Archive for East Bay Reports
Oct
27
East Bay Sprints Race Report – 10.25.09
Posted by: | CommentsBetter late than never, “The Ladies Choice” Josh Wichers checks in with his lovingly crafted report of the goings-on at East Bay this past weekend.
Enjoy.
DATE: October 24, 2009
SERIES: East Bay Sprints
TRACK: East Bay Raceway Park
ADMISSION: Pit Pass – $25
# OF SPRINT CARS: 14
CROWD GRADE: B. East Bay continues to do an amazing job at putting fans in the seats. I still don’t know exactly what their secret is, but the turnout through the turnstiles is like few other tracks anywhere. And I must add that the crowd is an enthusiastic bunch. I sat in the viscinity of “Slick” Ric Voisey and Frank Hurst in the grandstands. When the checkers fell, they asked me who won. I thought that they were both crying, but the tears were from laughing at the group that was in front of us! Frank and Ric vowed to return for the show, with the race being a bonus.
FOOD ORDERED: Hamburger, fries, pulled pork sandwich, & pizza.
FOOD GRADE: A-. The hamburgers and fries were good as always. But the best thing on the menu was the pulled pork sandwich. Apparently there are concession wars at East Bay, with the rumor of a Kazbor’s and Hungry Howie’s being built in the cafe below the front stretch grandstands. And a new twist to track concessions was a golf cart equipped with Hungry Howie’s pizza, candy, and canned soda cruising through the pit area.
Sep
10
East Bay Sprints Race Report – 09.05.09
Posted by: | CommentsBetter late than never, an under-the-weather Josh checks in with a dandy of a race report from the festivities at “The Clay by the Bay” on Saturday night.
To the report!
DATE: September 5, 2009
TRACK: East Bay Raceway Park
SERIES: East Bay Sprints
ADMISSION: Grandstand – $12, Pit Pass – $25.
FOOD ORDERED: Hamburger, cheeseburger, and french fries.
FOOD GRADE: B. As always, the food at East Bay was pretty good. I did however have a guest food critic on Saturday night to help me out. David Milum, son of Paulie, gobbled up a pair of hamburgers all on his own. His comments were, “I would say the hamburgers are a B+, they were really juicy, but they need some salt or something!” Thanks again David ! The selection offered is very good and includes onion rings, steak sandwiches, and funnel cakes. But the one thing that I was really looking forward to was already sold out. Mine and Bubba’s favorite, the East Bay corndog.
DRINKS ORDERED: Sweet tea
DRINKS GRADE: A . East Bay has some of the best sweet tea around, even better than some that I had on the Mobile trip. I also saw that they offer Bud Light in an aluminum bottle.
CROWD GRADE: A- East Bay always does their fair share of putting people in the seats. They are usually an energetic and involved group. Especially the half dozen seated in front of me cheering for the 21 “Blackjack” sprinter. They even engaged in a shouting match with Mean Gene Lasker as he walked off the track following his dominant performance. Good car counts in all of the classes are also a good reason to put fans in the stands.
# OF SPRINT CARS: 16
WHO WON? : Gene Lasker
FSCF.com DRIVER OF THE RACE: Gene Lasker. “Mean” Gene Lasker pulled off the sweep winning his heat race and the feature. Lasker was the class of the field coming from his fourth starting spot. He quickly took the point and didn’t look back. If it weren’t for the 5 caution flags coming out to keep the field bunched up, Lasker may have been able to lap the field in the 15 lap feature. This is Gene’s 2nd FSCF.com Driver of the Race Award. We really owe him now!
SERIES GRADE: C+ I guess this would be a good time to bring up the debate that we at FSCF.com have been arguing amongst ourselves about. Is a series really a series if they only race at 1 track, or would they be considered a class? I would be curious of some feedback on this one. Anyhow ……The 16 cars put on a good show despite the numerous cautions and only a 15 lap feature. I would like to think that they would entertain the idea of running a longer feature.
TRACK GRADE: B+ The track prep crew did a great job of preparing the the track. It was a very smooth and clean racing surface. There was a brief rain shower following the heat races, but the track seemingly took the water well. And apparently the tide was out because the track dried quickly.
REST OF THE RACING GRADE: B. There was a great field of cars present. A terrific count of Late Models and 4 Cylinder Bombers kept the crowd interested all night.
OTHER NOTES: Gene Lasker and Paulie Milum both won their heats. Milum looked like he was going to be able to challenge Lasker in the feature, but unfortunately had a driveline break on lap 6 while running 3rd. By lap 3, Lasker, Tim George, and Milum were already shuffling through traffic. Several TBARA regulars were in attendance. Larry J. Brazil Jr, Steve Heisler, Wendy Mathis, and “his Holiness” Dave Steele to name a few. “His Holiness” had a special interest at the track, as he is now a car owner as well. Dave is the proud owner of the B&B Car Corral- Steele Performance #91 4 Cylinder Bomber driven by Anthony Noriega. It was a good night for the Steele-heads as Noriega came home with a a solid 10th place finish and his teammate Mike Maglio had a good run crossing the checkers in 8th. Big Kudos go out to Jeanette Burnett in only her 2nd race in a sprint car. Burnett is steadily improving each time out and is a good study from her mentor, the “Bushnell Bullet” Shane Butler.