call for the feature after pulling off during the heat race. And “Outlaw” Gene Lasker pulled his 02 to the pit area early in the feature after his fuell cell brackets broke as the result of early contact. It was good to see Top Gun Sprints
points leader Ryan Partin bring out his hot rod to do battle with the East Bay rowdies. Also in the house were Keith Butler, Billy Boyd Jr, and Dakotah Stephens. It was a very uncharacteristic night with very few cautions. I would still like to see the EBS’s race for more than a 15 lap feature.

FSCF.com Driver of the Race : Danny Jones. Danny took the gloves off and came from nearly the back of the field to finish a strong 2nd. It was great to see Kurt Taylor get his second victory of the season with the EBS. But to watch Jones come from the back and quietly and meticulously pick off opponents was fun to watch. Jones’ checkers are right around the corner. Rounding out the top five were Tim George, Keith Butler, and Rocky Sullivan.

Other Notes :
- It was Sunshine Speedway Alumni Night . Not sure what that means, but if it helps get the “Action Track” reopened, we need more of them. Gotta miss Sunshine Speedway !!

- Racing starts at 6:30 at the Clay by the Bay, get there early.

- I ran into Sport Allen wearing a shirt that read, “The Legend Has Retired” . I hope this isn’t true, and look forward to seeing Sport back in the seat soon. Possibly in a pavement sprint car in the TBARA or as a teammate to our Editor at Speed in the Penrose Racing entry in the Florida Mini Sprint Association.

- Other notable hot shoes in attendance that I saw were ; Stan “The Legend” Butler, Shane “the Bushnell Bullet” Butler, Tyler “OTG” Godwin, Brian “The Flyin’ Hotfoot” Penrose, and Wendy Mathis.

Race Reporter: Josh Wichers