East Bay Raceway Park
Feb. 7: Career-high $10,000 goes to Casey
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Pro Power's Schliepers join Arnie Ranta and Terry Casey. (Jeremey Rhoades)
GIBSONTON, Fla. (Feb. 7) — Terry Casey's fast car finally finished up front. The New London, Wis., driver, who had three fast-qualifying performances during Georgia-Florida Speedweeks but no finishes better than 10th, started on the pole and led all 40 laps at East Bay Raceway Park's Dart Winternationals on Thursday night. Slideshow | Pre-race notebook | Speedweeks links
"This is a dream finally, to win a Lucas Oil show," Casey said in victory lane as his wife Lori teared up nearby.
Casey started on the pole and dominated the single-groove action for a career-high $10,000 payday at the third-mile oval south of Tampa. The victory was sweet redemption for the driver who, after leading more than half of the previous night's 30-lapper, lost the lead to Billy Moyer on lap 23 and spun out of contention four laps later.
This time, Casey was ahead of Moyer throughout the race and only faced trouble when approaching lapped traffic with about 10 laps remaining as the top four of Casey, Moyer, Matt Miller and Steve Casebolt ran far ahead of the field.
Casey stuck with the low groove in battling through traffic as Moyer, down by a half-straightaway at the halfway point, was right on Casey's rear deck over the last eight laps. Moyer made contact in turn one on the 34th lap, but Casey survived and inched back ahead as traffic lightened up, giving him room to race.
A lap-35 caution for a slowing Bart Hartman, who was running 10th, reset the field with Casey ahead of Moyer, Miller and Casebolt. With clear track ahead, Casey cruised the rest of the way to the victory. Moyer was four lengths behind in second followed by Miller, Casebolt and Josh Richards. Miller posted his fourth consecutive top-five finish and lengthened his lead in the Dart Winternationals points.
"I saw Moyer's right front bumper there for a little bit, and I thought I'd protect that bottom," Casey said. "I just started to slow down a little bit was what I was doing."
The race was slowed by four cautions, one on the fifth lap when Shannon Babb stopped and another on the 10th lap when Tim Dohm, piloting a borrowed Jared Hawkins car, spun in turn two.
The third caution came out on the lap-10 restart when Tim McCreadie and sixth-running Eric Jacobsen got together on the backstretch. McCreadie was able to keep going while Jacobsen spun, then angrily confronted McCreadie at his driver's side window during the caution period. The helmeted Jacobsen was restrained by track officials and eventually returned to his car.
Two more Lucas Oil Series events wrap up the Super Late Model portion of the Winternationals. Friday's 50-lapper pays $10,000-to-win and Saturday's 75-lapper pays $12,000-to-win.
Finish: (1) Terry Casey, (2) Billy Moyer, (3) Matt Miller, (4) Steve Casebolt, (5) Josh Richards, (6) Tim McCreadie, (7) Scott Bloomquist, (8) Donnie Moran, (9) Mike Marlar, (10) Don O'Neal, (11) Steve Francis, (12) Rick Eckert, (13) Justin Rattliff, (14) Chris Madden, (15) Ray Cook, (16) Scott James, (17) Chris Wall, (18) Earl Pearson Jr., (19) Terry English, (20) Tim Dohm, (21) Bart Hartman, (22) Eric Jacobsen, (23) Darren Miller, (24) Bryan Barber, (25) Shannon Babb.
Results from the night's preliminary races, with corrected and official finishes:
Non-qualifiers' race
Bryan Barber led all the way for a victory in the Strawberry Dash, earning the final spot in the 25-car feature.
Finish: (1) Bryan Barber, (2) Tim Fuller, (3) Jeff Beyers, (4) Doug Horton, (5) Donald Beyers.
Fourth consolation
Chris Wall outpedaled polesitter Billy Drake into the first turn and led all the way to qualifying for his second feature of the week. Drake couldn't keep his car on the bottom and allowed Eddie Carrier Jr. past on the fourth lap. Carrier was more than a half-straightaway behind Wall at the 12-lap race's midpoint, but he cut the lead to three lengths with three laps remaining. A last-lap caution flag set up a two-lap shootout, but Carrier couldn't find a way past Wall. John Blankenship was third.
Finish: (1) Chris Wall, (2) Eddie Carrier Jr., (3) John Blankenship, (4) Freddy Smith, (5) Jared Hawkins, (6) Billy Drake, (7) Kellen Chadwick, (8) Tyler Ivey, (9) Kurt Owens, (10) Jim Borden, (11) Austin Hubbard, (12) Donald Beyers, (13) Tim Lance, (14) Bryan Barber.
Third consolation
Polesitter Darren Miller's outside pass with two laps remaining stole the lone transfer spot from Dennis Erb Jr. in the 12-lapper. Erb took the lead on the start and appeared unbeatable, but he began struggling in the final laps. Clint Smith also overtook Erb and finished second. Sixth-starting Rick Aukland was fourth.
Finish: (1) Darren Miller, (2) Clint Smith, (3) Dennis Erb Jr., (4) Rick Aukland, (5) Jackie Boggs, (6) Dan Stone, (7) Rodney Melvin, (8) Scott James, (9) Anthony White, (10) Doug Blashe.
Second consolation
Polesitter Earl Pearson Jr. cruised to a 12-lap victory to secure the lone feature transfer spot. Second-row starters Terry English and Wendell Wallace futilely chased Pearson throughout the race while Peyton Taylor, who started outside the front row, faded out of contention from the outset. English should be eligible for a provisional starting spot.
Finish: (1) Earl Pearson Jr., (2) Terry English, (3) Wendell Wallace, (4) Vic Coffey, (5) Dan Schlieper, (6) Rohn Moon, (7) Wayne Chinn, (8) Tony Knowles, (9) Anthony White, (10) Danny Mitchell, (11) Marshall Austin Jr., (12) Peyton Taylor, (13) Shon Flanary, (14) Joe Isabell, (15) Chris Hackett.
First consolation
Rick Eckert overtook polesitter Damon Eller with an outside pass exiting turn two on the third lap and went on to victory. Eller faded and finished third behind Jimmy Owens, who was originally scheduled to start 12th but moved up because of several cars dropping out early on. The race that required five starts to complete the first lap cleanly. A first-lap caution appeared when Steve Shaver, Ronnie Lee Whitt and Joe Denby spun together between turns three and four. Another restart was required when a turn-one scramble left J.R. Hotovy nowhere to go and he spun. Yet another restart for a Russ Adams forced a single-file restart. On the first single-file start, second-starting D.J. Wells broke and hit the turn-four wall.
Finish: (1) Rick Eckert, (2) Jimmy Owens, (3) Damon Eller, (4) John Mason, (5) Brian Shirley, (6) Doug Horton, (7) Steve Shaver, (8) Danny Johnson, (9) Jeff Beyers, (10) Eric Wells, (11) Joe Denby, (12) Bob Geiger, (13) Ronnie Lee Whitt, (14) J.R. Hotovy, (15) D.J. Wells, (16) Russ Adams.
Sixth heat
Making a strong run in the outside groove on the first lap, Josh Richards swept around polesitter Scott Bloomquist in the first turn and led the rest of the way. Bloomquist, making his first trip to East Bay since winning last year's Winternationals finale, pressured Richards early but settled for second in the 10-lapper. Donnie Moran wrapped up the third and final transfer spot ahead of a pair of No. 28s, 10th-starting Dennis Erb Jr. and Eddie Carrier Jr. Carrier and Erb both got into the wall while trying to overtake Moran following an early restart. Tail-starting Dan Stone was sixth and Tim Fuller, who started fourth but got too high in turn four on the first lap, never contended in finishing eighth. Kevin Cole and a high-running Ky Harper got together exiting turn two on the third lap, drawing a caution and costing Cole a chance at his fourth consecutive feature start. Carrier made contact with Cole in the scramble but kept his car going to maintain the fourth spot for the restart. Jeep Van Wormer drew an eighth-lap caution when he stopped in turn four.
Finish: (1) Josh Richards, (2) Scott Bloomquist, (3) Donnie Moran, (4) Dennis Erb Jr., (5) Eddie Carrier Jr., (6) Dan Stone, (7) Dave Tyrchniewicz, (8) Tim Fuller, (9) Tyler Ivey, (10) Mark Andersen, (11) Jim Borden, (12) Jeep Van Wormer, (13) Kevin Cole, (14) Ky Harper.
Fifth heat
Transferring to his first East Bay feature of 2008, front-row starter Steve Casebolt pulled away from polesitter Tim McCreadie for an impressive heat race victory. McCreadie erased a half-straightaway deficit with a lap-four caution, but Casebolt again pulled away for an easy win. Ninth-starting Ray Cook overtook Billy Drake and Clint Smith following the same lap-four restart to vault into the third and final transfer spot. Drake finished far behind in fourth followed by Smith and John Blankenship. Tim Lance and Clint Coffman were caught up in a second-lap skirmish that drew a caution, and Kurt Owens spun on the fourth lap for another caution. Scott James, in line for a provisional starting spot, elected to start on the tail in debuting an engine put in the car earlier in the day.
Finish: (1) Steve Casebolt, (2) Tim McCreadie, (3) Ray Cook, (4) Billy Drake, (5) Clint Smith, (6) John Blankenship, (7) Rick Aukland, (8) Kellen Chadwick, (9) Rodney Melvin, (10) Jared Hawkins, (11) Scott James, (12) Tim Lance, (13) Clint Coffman, (14) Kurt Owens.
Fourth heat
Fast qualifier Terry Casey roared away for an easy heat victory, setting up another chance to run up front in the feature as he did Wednesday night. Polesitter Mike Marlar did his best to keep up with Casey, but never got within striking distance as the top two pulled far ahead of third-finishing Chris Madden, who qualified for the feature in his East Bay debut. Darren Miller went from sixth to fourth on a lap-eight restart and took a shot at Madden at the finish, but fell short. Wall ran fourth most of the way before losing the spot to Miller on the last lap. The back-of-the-packers battled tightly before Jackie Boggs slowed with a flat right rear tire on the seventh lap to bring out the race's first caution. Another caution appeared on the eighth lap when Donald Beyers spun in turn two. Bryan Barber dropped from fifth to seventh in the final two laps.
Finish: (1) Terry Casey, (2) Mike Marlar, (3) Chris Madden, (4) Darren Miller, (5) Chris Wall, (6) Josh McGuire, (7) Bryan Barber, (8) Chuck Harper, (9) Freddy Smith, (10) Doug Blashe, (11) Donald Byers, (12) Jason Riggs, (13) Austin Hubbard, (14) Jackie Boggs.
Third heat
Wednesday's winner and outside front-row starter Billy Moyer outran former teammate and polesitter Shannon Babb for a strong heat-race victory. Babb never made a major challenge in finishing second while Justin Rattliff finished further back in third. Fourth-starting Terry English got too high on the first lap and never recovered, finishing fifth behind D.J. Wells, back in action after two nights off with engine problems. Brian Shirley, subbing in a Gary Gerstner-owned car originally scheduled to carry the injured Randy Korte, got into Wayne Chinn in turn three on the final lap to move up to the sixth spot as Chinn recovered exiting turn four.
Finish: (1) Billy Moyer, (2) Shannon Babb, (3) Justin Rattliff, (4) D.J. Wells, (5) Terry English, (6) Brian Shirley, (7) Wayne Chinn, (8) J.R. Hotovy, (9) Marshall Austin Jr., (10) Eric Wells, (11) Anthony White, (12) Joe Denby, (13) Danny Mitchell, (14) Jason McBride.
Second heat
Polesitter Matt Miller outjumped fellow front-row starter Bart Hartman into turn one and held on the rest of the way. Hartman, chased by Monday's feature winner Don O'Neal throughout, was a solid second with O'Neal third. Miller and O'Neal, with three top-five finishes apiece through three features, each qualified for their fourth feature of the week. Earl Pearson Jr. couldn't catch O'Neal and settled for fourth while Rick Eckert was a way-behind fifth. Some heavy hitters were out to lunch. Fourth-starting Dan Schlieper had a terrible first lap and finished eighth while Jimmy Owens, a three-time winner at Golden Isles earlier in Speedweeks, was 11th.
Finish: (1) Matt Miller, (2) Bart Hartman, (3) Don O'Neal, (4) Earl Pearson Jr., (5) Rick Eckert, (6) Wendell Wallace, (7) Steve Shaver, (8) Dan Schlieper, (9) Doug Horton, (10) Rohn Moon, (11) Jimmy Owens, (12) Chris Hackett, (13) Jeff Beyers, (14) Shon Flanary.
First heat
Polesitter Eric Jacobsen, going to a backup car for Thursday's action, fought off early challenges from Tim Dohm and raced to a 10-lap victory. Dohm got alongside Jacobsen on the backstretch on lap four, but Jacobsen repelled that and other challenges as the top two finished far ahead of Steve Francis, the third and final transferring car. Francis and Dohm have qualified for all four East Bay features. Damon Eller was a distant fourth. A second-lap caution appeared when Tyler Boggs and John Mason got together entering turn four, triggering a wreck that saw six cars sideways in the turns. Boggs' car was towed away.
Finish: (1) Eric Jacobsen, (2) Tim Dohm, (3) Steve Francis, (4) Damon Eller, (5) Peyton Taylor, (6) John Mason, (7) Vic Coffey, (8) Danny Johnson, (9) Tony Knowles, (10) Ronnie Lee Whitt, (11) Joe Isabell, (12) Russ Adams, (13) Tyler Boggs, (14) Bob Geiger.
Qualifying
Less than two-tenths of a second off the track record, Terry Casey of New London, Wis., blazed to his third fast qualifying time of the Georgia-Florida Speedweeks in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competition at East Bay Raceway Park's Dart Winternationals.
Casey, who led laps 7-22 of Wednesday's feature, posted a time of 14.277 seconds, just .126 off of Jason Montgomery's 2003 track record of 14.151 seconds. The other top group qualifiers in each of the other groups: Tim Dohm (14.600) of Cross Lanes, W.Va.; Bart Hartman (14.529) of Zanesville, Ohio; Steve Casebolt (14.678) of Richmond, Ind.; Josh Richards (14.602) of Shinnston, W.Va.; and last night's feature winner Billy Moyer (14.528) of Batesville, Ark.
Casey spun "2" on the PRC wheel, setting a two-car inversion for the heat races. The fastest qualifiers in each group will start outside the front row.
