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I was kinda disappointed with the heat races.... almost no passing and very little action.
However, I've been going to East Bay for over 25 years, and the track always seems to come around, and I know eventually it will. Last night proved it again.
Keith Nosbish (my pick, along with Adam Bedenbaugh) took off from row 2 on the green and proceeded to dominate the early part of the race. Randy Korte (Speedweeks Junkie Mike's pick, along with Johnnie Collins?) looked like he was being conservative early, but stayed in the top-3 the whole time. Marshall Austin, looking faster and more aggressive than I'd ever seen him was all over the place, running high, low or in the middle. I look for bigger things for him next year.
However, Shan Smith was THE show in the race. After taking up the challenge of giving up the front row and electing to start last, we never figured he'd get anywhere close with the quality of field ahead of him. His turned run out to be amazing! At one time, in a span of about 2 laps, he passed Mark Whitener, Johnnie Collins and Josh Peacock (each is a previous winner in this series). He eventually finished 4th, but he was a BIG part of the show.After the heats which featured nearly ZERO passing, Smith passed 19 cars himself. If anybody was un-impressed with that drive, you're involved in the wrong sport.
The last 15 laps or so, were very excitimg, as leaders like Nosbish, Smith, Patrick Williams and Clay Bedenbaugh had burned off their tires, while at the same time, Doug Horton, Russell Brown and Johnnie Collins were coming on strong. In the final few laps, Korte drove away from the rest, but 2nd - 7th changed in every corner of every lap. It was, all-in-all, one HELL of a race!
A couple of observations here:
Announcer Joe Linebarier had NEVER been to a race at East Bay in his life, yet sounded completely like a Pro.
David Clegg, who I don't believe had ever been there before, looked impressive winning his B-Main
Jackie Nosbish looked very good winning his "B", but crashed on lap 1 along with Clegg
Doug Horton is a racer from West Virginia, who came down a few years back for the Late Model Winternationals. While here, he wiped out a front-end that needed rebuilding, and Keith Nosbish loaned him his shop and his help. A friendship started, and now Keith provides a car from Horton when he can make it into town. Moral of that story, is that you NEVER know when and where a frienship and a partnership can come from.
Randy Korte is a very experienced racer, yet took an unfamiliar car, racing against Florida's finest, and whipped them all on their home turf.
Adam Bedenbaugh, Josh Peacock, Marshall Austin and fast Qualifier Tyler Ivey are all pretty new to this Dirt Late Model stuff... and they are all VERY good. The future of this class in Florida is in very good hands!
Disappointments:
Rich Pratt, once again, had a terrible night. How can such a great guy keep getting the crappy end of the plunger all the time?
Kent Corbin has never impressed me much, but he looked very good at E-B. Only a late race tangle in the B-Main kept him out of the Feature. I was actually pulling for him to get in the show... he deserved to be.
When Roger Crouse's car failed to fire up prior to the race (he never returned either), why wasn't an "Alternate" used. It could have given someone else a chance to race instead of sitting on the sidelines.
Where were Bill Howard and Shane Williams?
Ray Millers NLMS Series hasn't gotten much support this year from many Florida teams, and many of the Georgia racers that once supported him have moved into either Crate or Super Late Models. I hope his series makes it through, because he actually started a great formula for Dirt racers in the Deep South. The UDLMCS has a great thing going, but they HAVE to Thank Ray Miller for getting the whole program started.
All in all, it was WELL worth the 2 hour drive, and the $12.00 admission was very reasonable.
And to some of the other Promoters out there... our 11 year old was FREE, the adult admission was entirely fair, and the place was PACKED. On your off weeks, take your carcass' over to East Bay and observe what a successful place does. There are lots of things to be learned in the racetrack business, and East Bay does most of them right. Thank God that at least some places have the BALLS to have double-file restarts.
However, I've been going to East Bay for over 25 years, and the track always seems to come around, and I know eventually it will. Last night proved it again.
Keith Nosbish (my pick, along with Adam Bedenbaugh) took off from row 2 on the green and proceeded to dominate the early part of the race. Randy Korte (Speedweeks Junkie Mike's pick, along with Johnnie Collins?) looked like he was being conservative early, but stayed in the top-3 the whole time. Marshall Austin, looking faster and more aggressive than I'd ever seen him was all over the place, running high, low or in the middle. I look for bigger things for him next year.
However, Shan Smith was THE show in the race. After taking up the challenge of giving up the front row and electing to start last, we never figured he'd get anywhere close with the quality of field ahead of him. His turned run out to be amazing! At one time, in a span of about 2 laps, he passed Mark Whitener, Johnnie Collins and Josh Peacock (each is a previous winner in this series). He eventually finished 4th, but he was a BIG part of the show.After the heats which featured nearly ZERO passing, Smith passed 19 cars himself. If anybody was un-impressed with that drive, you're involved in the wrong sport.
The last 15 laps or so, were very excitimg, as leaders like Nosbish, Smith, Patrick Williams and Clay Bedenbaugh had burned off their tires, while at the same time, Doug Horton, Russell Brown and Johnnie Collins were coming on strong. In the final few laps, Korte drove away from the rest, but 2nd - 7th changed in every corner of every lap. It was, all-in-all, one HELL of a race!
A couple of observations here:
Announcer Joe Linebarier had NEVER been to a race at East Bay in his life, yet sounded completely like a Pro.
David Clegg, who I don't believe had ever been there before, looked impressive winning his B-Main
Jackie Nosbish looked very good winning his "B", but crashed on lap 1 along with Clegg
Doug Horton is a racer from West Virginia, who came down a few years back for the Late Model Winternationals. While here, he wiped out a front-end that needed rebuilding, and Keith Nosbish loaned him his shop and his help. A friendship started, and now Keith provides a car from Horton when he can make it into town. Moral of that story, is that you NEVER know when and where a frienship and a partnership can come from.
Randy Korte is a very experienced racer, yet took an unfamiliar car, racing against Florida's finest, and whipped them all on their home turf.
Adam Bedenbaugh, Josh Peacock, Marshall Austin and fast Qualifier Tyler Ivey are all pretty new to this Dirt Late Model stuff... and they are all VERY good. The future of this class in Florida is in very good hands!
Disappointments:
Rich Pratt, once again, had a terrible night. How can such a great guy keep getting the crappy end of the plunger all the time?
Kent Corbin has never impressed me much, but he looked very good at E-B. Only a late race tangle in the B-Main kept him out of the Feature. I was actually pulling for him to get in the show... he deserved to be.
When Roger Crouse's car failed to fire up prior to the race (he never returned either), why wasn't an "Alternate" used. It could have given someone else a chance to race instead of sitting on the sidelines.
Where were Bill Howard and Shane Williams?
Ray Millers NLMS Series hasn't gotten much support this year from many Florida teams, and many of the Georgia racers that once supported him have moved into either Crate or Super Late Models. I hope his series makes it through, because he actually started a great formula for Dirt racers in the Deep South. The UDLMCS has a great thing going, but they HAVE to Thank Ray Miller for getting the whole program started.
All in all, it was WELL worth the 2 hour drive, and the $12.00 admission was very reasonable.
And to some of the other Promoters out there... our 11 year old was FREE, the adult admission was entirely fair, and the place was PACKED. On your off weeks, take your carcass' over to East Bay and observe what a successful place does. There are lots of things to be learned in the racetrack business, and East Bay does most of them right. Thank God that at least some places have the BALLS to have double-file restarts.
For anyone interested, I finally have pictures from Saturdays race up on my web site.
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