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Moyer shows off his $5,000 check. (thesportswire.net)

Strawberry Dash

Coming from the tail of a 10-car dash, Darren Miller slid under Brad Neat entering turn three on the seventh lap to earn the final transfer spot for the main event. The fifth-starting Neat, who inherited the lead when polesitter Scott Slay pulled to the infield on the second lap, was second with Clint Smith third in the non-qualifiers' event.

Finish: Darren Miller, Brad Neat, Clint Smith, Davey Johnson, Tommy Weder Jr., Tyler Bruening, Shon Flanary, Butch Strait.

Third consolation

Outside front-row starter Jesse Stovall, assisted by a caution that stopped a rally by Steve Francis, led all 12 laps for the victory. Francis resumed his charge on the lap-nine restart but settled for the second and final transfer spot. Brad Neat started fifth and quickly jumped into third, but he couldn't advance further. Davey Johnson came from eighth to finish fourth. Four cautions slowed the action. Butch Strait spun in turn four by himself on the fifth lap. Ricky Arms was running fourth when he spun inside turn two. Brandon Thirlby slowed with a flat tire on the ninth lap.

Finish: Jesse Stovall, Steve Francis, Brad Neat, Davey Johnson, Eric Wells, Chad Mahder, Shon Flanary, Jeff Byers, Mark Pettyjohn, Tyler Bruening, Russ Adams, Butch Strait, Brandon Thirlby, Clint Bowyer, Ricky Arms.

Second consolation

Sixth-starting Terry English took the lead on an early restart when polesitter Jayme Zidar jumped the cushion in turn two. Seventh-starting Earl Pearson Jr. followed English past Zidar and got the second and final transfer spot. Zidar lost the third spot to Victor Lee late in the caution-filled event. Rusty Schlenk started outside the front row and ran among the leaders before fading and dropping out. Bart Hartman, who started outside the second row, got out of shape on the first lap and had to restart on the tail. Bob Geiger spun in turn two on the second lap. Tim Isenberg spun in turn three on the third lap. On the fifth lap, Hartman slid over John Mason's nose in turn one, virtually blocking the track when Geiger and Isenberg also stopped.

Finish: Terry English, Earl Pearson Jr., Victor Lee, Jayme Zidar, Mike Collins, Darren Miller, Tim Isenberg, Tyler Reddick, Jason McBride, Bob Geiger, Rusty Schlenk, John Mason, Bart Hartman, J.R. Hotovy, Jordan Bland.

First consolation

In the tightest side-by-side battle of the week, polesitter Wayne Chinn fought off Steve Casebolt for a 12-lap victory. The two ran literally door-to-door into turn three just past the race's midpoint, but Chinn edged away for the victory in the final laps. Mike Marlar almost caught the lead duo during the battle but ended up slipping back to fifth on the final lap behind Chris Wall and Ray Cook. Several cautions slowed the action, including a few called-back starts. Tommy Weder Jr. ran third in the early going but lost the spot on the fourth lap in turn four when he was the victim of bumping among the frontrunners. Travis Varnadore spun in turn one on the fifth lap.

Finish: Wayne Chinn, Steve Casebolt, Chris Wall, Ray Cook, Mike Marlar, Tyler Ivey, Tommy Weder Jr., Justin Rattliff, Travis Varnadore, Danny Mitchell, Chris Shannon, Clint Smith, Mark Andersen, Scott Slay.

Sixth heat

David Breazeale, answer Dennis Erb Jr.'s slide job with one of his own, grabbed the lead in turn three on the seventh lap and made his first-ever East Bay feature lineup. Breazeale started outside the front row. Erb was a close second while Dan Stone was third, holding off Jesse Stovall. Polesitter Shanon Buckingham got the worst of turn-one contact on the third lap and fell out.

Finish: David Breazeale, Dennis Erb Jr., Dan Stone, Jesse Stovall, Tyler Bruening, Shon Flanary, Davey Johnson, Chad Mahder, Jeff Beyers, Russ Adams, Butch Strait, Shanon Buckingham.

Fifth heat

Polesitter Dan Schlieper stayed ahead of a couple of early scrambles and led all the way for a victory over Josh McGuire, who never made a serious challenge. The third spot was up for grabs but Eddie Carrier Jr. held off Steve Francis, who started ninth, for the final transfer position. Ricky Arms was fifth and Brad Neat sixth. Eric Jacobsen got the worst of a first-lap scramble and dropped out; Joe Loudin and Mark Pettyjohn got tangled up on the frontstretch on the next attempted start.

Finish: Dan Schlieper, Josh McGuire, Eddie Carrier Jr., Steve Francis, Ricky Arms, Brad Neat, Eric Wells, Mark Pettyjohn, Clint Bowyer, Brandon Thirlby, Joe Loudin, Eric Jacobsen.

Fourth heat

Outside front-row starter Donnie Moran fought off multiple challenges from Terry Casey for a 10-lap victory. Polesitter A.J. Kirkpatrick got the third and final transfer spot whlie Rusty Schlenk, making his East Bay debut, was fourth. Darren Miller got banged around on the first start and dropped out with a flat tire.

Finish: Donnie Moran, Terry Casey, A.J. Kirkpatrick, Rusty Schlenk, Jeep Van Wormer, Terry English, Mike Collins, John Mason, Tyler Reddick, J.R. Hotovy, Darren Miller.

Third heat

Third-starting Josh Richards overtook polesitter Jayme Zidar with a lap-two slide job in turn four and ran away for a 10-lap victory. Brady Smith, who started fourth, was second while Tim Dohm, who led 22 laps of Tuesday's feature, rallied from seventh to get the third and final transfer spot. Zidar ended up fourth and Jordan Bland was fifth. A caution appeared on the second lap when John Blankenship, who started outside the front row, slowed after contact with Richards in turn two.

Finish: Josh Richards, Brady Smith, Tim Dohm, Jayme Zidar, Jordan Bland, Victor Lee, Earl Pearson Jr., Tim Isenberg, John Blankenship, Jason McBride, Bob Geiger. Scratched: Dillan White.

Second heat

After Dale McDowell led nine laps from outside the front row, Billy Moyer overtook McDowell exiting turn two and grabbed the victory. Matt Miller, last night's winner, got the third and final transfer spot but couldn't keep up with the lead duo. Steve Casebolt caught the lead pack in finishing fourth while polesitter Don O'Neal struggled throughout the race, dropping back to fourth on the first lap and fading further in the second half of the caution-free prelim.

Finish: Billy Moyer, Dale McDowell, Matt Miller, Steve Casebolt, Mike Marlar, Don O'Neal, Chris Wall, Ray Cook, Chris Shannon, Mark Andersen. Scratched: Scott James, Keith Nosbisch.

First heat

Polesitter Steve Shaver got the jump on fellow front-row starter Wayne Chinn and led all 10 laps. Rick Eckert started fourth and ran second most of the way while Jimmy Owens, who caught a break when a caution saved him from dropping from second to seventh, got the third and final transfer spot. Chinn ended up fourth. Scott Slay pulled off on the second lap while running near the tail and Justin Rattliff pulled off mid-race. A lap-six caution appeared for debris on the frontstretch just after Owens lost second to Eckert and then dropped further back after a turn-one tussle with Chinn. Owens was restored to the third spot for the restart.

Finish: Steve Shaver, Rick Eckert, Jimmy Owens, Wayne Chinn, Tommy Weder Jr., Clint Smith, Tyler Ivey, Joe Janowski, Travis Varnadore, Danny Mitchell, Justin Rattliff, Scott Slay.

Qualifying

Setting fast time by the narrowest of margins, Terry Casey of New London, Wis., topped 72 qualifiers Wednesday for the second round of the Super Late Model portion of the 33rd annual Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park. Casey's 14.247-second lap was best among Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competitors by a thousandth of a second over Josh McGuire of Grayson, Ky.

Casey spun a three on the PRC inversion wheel, meaning he'll start inside the second row of the fourth heat race as the fast qualifier in Group B. Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., was the fastest qualifier in Group A and will start inside the second row of the first heat.

Casey drove his new Xciter Chassis last week at Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Ga., but switched back to the Rayburn Race Car he's driven in recent seasons. "C.J.'s always got a good car down here, so I ain't going to fix something that isn't broke," Casey said.

The 30-lap feature pays $5,000-to-win on an unseasonably cool night at East Bay with temperatures in the 40s during time trials.

Pre-race notes

Casey's lap was within a tenth of the 14.151-second Late Model track record at the third-mile oval. ... Dale McDowell, who ran a Warrior Race Car in his debut for Clint Bowyer Racing on Tuesday, unloaded a Rocket Chassis on Wednesday. McDowell has driven a Rocket most of the last 10 years but drove the Warrior house car the final months of the 2008 season. ... Earl Pearson Jr. got into the frontstretch wall completing his qualifying lap.

Feature lineup

Row 1: Shaver, Moran
Row 2: Moyer, Schlieper
Row 3: Richards, Breazeale
Row 4: Eckert, Casey
Row 5: McDowell, McGuire
Row 6: B. Smith, Erb
Row 7: Owens, Kirkpatrick
Row 8: M. Miller, Carrier
Row 9: Dohm, Stone
Row 10: Chinn, English
Row 11: Stovall, Casebolt
Row 12: Pearson, Francis
Row 13: D. Miller

East Bay complete coverage

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