The Modified portion of the East Bay Winter Nationals wrapped up on Saturday night, January 29th as they ran their long distance (75 lap) finale along with a third dose of the Top Gun Sprint Cars on what was a bone chilling night with near record low temperatures. Victor Lee continued to demonstrate the strength and consistency of his race program as he was the car to catch all through the Modified main event and no one was ever able to successfully do that as he drove home for the five thousand dollar win. The Sprint Car feature was a strong looking one indeed but that did not keep Danny Martin Jr from totally dominating for his third straight win here this weekend.
It is not a good thing when one travels to Florida expecting sunshine and warm temperatures and instead sees a freeze warning posted on the local weather forecast for the day and flip flops were exchanged for sweaters, heavy coats and for some of the old(or perhaps more leaded members of the crowd), long handles. And let me tell you, they felt pretty dang good when I came back to the car following the program and found the vehicle coated in ice.
The program would be similar for those trying to qualify for the main event except instead of time trials, points earned over the three nights previous would set the grids for the heat races with the top six in points moving straight to the main event without having to race a preliminary. They would redraw for their starting positions. Two cars out of the heats and two cars out of the B Features would set the twenty four car starting field. There would be one provisional and that would go to the highest point driver at the track in 2021 not in the main. Patrick Passanise would claim that spot but when his car wouldn't run right all night, he borrowed the ride of Jason Jack to take the green and collect the start money.
The Top Gun Sprints would draw for their starting positions and then use passing points to set their order for their main event. Twenty two Sprints would race on Saturday night while the Modified was below sixty for the first time this week as a few drivers would head home early, the victims of wrecks, mechanical issues or perhaps poor starting positions.
Interestingly, two of the top six drivers in Modified points would execute motor changes before the program on Saturday. Kentucky's Chris Wilson would find metal in his oil pan and feel a motor swap was necessary. Kevin Adams, on the other hand, would do a swap not because they needed to but because they had planned to. Adams' strategy here is to always start the week with a four hundred and twenty something cubic inch, seven hundred and ninety horse gun boat for the power to qualify well on a perhaps heavy track as qualifying is the key here. However, on feature night, they swap over to a three hundred and eighty eight cubic inch plant that puts out well over a hundred horses less, because they want a smooth power flow that works on a slippery track and is easy on tires. His success over the last half dozen years or more here seems to bear out that strategy.
The Mods took to the track for their feature first in an effort to keep the Sprints from turning the surface into a rubbered up mess, much to the delight of the Mod drivers and the scorn of the winged brigade on hand. However, "The Clay by the Bay" may have been frozen solid by feature time, thus negating other options.
The Modified feature would be a test of man and machine with three different leaders and eleven yellows during the contest including one planned stop on lap thirty five for fuel only. A couple drivers did swap tires and forfeited their positions in the order to do so.
Adams would redraw the pole but it would be Lucas Lee who would lead the opening lap. Victor Lee, who started fourth, would then see the lead for one lap before Lucas would retake him as the top six were running tight together in the opening few rounds.
The yellows flew early with contender Drake Troutman blowing up on lap six to cause a stoppage. On the green this time, It would be Adams who would use the cushion to shoot into the top spot and he would lead until lap sixteen when Victor Lee would again take over the point. Lee, who never got off the bottom lane in four nights, was however able to keep his car straight and pulling nicely, which was something that few others could say.
The tricky East Bay surface, exacerbated by the very cool temperatures, made for very uncertain traction issues, especially on restarts and drivers would seem to surge forward, only to drop back markedly again when the green flag was unfurled as every restart was an adventure. The inside line seemed to be the fastest route around the track but Victor could run it like no other while the only one continuing to pound the cushion was Adams, who threatened to knock down Al Varnadore's walls several times.
At the midpoint fuel stop, it was the Lee's, Victor and Lucas, Adams, Shane Burrows and Tyler Nicely in the top five. Burrows, who started eighteenth, was running third with only a couple of laps to go when he broke and Nicely would later attempt to knock down the first turn wall when he decided to try the top side of the track.
Victor Lee saw his main challenger Lucas Lee break during the second half of the race as he would stretch his margin out every time the green stayed out for any length of time. Several yellows allowed Adams to challenge on the top side and he would stay close for a lap or so but every time Victor would gradually pull away again.
The last yellow, with only two laps to go, gave Adams one last shot but last year's surge past Jason Hughes was not to be repeated as Victor was simply the fastest car on the grounds and would once again drive away from Adams for the win.
All the shuffling of positions saw Seth Geary, last night's winner after missing the opening night, come from twentieth to finish third with Travis Varnadore, despite his motor making awful sounds from perhaps a broken header, would finish fourth. Allen Weisser would come from seventeenth to round out the top five.
Victor Lee was anything but spectacular all week with his "catfishing" style but it was also very effective as he could get the power to the track without a lot of slipping and sliding and that was something everyone else struggled to do as the East Bay changing surface continues to befuddle many.
The Top Gun Sprints served up a bizarrely memorable feature event of their own. Caused by the cold weather and the break for Modified post feature ceremonies, the track was like ice when the Sprints took the green flag and as cars struggled to find traction, they flopped around on the track like tarpon looking for water. Track point champion Frank Beck would lead the opening lap but then Danny Martin Jr, showing the savvy that would make him a three night winner, realized that the top side was much the faster and he flew past the other contenders like they were standing still and roared into the lead on lap two. One in front, he was gone and just like the last three nights, as the slower cars pulled into the pedestrian lane, he stayed up top and drove by them at will as more and more drivers went a lap or more down.
Several of the other few contenders broke and dropped out and at the finish there were incredibly only three cars on the lead lap! And not only that, the fourth place car was two laps down and all the other finishers were also at least two laps in arrears. It was quite a display, or debacle as I would prefer to describe it.
Justin Clark, visiting from the East Coast, would run second until the last restart when Top Gun champion from last year Tyler Clem would drive past him to take that spot. It was, however, a nice come back for Clark who last night ended up going through a mudpuddle in the pits when he lost control and he took a wet and dirty bath that ended his night. Thirteen of the twenty two starters were still on the track at the finish, most of them putting along at FWD speed.
The brutally cold weather killed any chance of their being a crowd of any size, but the pits was a full place with nearly seventy different Modified teams on hand during the week. The Modified drivers were lobbying for a different support class for next year as this was the first time the Sprints had joined the Mods for this event and they didn't help the track conditions at all. However, the fan base for the Sprints in the grandstands, an important consideration, seemed much larger than any of the other classes that have been tried with the Mods. Myself, I think there are enough Mods and their fans that a one class program, such at the Late Models run, would be just fine here. Plus the early conclusions to the evening, that would allow time for post race activity, were really killed this year with all the late night finishes and Saturday night was no exception with the final checkered near Midnight.
Thanks to Al Varnadore and his staff, the UMP folks and others for their help. The plan is to return in a week or so to see how the Late Models handle the challenge of "The Clay by the Bay."
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