Mathews Steals the Show at Eastbay

Saturday, October 24, 2009 – It was a beautiful night at “the Clay by the Bay” and 6 divisions with over 100 cars on hand would deliver the racing action the capacity crowd desired.  The Q Auto & Injury Attorney Limited Late Models took to the track for their 15 lap feature event where the #45 team of John Bradley would make it back-to-back victories over a tough field of competitive cars.  Alex Boerner, Jason Pope, Tim Gay and Ricky Land finished 2^nd through 5^th respectively.  JR Prather, Jr. and Alex Boerner picked up the victory in their heat races.

The Gagel’s Open-Wheel Modifieds is where the opening act for Jeff Mathews and the #33 team from Sefner began.  Mathews blistered the field in his heat race and continued on during the feature event.  Kyle Bronson took the early lead in front of John Bradley, Buzzie Reutimann and Tim Gay, but it wasn’t long before Mathews stormed to the front and from there, he never looked back.  Bradley hung on for a good 2^nd place run just in front of Kyle Bronson and the #40 team.  Reutimann and Gay rounded out the top 5.  Bradley also picked up the win in his heat race. 

The Eastbay Sprints brought a brief intermission to the Jeff Mathews show with 14 cars in the feature event.  “Mean” Gene Lasker missed both heat races and was required to start in the rear of the field, but it less than 4 laps had blown by the entire field to take the lead and his 4^th victory of the 2009 racing season.  Tim George and Rocky Sullivan finished 2^nd and 3^rd.  Rich Alexander picked up the win in his heat race and Championship Points leader Paulie Milum grabbed the win in heat race #2. 

The 2^nd act of the Mathews show resumed when the South Shore Auto Sales Late Models took to the track for their feature event.  Mathews started 3^rd, moved to the lead and from there it was all about 2^nd place.  Josh Peacock had a good run to finish 2^nd and Doug Watson, Paul Gibbs and Maverick Varnadore, who had his best of the year in a late model, rounded out the top 5.  Mathews also won his heat race while Josh Peacock picked up the win in heat race #1.

The Outlaw 4’s feature event was dominated by Mathew Haynes.  His domination began in heat race #2 where he picked up the win, and carried on to the A-Main for his 3^rd victory of the year.  Cecil Martin in the #15 car finished 2^nd and Brian Danforth in the #05 car crossed the stripe in 3^rd.  Billy Howard in the #53 finished 4^th and Tom Zimmerman in the #29 rounded out the top 5.  Danforth also was the winner of heat race #1.

The Motorstats.com 4-Cylinder Bombers were 26 cars strong for their A-Main Feature.  Frank Miller was the eventual winner after several cautions.  He held to finish in front of Robert Kissam, Raymond Vann, Roberto Morfin, Sr. and Robert Purcell, all of which finished 2^nd through 5^th.  Frank Miller won heat race #1, Mathew Odell won heat race #2 and Kissam won heat race #3.

ASA sanctioned racing resumes at East Bay Raceway Park Saturday, Oct.31, 2009 at 6:30pm.  It will be feature the Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Limited Late Model Special, Late Models, the Gagel’s Auto Parts Open-Wheel Modifieds, the Street Stocks, and the Motorstats.com 4-Cylinder Bombers.  For more information call the track office at 813-677-7223 or visit us on the web at www.eastbayracewaypark.com.