With the rapture upon us Saturday, we figured end times would necessitate the one and only Josh Wichers to turn in a race report, as they are about as frequent as the rapture itself…

Date: 05.21.2011

Track: East Bay Raceway Park (Tampa, FL)

Series: Top Gun Sprint Series and Florida Mini Sprint Association.

Admission:

Adult ……………………. $12

Senior …………………. $10

Teens 13-17 ………… $7

Kids under 12 ………. FREE

Pit Pass ……………….. $25

# of Sprint Cars: 23

# of Mini Sprints: 19

Who Won:

Mini Sprint Feature : Chris Pacetti

Sprints : Heat 1 – Billy Boyd Jr.

Heat 2 – Danny Martin Jr.

Heat 3 – Stephen Darvalics

Feature – DANNY “the Hammer” MARTIN JR.

The Finish:

Mini Sprints – 16 Chris Pacetti, 71 John Craddock, 5 Steve Crabtree, 83 Justin Kolves, 8 Eddie Moss Jr., 68 Dierk Miller, 88 Morgan Blanchard, 711 David Pleaugh, 23 Rhea Lynn Moss, 34 Pete Smith, 61 Andy Denton, 1M Eddie Moss Sr., 0 Luke Fidler, 22 Andrew Kurjack, 14 Brian Penrose, 6 Timmy Loveday, 67 David Paul, 30 John Crowder – dns, 59 Austin Jackson – dns

Sprints – 24 Danny Martin Jr., 83 Mark Ruel Jr., 41 Stephen Darvalics, 3A AJ Maddox, 14W Danny Jones, 4 Billy Boyd Jr., 15 Johnny Gilbertson, 1* Tim George, 43 Terry Witherspoon, 55 Kerry Gilbert, 6S Robbie Smith, 0 Jimmy Ballew Jr., 8 Rich Alexander, 17D Bruce Durden, 92 Matt Kurtz, 83A Christine Auld, 03 Tyler Eaton, 36 Kenneth Laureno, 38 Tony Agin, 3 Travis Bleimeister, 27 Troy Knowles, 07 Clint Reynolds, Z1 Harley Zimmerman

Crowd Grade: A. It wasn’t the best crowd that I’ve seen at East Bay, but the stands were fairly full of energetic race fans. It’s always great to see a descent crowd on hand when the sprints are in town. East Bay is historically a Late Model friendly track, so to see them draw the sprint fans is a very welcome site. And I saw a lot of sprint car shirts as I meandered through the grandstands and around the concession midway. But why not, when you bring the two best touring dirt series in the state on the same night, the fans are going to come. And speaking of shirts, a quick note to the drivers and teams: if you have shirts, make them accessible for purchase. Shirt sales can be a great way to offset operating cost.

Track Grade: A. I have to admit, when I first arrived at around 5 o’clock, I was a little concerned that the valve on the water truck had broken. It looked the tide in the Bay had rose and flooded the track. I was afraid that it was going to be a sloppy mess, but it was far from it. By the time that the heats rolled off, the track was coming in nicely. And by feature time, it started taking rubber. By the end of the feature, there was a two wide black groove all the way around the track which made for some of the best racing that I’ve seen in a while.

Drinks Ordered: Coca Cola, Root Beer, and Frubob – Mango (all bottled)

Drinks Grade: Hmmmmmmmm. Since it’s really hard to mess up bottled drinks, it’s just not fair to give them a grade. And since I had a pit pass, I couldn’t consume any frosty adult beverages. But if you’ve read my reports in the past, you know that I go for the sweet tea. Well, they didn’t have any. I first learned of this travesty a few weeks ago when I went to East Bay with a friend to catch some limited late model action. I was devastated. The sweet tea at East Bay always made the trip worthwhile. After talking to Dave who runs the pit concession, he explained that the track had removed their water filtration system, and that the water was unfit for making his signature sweet tea. He assured me that I could find his signature sweet tea at any of the local Kazbor’s or Bubba Que’s restaurants. But I want it at the track. It’s just un-American to not have sweet tea at a race track. Hopefully, the powers that be at East Bay will read this and invest in another water filtration system.

Food Ordered: Cheeseburger, Fried Chicken Sandwich.

Food Grade: B-. The burger and the chicken were average at best, but I think what kept them from being good was the buns. They just seemed a little dry, not stale, just dry. Punta Gorda Speedway still, in my opinion, has set the bar on the top rung when it comes to track food. It’s going to be hard to compete with their fried bologna and massive pork tenderloin sandwiches. And who can forget the deep fried Oreos and steak-on-a-stick at Volusia.

Series Grade – Top Gun Sprint Series: A-. Don Rehm and the staff at TGSS always bring a good field of quality cars to every track they go to. This was no exception. Don and crew always run a tight ship and a great program. I was hoping that more of the cars that have been showing up at Volusia would have made the trek to East Bay for this race. Don’t get me wrong, 23 is a great field of cars, but it would still be great to see 30+. A great big thanks go out to BoomTrux.com for coming onboard and contributing to the purse.

Series Grade – Florida Mini Sprint Association: A-. The FMSA truly is “Florida’s Best Kept Secret.” These guys, and girl, always put on a great show. Most of which drove over 7 hours just to be at East Bay. The FMSA had a race at Oglethorpe Speedway Park on Friday night. For those of you not familiar with Oglethorpe, it’s just north of Savannah, GA. Doing quick math in my head, most of the teams had to leave Savannah by 8am just to make it to East Bay in time. Now that’s dedication.

TGSS Driver of the Race: Mark Ruel, Jr. Despite finishing in nearly the same positions as they started, Martin, Ruel, and Darvalics put on a great race for the lead through traffic. Ruel was able to get by Darvalics on lap 9 and was able to keep him at bay for the remaining 16 laps. After breaking free from Darvalics, Ruel had his sights set on Martin. It appeared that Ruel was going to get one last shot at Martin in the closing two circuits as they closed in on a pack of lapped cars. It wasn’t meant to be for Ruel, as he crossed the stripe narrowly behind Martin.

FMSA Driver of the Race: Chris Pacetti. Pacetti started very deep in the field for the feature. From his 7th row starting spot, Pacetti wasted no time getting to the front. By lap 3, he had already secured the 3rd spot. On lap 8, Pacetti took the lead from John Craddock, who started from the P1 spot. Honorable mention goes out to Eddie Moss Jr. Moss Jr. was running in the second spot on lap 5 when he spun in turn 1 and had to tag the rear for the restart. Moss Jr. worked his way back through the field in the remaining 10 laps to come with a respectable 5th place finish.

Other Notes:

* I found out upon arrival to the track that Larry J. Brazil Sr. had a heart attack last Friday and had to have a number of stents put in. After speaking to his daughter, Amanda, she assured me that he is at home and doing well. Get well wishes go out to Larry Sr.!!!!

* I was shocked to see His Holiness Dave Steele in attendance along with his wife and daughter. When I asked him why he wasn’t on the Ark, he replied that he waited until after 6 pm and then sent everyone back home since nothing happened. I’m quite certain that there will be a “smoking deal” on a barely used Ark over at Steele Performance Parts later this week. Among the notables that I also spoke to in attendance were Collin Cabre’s ace mechanic, Matt Grimes, Collin’s dad, Lou, and Gary Green. John Inman was kind enough to purchase a cheeseburger and coke for me. Thanks again John!!

* Heat 1 saw the 4 of Billy Boyd Jr. and the 83A of Christine Auld on the front row. Boyd took the immediate lead, but was pursued by AJ Maddox. On lap 6 of the 8 lap contest, the caution flag would wave for Tony Agin who had spun in turn 4. Boyd led the group back to the green flag and would hold on to pick up the win followed by Maddox, Bruce Durden, Danny Jones, and Troy Knowles.

* Heat 2 would roll off with Travis Bleimeister and Danny Martin Jr. looking at an open track ahead of them. Martin stormed to the point with Harley Zimmerman tied to his rear bumper. The race went caution free, with Martin leading Zimmerman, Johnny Gilbertson, Terry Witherspoon, and Bleimeister to the checkers.

* Kerry Gilbert and Robbie Smith made up the front row for heat 3. Smith flexed his horsepower from the onset, jumping out to a commanding lead at the drop of the green flag. Smith took the white flag as he was lapping the 5th place running car. Upon exiting turn 2, Smith looped his 6s machine into the infield while trying to negotiate lapped traffic. The track stayed green as Smith came to a rest. Stephen Darvalics, who had given chase to Smith from his 6th starting spot, inherited the lead and went on to take the checkers. Darvalics was followed to the finish by Rich Alexander, Mark Ruel Jr., Gilbert, Clint Reynolds, and Smith.

* To the disappointment of many, Danny Martin Jr. found himself sitting outside of row one to start the 25 lap feature for the Top Gun Sprints. On the initial start, pole sitter Harley Zimmerman did his best impression of the sprint car olympics, doing a complete 360 degree spin as he got in the throttle coming off turn 4. Zimmerman was able to keep his car going , but a caution flew on the speedway. A complete restart brought the field back together. On lap 2, it was Zimmerman once more giving the fans a show. This time it was his best impression of the high jump. Zimmerman hopped the cushion and got in the marbles in turn 1, climbing the wall and tearing down the catch fence. Thankfully, Zimmerman climbed from his mount unscathed as the red flag brought the field to a stop. After a 26 minute delay, the track crew was able to repair the catch fence and get the action back under way. It was Martin leading the field back to the green. It would be short lived though as the 07 of Reynolds and the 3 of Bleimeister made contact on the front stretch. With Darvalics and Ruel in tow, Martin would again bring the field back to the green. The red would fly once more as Tony Agin got on his lid and took a tumble into turn 1 on lap 12. The final 13 circuits around the 1/3 mile Clay By The Bay would remain green. Darvalics and Ruel waged a tough battle for 2nd, jockeying back and forth for position for a few laps before Ruel Jr. seemingly pulled away from Darvalics and into the tracks of Martin. During the last 2 laps, Martin and Ruel rapidly approached a pack of slower cars. It appeared as though Ruel was going to break the streak of dominance that Martin brought with him. Martin used his uncanny ability to maneuver through lap traffic to edge out Ruel at the stripe by the narrowest margin of any of his wins yet this season.

Race Reporter: Josh Wichers

And as always our man on the scene Gary “Walk Quietly But Carry A Big” Johnson roamed the pits and snapped some pit walk photos for your viewing pleasure. We once again warmly encourage you to join the Kerry Gilbert Fan Club. We’d smile too in that photo…

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