Saturday, February 13 - Well the weather still was cold but at least by noon time the skies were blue and the sun felt warm. Of course the temperature was still in the 50’s. Around 4:30 we headed west on Interstate 4 for our final night in Florida and our stop was for the All Star Sprints at Easy Bay. I was looking forward to the night since I would get a sneak preview of some of our local Pennsylvania Posse drivers who were in state for the event. Only a few miles west of Disney and we saw the trailer of Greg Hodnett traveling eastbound. This prompted up to call East Bay only to hear a recording indicating the night’s program had been cancelled. We were not happy and at first thought of going back to Volusia County where we saw an excellent show on Thursday night but we already had a hotel booked near the Tampa Airport and from Volusia to the hotel would have been close to a three hour drive. Then Bruce remembered DeSoto Speedway and they had the TBARA Sprints on the agenda. It was decided we would go to DeSoto but first we decided to pull off Interstate 75 and check out what happened at Easy Bay.

We pulled into an empty parking lot at East Bay Raceway around 6:00 under sunny skies. As we sat there others kept pulling into the parking lot wondering what happen. The parking lot that was a mud bog all week had finally dried up and the temperatures were no different then earlier in the week. Bruce decided to find out what really happened and ventured into the media office to speak with PR Director, Jean Lynch. Turns out the promoters at East Bay were not running the All Star show. A promoter named Dean Miracle was and apparently he lost money on Thursday’s show, Friday’s show was rained out and he wasn’t taking a chance with Saturday. But the fans had no reason to call, so they came only to find empty pits. The problem is most will be disappointed with the management of East Bay and they really had nothing to do with the cancellation.

While there Bruce was telling disappointed fan to travel south 1/2 hour on the Interstate if they wanted to see sprints and he probably added another dozen fans to the stands. One of those fans was Ned Hildreth of Harborside, Maine. He took Bruce’s suggestion and we then had the pleasure to sit with him and chatted throughout the night.

Desoto Speedway was scheduled to start at 7:00 and we arrived at 7:00 the first sprint heat was already taking the green. There were three heats for the 23 sprints in the pits. In all there were seven differnt divisions: TBARA sprints, magic fours, pure stocks, bombers, flying fours, mini cups and outlaw modifieds. Yes, there were too many divisions and in total there were only 81 cars including the 23 sprints. All qualifications were complete by 8:45 and the first feature was within 15 minutes. Unfortunately they did not run the features in the same order they ran the heats. The weather was cold and we had to sit through four features before we got to the sprints.

The sprint feature was so fast it was over before it really got started. Bo Hartley picked up the win after starting fourth. This was the second time we saw Bo win during our week in Florida. D J Hoelzle was second and Joey Aguilar came home third. The 30 lap feature was non-stop and it was run in 7 minutes. It was 10:55 and we bailed out on the final two features. The sprints ran well but I was disappointed that I did not get to see the All Stars at Easy Bay.

Thursday, February 11 - Today was our Thursday tradition of watching the Twin 150’s on the TV sitting in our timeshare. Along with watching the races we buy a pizza and crack a few beers to wash it down with. So at 2:20 PM the first of two 150’s took the green and the race was on. It was a decent enough race but I miss the days when it was the first 15 that qualified (16 if one of the 15 was the front row guy). Now you have 36 cars locked in and all the race or go home folks have 4 spots to race for (2 in each 150). The finish of the first one was very good with Jimmy Johnson edging Kevin Harvick by a nose at the line. At this point we decided we could not stay to watch the entire second one so Pat, Dale and I packed the car with all our cold weather gear and headed toward Volusia Speedway Park.

We arrived just before 6 and parked pointed out toward the road near the entrance road. We ventured inside and were greeted by a vastly improved facility. The aluminum stands had been extended all the way down into turn one and the lighting was superb. The greatest improvement though was the cleared infield with all racers now pitted off of turns one and two. It was like you were at a brand new track such as Lincoln in Pennsylvania was when they cleared the infield. You could now clearly see around the entire 1/2 mile dirt oval. And the dirt surface was well groomed probably the best we have seen it in many years. It was wet and tacky and even with 108 race cars pounding it in warmups, group time trials for the late models and heats for the late models and modifieds it did not begin to show rubber nor dust until into the B mains or consies, whichever term is your preference. But even with this development the track was still racy with much passing in both of the feature events.

To backtrack the group qualifying for the World of Outlaws late model started at 6:46 and by 7:08 66 late models had taken time with Arkansas’ Jared Landers, the surprise fast timer at 15.961 seconds. By 7:31 the first of six heats for the late models was trackside and the action began. The late model heats were decent but starting the fast guys up front takes away from some of the passing. Their heats were completed by 8:11 and four minutes later the big block modifieds, 42 in number, were ready to contest their four qualifying events. The modified heats were great and they were the better of the two divisions in heat racing. Their heats were spun off in 25 minutes (8:40) and it was right into the three B mains for the WOO late models. With two to qualify in the late model B mains and with more top names left to battle for those six remaining spots their last chance races were the better of the two divisions. Two consies were run for the modifieds and all qualifying was over at 9:30.

It was right into the feature events with the WOO late models first up for their 50 lapper paying $10,000 to win. It started out rough as first starter, Dale McDowell, made it as far as turn two before looping it in front of the entire field with everyone expertly missing the sitting target. On the restart Earl Pearson Jr. slid to the first starting position and took the early lead. There was a lot of action going on behind the leader with several drivers making impressive charges from deep in the field. In fact one of them, Josh Richards who started 17th, caught and passed Pearson for the lead on lap 26. Richards was amazing as he checked out from the rest of the field. The race behind the lead was again fierce with Pearson, Brady Smith and Tim McCreadie taking runs at each other. At 10:06 the double black and white flags flew over Josh Richards who captured his fourth straight WOO late model opener over Pearson, Smith, McCreadie and Steve Francis who advanced from 19th to crack the top five. Recovering from his opening lap spin and coming back from dead last (28th) was Dale McDowell with Billy Moyer 7th, Tim Dohm from 21st to 8th, Dennis Erb Jr. from 18th to 9th and Delaware youngster, Austin Hubbard, in his first ride in the Dale Bietler # 19 claiming 10th after starting 22nd. Yes, there was a awful lot of passing in this one!!!

The 30 lap big block modified feature was ready to rumble at 10:18 with Bobby Varin and Billy Decker battling for the early lead from their front row starting positions. On lap 7 entering turn three Jeff Brownell Jr. went too low and dug his front end into the berm and started a series of rapid barrel rolls ending up in the middle of turn three sitting on top of the Sal DeBruno #0 of Richie Pratt Jr. Brownell scrambled out of the car quickly and everyone sighed a collective breath of relief. In all six cars were involved with Jimmy Horton also turning his mount over. On the restart Jaime Mills out of Delaware threw his machine to the extreme outside and motored from fourth into the lead passing Brett Hearn, Billy Decker and Matt Sheppard in one fair swoop. Mills was hooked up on the extreme high side and pulled away from the field and looked like a sure winner. But someone forgot to tell Matt Sheppard this and late in the event he started to chop away at the big lead. By lap 26 using the inside groove Sheppard took the lead from Mills as a light rain started to fall. Sheppard went onto victory for the first time in Florida over Mills with Hearn third, Jimmy Phelps finishing fourth and Danny Johnson rounding out the top five. The final checker waved at 10:42 on an excellent night of racing as the crowd headed for their cars to beat getting soaked.

Stay tuned for the next blog as today (Friday) looks very iffy for any racing today. Until next time stay warm and if anyone wants to go dig out our car at WallyPark at the Philadelphia Airport (it is a white KIA Optima) we thank you!!!

Wednesday, February 10 - After a day of shopping in Dade City we headed south on Interstate 75 back to East Bay Raceway. After being rained out on Tuesday night the USAC Sprints were on tap for their final night of racing at East Bay. We knew it was going to be cold, again, and brought along extra sweat shirts and blankets from the timeshare. I guess USAC also realized the coldness of the weather and they ran a very good show. They actually started time trial early and as we were geting out of the car at 6:30 the first sprint took to the track for time trials. Once again there were 32 wingless sprints in the pits and after the dust settled at 7:00, Jerry Coons Jr. had set fast time and a new USAC record with a time of 15.039.

Tonight’s surface was different then on Monday. It was drier and took on rubber with a bit of dust circling above. The four heats started at 7:30 and were run in less then 30 minutes. The surface was a lot racier tonight and the famous slide job was performed several times. Kent Christian, Levi Jones, Robert Ballou and Shane Hmiel took the top honors in the heats. The B main was later won by Chris Windom who was the first caution of the night back in heat three when his tire passed him going into turn two. The break between B main and main event was filled with a celebrity race of radio personalities with Bubba the Love Sponge waving the flags.

It was 9:03 when the green dropped on the 30 lap feature and it appeared it was going non-stop. It also appeared to be a repeat of Monday. Damion Gardner picked up right where he left off. Gardner started outside row one and was never challenged. Even though it was a totally different surface Gardner mastered it the same as the wet surface on Monday. As a matter of fact Gardner probably wishes USAC ran East Bay more often. Although Gardner dominated there was good racing throughout the pack. The most notable were Levi Jones and Robert Ballou. They started 18th and 19th and followed each other up through the pack. Most noticeable was Ballou as he was running a high line no one else was running. Unfortunately his bid toward the front came to an end when he brought out the first caution on lap 24 when he must have caught the cushion and went into a bouncing spin. There was one more caution on the restart and the remainder was green. Gardner was in another zip code and rode home to an easy victory. Dave Darland was second followed by Jerry Coons Jr., Jeff Bland Jr. and Levi Jones.

All was complete at 9:22 and we decided to venture into the attached bar for a pulled pork sandwich before heading back out to the parking lot. The crowd tonight was better then Monday’s and I do not believe they left disappointed. We will venture back here to East Bay later this weekend for the All Star Sprints but tomorrow night it will be over to Volusia County for the World of Outlaw Late Models and Northeast Modifieds. As for the weather it is still unseasonably cool with highs today in the mid 50’s. But I guess I shouldn’t complain because you might be reading this in the northeast buried under two to three feet of snow.

Next blog will be the racing action from Volusia County. Stay tuned and keep warm whether you are in Florida or in the Northeast.

Tuesday, February 9 - Today was one of the two remaining days of the vacation where the weather was questionable. It was a 70% change of showers from the west coast to the east coast for the time frame of 4 to 8 PM. Well, the showers hit the Orlando area earlier than expected around 11 AM, which might be good as it could mean that the weather was moving through earlier. A call from Allan and Nancy Brown had them visiting the timeshare to go for a late lunch at 2. In the meantime Ed Esser headed toward Orlando Speedworld for their legend car opener. It continued to rain hard while we ate and after eating a wonderful lunch at Mimi’s Cafe we called East Bay and they had already cancelled for the evening. A quick call to Volusia found the same results and a call to New Smyrna found yesterday’s recording still on advertising the second night of the TBARA sprints.

As we pulled back into our parking space at the timeshare we spotted our second guest for the week, Wisconsin’s Dale O’Brien, making his first Florida visit since 1982. We all proceeded inside and sat in the living room and discussed racing and other matters of the day. It started to rain hard again and shortly thereafter a wet Ed Esser burst through the front door. A quick visit to the clothes dryer for his sweatshirt and socks was in order as he reported that Orlando Speedworld had been rained out. Our only option was New Smyrna and another call to them still found Monday’s ad on the machine. I ask you how much effort does it take to update an answering machine with current information so the race fan can know what is going on. We had the wireless connection in the timeshare and logged onto Speed51.com on the New Smyrna website and their blog site kept us updated on what was going on at the track. But everyone down here does not have access to a laptop or PC so it is imperitive that the track have there phone recording with current day information. According to the blog site management was going to attempt to run this evening so at 6 PM Ed, Dale and I decided to give it a try. Pat opted out and decided to remain at the timeshare for the evening.

We transversed the remments of the Orlando rush hour traffic and arrived at New Smyrna Speedway at 7:45 as the track drying process was continuing. Ed wiped off the seats with his famous towel and we placed the blanket with the plastic bottom liner on the aluminum seats. We wandered down below to purchase supper and returned to the stands to eat it. The track was slowly drying and the decision was made to scrap time trials and line the fields up by points with an inversion pill selected. Also each division would be given 20 laps of warmup time since they were not able to practice during the afternoon. This seemed to be reasonable to us but as this went on we realized that this was going to be a long night when I glanced at my phone and saw that it was 10 PM with two warmup sessions still to go. Fog was starting to roll in and I had just mentioned to Dale about a half hour before that I was worried if fog would start to form. Suddenly as the super late models and tour type modifieds were on pitroad waiting to practice it was announced that there would be a mandatory driver’s meeting on pitroad. We all looked at one another and said in unison that this does not look good. The driver’s meeting was short and the modified drivers were the first to exit and head to their cars and pointed them into the pit area. Shortly thereafter it was announced that racing had been cancelled for the evening due to dangerous racing conditions caused by the fog and moisture in the air. So at 10:08 it was over and we did not get a chance to see racing on this evening.

Pat was back at the timeshare and had been monitoring things on Speed51.com and left a message on my cell phone saying “guess I made the right decision". Well, three disappointed ran fans pulled back into the Vistania Resort at 11:08 and were greeted by a warm and smiling Pat.

Stayed tuned for the next update as the weather is cold but we will be heading for the west coast and USAC sprint car racing at East Bay.

Monday, February 8 - The USAC wingless sprints tonight would be invading the East Bay Raceway Park. It would be the first time ever for the sprinters at East Bay and only the second time USAC had raced here. In 2006 the Ford Focus midgets raced here with Pennsylvania’s Ryan Smith and Mike Ward winning races. The only other time that USAC sprints raced in the Sunshine state was in 1987 when the late Rich Vogler won a 30 lapper at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

A fine field of 32 wingless warriors towed to Florida to do battle with time trials ,four heats, a B main and a 30 lap feature scheduled. Things got underway right at 7 PM with time trials and by 7:44 they were completed with the lst car taking time, Brady Short, setting fast time at 15.027 seconds. Four heat races followed with the top six in time trials inverted with Shane Hmiel, Henry Clarke, Justin Grant, the 2007 Bay Cities midget champion and Hunter Schuerenberg winning. Casey Riggs, the second fastest timer, had to win the B main to make the feature field. All qualifying was completed by 8:58 and it was intermission time. Some track grooming on the wet, tacky clay was in order and a media race pitting several local TV & radio personalities and national representatives such as Rick Benjamin and Hoseheads web site master, Allan Holland also were in the race.

A 23 car field took the green flag at 9:28 with first starter and rookie Ricky Williams making it as far as turn two where he looped it in front of the field. Jeff Bland Jr. was unable to avoid him and slammed into Williams. Both left on a hook and were finished for the evening. On the restart the other front row starter, Shane Hmiel, also did not make it past the second turn as he looped it also and did a 360 and continued but not before the caution again appeared. After the rough start things settled in and the new front row of Shane Cottle and Damion Gardner led them to the green. Gardner took off from the outside and was gone. If you came to see a battle for the lead tonight was not the night to do so. But if you came to see side by side racing throughout the pack then you were in the right place. The race long battle for second was good with Bryan Clauson holding off Brady Short for the runnerup spot. And the races for positions four through eight was great with Shane Cottle claiming the fourth spot and Jon Stanbrough nailing down the fifth position. Levi Jones had worked his way from 14th to 5th but in the last lap and a half dropped two positions to 7th. The final checkered flag waved at 9:47 and our group consisting of Wisconsin visitors, Ed Esser and Dale O’Brien, and Pat and I left the track with a satisfied feeling after witnessing a solid night of wingless sprint car racing.

Stayed tuned for tomorrow’s blog as rainy weather is predicted in the late afternoon and early evening which could put a damper on our night of racing. Good luck with the new storm moving toward the northeast expected to hit on Wednesday. Be safe and careful out there if you need to venture out.

Sunday, February 7 - Let me tell you I cannot take much more of this gobal warming!! We have over a foot of snow at home and today was one of the coldest days that I can remember in a long time. New Smyrna Speedway decided to run their show early so it would be over by the time the Super Bowl started and little did they know at the time but it was also a great idea because of the weather. The skies started out sunny but then became a bit overcast later in the day. The problem was when we left the condo at 2:00 the temperature was a whopping 49 degrees and later would only go up to 56. Now 56 does not sound bad if you live up north but 56, damp and windy during the afternoon is extremely cold in Florida. I was dressed the same as I will be dress for the openers up home in a few weeks.

The good news was the show only started 15 minutes late and at 4:15 the green dropped on the TBARA (Tampa Bay Auto Racing Association) sprints. Let me tell you sprints on asphalt are fast, real fast. There were 21 sprints signed into the pits but only 18 participated in the two heat races. The other divisions on tap were the limited late models (16 cars), Florida Modifieds (17 cars) and the super late models (23 cars). All divisions with the exception of the sprints ran qualifying time trials earlier in the afternoon and they would only be running features.

Following the sprint heats the limited late models came out for their 25 lap feature and it was run off with only 1 caution. There was a good battle throughout for the lead and Ben Kennedy was able to hold off Jessica Murphy for the win. The Florida modifieds were up next and although they started out a bit rocky they settled down and Tank Tucker took the checkered flag after 25 circuits. Tank Tucker sounds more like he should be a football player. All was completed by 5:30 and even though there technically was not a break there was 22 minutes before the green dropped on the sprints. Now 22 minutes is not long but it gave me time to think about how cold I was. Somehow when you are watching them race you forget about the weather.

The sprint feature was 30 laps and one of the best I have seen here in a long time. Usually one car, Dave Steele, runs away with the show but today he was not here. Bo Hartley did win the event from the pole but there was plenty of passing and good competition. Shane Butler finished second and was closing in on Hartley when the checkered fell. Butler started 13th. First heat winner, Brian Gingras , started 3rd and finished 3rd. Troy DeCaire started 12th and finished 4th. Second heat winner, Joey Aguilar both started and finished fifth. But unlike in the past the racing was very close. It was very enjoyable and fast. Even with one caution the race took less then 14 minutes. The final event was the late models and although they ran a good race there was minimal passing. Jeff Choquette was the winner followed by David Rogers and Tim Russell. All was complete by 6:35 and by this time evening darkness was starting to set. It was a quick, well run show on a cold Florida day. I enjoyed the event but was equally glad to be back in the car with the heater on.

Saturday, February 6 - The first race in the afternoon marked 20 straight years that Pat and I have now seen at least one race in every month of the year. There have been some close calls be we have kept this streak going.

After the afternoon race at East Bay the grandstand area was cleared and the track crew went to work to manicure the racing surface for the evening’s events. Tonight was the final race for the Lucas Oil Late Models after a week long racing series. The 75 lap event tonight would pay $12,000 to win. Since the parking was at a premium we decided to remain parked on the road leading into the track and dine on the cuisine at the track. The food at East Bay is actually good and we ate a dinner of pulled pork, french fries and baked beans for the price of $8. After eating we called back home to check on the weather conditions with a big snowstorm hitting the east coast. Jeff Alhum reported 12 inches in Quakertown while Pat’s dad claimed 14 inches in the Temple area. He also reported that the weather service said 7 inches hit the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area. Reports from my brother, Bob, located just 12 miles northeast of us had only 4 inches on the ground in Washington, New Jersey. On the other hand further south at the Philadelphia Airport where my car is sitting reported 27 inches. Well, it has 8 days to melt and hopefully the parking service we parked with will do some shoveling and other means of snow removal. Before long it was time to put on the layers of clothing and head into the track for the night’s racing with temperatures in the 50’s and a stiff wind at our backs (thank God for that).

Time trials for the 49 car field got underway at 6:15 and by 6:52 Chris Wall of Louisiana had set fast time for the second time this week with a time of 14.106 seconds. He drew the 1 inversion which meant that the top time trialers would be starting straight up in their heats. Four very competitive heats followed starting at 7:12 and completing by 7:37. Wall, Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal and Justin Rattliff would start in the first four positions in the feature go. Two B mains were spun off with Matt Miller from Ohio and Pennsylvania’s Dan Stone capturing these events. It is 8:15 and intermission time. A two-seater late model drove a lucky winner around the oval for an exciting ride and then the track crew tried to groom the choppy surface. It was 8:36 when the Strawberry Dash started with the winner advancing to the A main plus receiving a flat of strawberries to boot. Indiana’s Steve Casebolt notched this one. It was 9:17 when the 27 car field took the green flag and they went 13 laps before the first of nine cautions appeared. Scott Bloomquist took the early lead and looked to be the man to beat and may have been counting the extra $12,000 to win on top of the afternoon payoff of $10,000 when he made a rare mistake and jumped the cushion entering turn one on lap 39. Bloomquist lost the lead and also second before he recovered. He quickly passed Dan Schliper to regain second but The Real Deal, Don O’Neal, would not relinquish the top spot the rest of the distance. The race up front with the exception of the bobble was not that great but the racing throughout the pack was fierce. Steve Francis worked his way from 19th to 5th by lap 60 but spun in turn two to ruin his run to the front. He was able to start in the rear and advance back to 7th at the end of 75 laps and might have passed more cars then anyone else. When the checker waved at 10:10 it was O’Neal in for the big win with Schlieper slipping by Bloomquist in the late stages to garner second with Bloomquist slipping to third with Dennis Erb Jr., the Winternationals point champion, fourth and Jimmy Mars behind the wheel of the Ernie Davis #25 claiming fifth after starting 12th. Rounding out the top ten were Jason Feger, Steve Francis, Rick Eckert, Ray Cook and Earl Pearson Jr.

It was a good day/night of racing and we look forward to the rest of the week and what adventures it may hold. As of now the only potential rainout dates look like Tuesday and Friday. So stay tuned and look for more blogs coming out of the Sunshine State where the temperatures are way below normal but higher than the great Northeast.

Friday, February 5 - A major snow storm was scheduled to hit the Mid-Atlantic states and we were scheduled to leave for our annual Florida vacation on the same day. Luckily our flight was leaving at 8:45 in the morning from the Philadelphia Arport and the storm was not supposed to start until the afternoon. Our flight took off on time and by noon on Saturday 2 feet of snow blanketed the closed airport. As for us we not only landed as scheduled but were actually 15 minutes early. Unfortunately we did not arrive in the sunshine in the Sunshine State. It was warm, 77 degrees, but the skies were overcast and within two hours of exiting the Tampa Airport it was raining and it did not stop for the remainder of the evening. Our first night of racing at East Bay Raceway Park was a wash. Luckily we met up with Allan and Nancy Brown, retired publishers of the National Speedway Directory and we ate a late lunch together, sat around in the lounge area of the hotel catching up on the events since we last were together and finally topped it off with a pizza at 9:00. It was a good salvage of what could have been lost night.

Saturday, February 6 - Even though we lost the race on Friday night we had the ability to pick it up on Saturday afternoon. They were running the Friday night show at 2:00 Saturday afternoon and then would run the regular scheduled show later that evening. This was fine with us as we were planning to attend the Saturday night also.

It was 12:15 when we pulled into or should I say tried to pull into the parking lot at East Bay. What we found was a sea of mud and in some area just a sea. We were lucky to be there early and were able to secure a spot right along the dirt road that runs by the track. The mud was unbelieveable and many of the motorhomes across the road found themselves surrounded. Today the skies were clear but there was a constant stiff breeze blowing and the temperatures might have reached the mid 60’s although it was definitely not warm. This was now the final day of the Dart Winternationals for the Lucas Oil Late Models. The field of late models was smaller then in the past but there were stil 50 plus cars in the pit area. Time trials started at 12:40 and 40 minutes later they were complete. Steve Francis set fast time and then pulled the number 2 pill which meant the top two times were inverted in the heat races. The four heat races started at 2:10 and considering we were running on a dirt track in the afternoon on a sunny breezy day the track surface was in pretty good shape and there was minimal dust. Also to our advantage was the fact that the wind was blowing from behind us keeping any dust there was blowing back into the infield.

The first heat saw Brandon Thirlby take a hard hit in turn one which left the crowd holding their breath. Brandon finally exited the car under his own power to the relief of those in attendance. Later in heat three leader Tim Dohm went from winning the heat and starting on the outside pole to spinning all by himself in turn four. All four heats were run off in 35 minutes and they were quite competitive. Immediately following the heats the two 12 lap B mains came out onto the track. They were moving this show along at a fast pace. The Strawberry Dash was next but was scrapped and a fan picked the winner from names in a box.

At 3:42 the green dropped on the 50 lap main event that paid $10,000 to win. For an afternoon show on dirt it wasn’t bad. Of course if you are not a Scott Bloomquist fan, and I am not, it was not the ending you preferred. Bloomquist lead all 50 laps. There was some good racing behind the leaders and Billy Moyer came from 13th to finish 4th. When the checkered fell at 4:05 after only three cautions, it was a Bloomquist chassie sweep. Scott Bloomquist won followed by Jimmy Owens and Eric Jacobsen. Billy Moyer and Denis Erb Jr. rounded out the top five. At this time the stands were cleared and the track was reworked prior to the start of the evening time trials at 6:00. It was a well run show on a good daytime surface.