WEAVER REPEATS ON PRELIMINARY NIGHT THREE OF OWM AT EAST BAY
TAMPA,
FL…..2/16/07……Kevin Weaver made history Friday night at East Bay Raceway
Park in the 8th Annual Open Wheel Modified Winternationals
when he became the first driver to score two wins on preliminary nights
(Wednesday and tonight) of the four-day series.
It was a wild and
crazy 25-lap feature with two previous leaders spinning out and Weaver
making a switch to the high groove to lead the last three laps and
collect the $l,500 prize.
When
track announcer Chris Stepan reminded Weaver that he had just made
history with repeat preliminary night wins, the subject quickly focused
on the fact that Weaver had been the winner of the big finale in the
very first OWM Winternationals in 2000 and there have been no repeat
winners since then. Weaver said, “It would sure be nice to win that one
again, but 75 laps is a different story and my focus will be on tire
management.”
Once
again Weaver and his crewmen, Mason Fisher and Josh Beebe, made very
little changes on his Bob Pierce chassis which is powered by a Hixon
engine, utilizing Bilstein shocks and Hoosier Tires. The car displayed
sponsorship from Jimmy John’s Gormet Sandwiches and Rigsby Homes.
Finishing second in the second of 10 heats for the 88 cars on hand,
Weaver was relegated to start in the sixth row of the A-Main. The front
row starters were Jason Lakey and Steve Arpin, however, after pile-ups
on the first two attempts to complete a lap, it was Arpin who jumped to
an immediate lead once the race was officially underway.
A long
string of green flag laps let Arpin build a four second lead over Shawn
Peterson with 10 laps in the books. Three laps later, Arpin ran the
high groove and passed lapped traffic at will to build a straightaway
lead for himself. The lapped cars would be his downfall on lap 18 when
he tangled with three of them in between turns one and two. Raymond
Rogers had moved into second ahead of Peterson, Jamie Burrows, Weaver
and Corey Connelly at this point and he inherited the lead when Arpin
had to restart at the tail.
Rogers
lead was short lived because on lap 21 he too was the victim of a spin
to the inside in turn four and this gave the lead to Burrows on lap 22.
Meanwhile, 21st starting Stan Donahoo discovered the fast
outside lane and was making his way into the front four.
Weaver
admitted, “I drove the wheels off this thing tonight. I looked at the
high groove in one and turn turns and it look pretty hairy and choppy,
but the top was definitely faster, so I went for it.”
The move
to the top did it for Weaver who took the lead on lap 23 and headed
Burrows, Peterson, Jeff Mathews and Ray Guss, Jr. at the finish. Next
came Joey Jensen, Denny Schwartz, Donahoo, Arpin and Bobby Bittle with
top ten finishes.
Matt
Goulden and Dakota Stephens advanced from the lst C-Main while Frank
Marshall and Brady Short went to the B-Main from the 2nd
C-Main. In the 1st B-Main Donahoo and Justin Carlson
advanced to the A-Main, but a tangle inside between turns one and two
resulted in a hard hit to Julie McDermid who was transported to the
hospital for observation. Charles Patrick and Guss earned starting
spots in the A-Main after coming from the 2nd B-Main.
Thanks, Jean Lynch for East Bay Raceway Park
WEAVER REPEATS ON PRELIMINARY NIGHT THREE OF OWM AT EAST BAY
TAMPA,
FL…..2/16/07……Kevin Weaver made history Friday night at East Bay Raceway
Park in the 8th Annual Open Wheel Modified Winternationals
when he became the first driver to score two wins on preliminary nights
(Wednesday and tonight) of the four-day series.
It was a wild and
crazy 25-lap feature with two previous leaders spinning out and Weaver
making a switch to the high groove to lead the last three laps and
collect the $l,500 prize.
When track announcer Chris Stepan reminded Weaver that he had
just made history with repeat preliminary night wins, the subject
quickly focused on the fact that Weaver had been the winner of the big
finale in the very first OWM Winternationals in 2000 and there have been
no repeat winners since then. Weaver said, “It would sure be nice to
win that one again, but 75 laps is a different story and my focus will
be on tire management.”
Once again Weaver and his crewmen, Mason Fisher and Josh
Beebe, made very little changes on his Bob Pierce chassis which is
powered by a Hixon engine, utilizing Bilstein shocks and Hoosier Tires.
The car displayed sponsorship from Jimmy John’s Gormet Sandwiches and
Rigsby Homes.
Finishing second in the second of 10 heats for the 88 cars on
hand, Weaver was relegated to start in the sixth row of the A-Main. The
front row starters were Jason Lakey and Steve Arpin, however, after
pile-ups on the first two attempts to complete a lap, it was Arpin who
jumped to an immediate lead once the race was officially underway.
A long string of green flag laps let Arpin build a four
second lead over Shawn Peterson with 10 laps in the books. Three laps
later, Arpin ran the high groove and passed lapped traffic at will to
build a straightaway lead for himself. The lapped cars would be his
downfall on lap 18 when he tangled with three of them in between turns
one and two. Raymond Rogers had moved into second ahead of Peterson,
Jamie Burrows, Weaver and Corey Connelly at this point and he inherited
the lead when Arpin had to restart at the tail.
Rogers lead was short lived because on lap 21 he too was the
victim of a spin to the inside in turn four and this gave the lead to
Burrows on lap 22. Meanwhile, 21st starting Stan Donahoo
discovered the fast outside lane and was making his way into the front
four.
Weaver admitted, “I drove the wheels off this thing tonight.
I looked at the high groove in one and turn turns and it look pretty
hairy and choppy, but the top was definitely faster, so I went for it.”
The move to the top did it for Weaver who took the lead on
lap 23 and headed Burrows, Peterson, Jeff Mathews and Ray Guss, Jr. at
the finish. Next came Joey Jensen, Denny Schwartz, Donahoo, Arpin and
Bobby Bittle with top ten finishes.
Matt Goulden and Dakota Stephens advanced from the lst C-Main
while Frank Marshall and Brady Short went to the B-Main from the 2nd
C-Main. In the 1st B-Main Donahoo and Justin Carlson
advanced to the A-Main, but a tangle inside between turns one and two
resulted in a hard hit to Julie McDermid who was transported to the
hospital for observation. Charles Patrick and Guss earned starting
spots in the A-Main after coming from the 2nd B-Main.
Thanks, Jean Lynch for East Bay Raceway Park
|
