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Rahmer Wins 410 Feature at East Bay
SCOTT LOCKWOOD
Florida Short Track Report.com
GIBSONTON - As practice began for the 410 sprint cars Monday night at East
Bay Raceway Park, all of the cars were out scorching the 1/3 mile oval - except
for “Fast” Freddie Rahmer.
Rahmer took to the speedway with the rest of the first group of cars, but was
suffering from a badly misfiring engine and ended up stopping on the course.
After a quick repair, Rahmer reappeared on the speedway, only to see the
misfiring continue. It looked as if it was going to be a short night for one of the
members of the famed “Pennsylvania Posse,” but the crew would have nothing
of it.
When qualifying began, the speeds began going up with every car that hit the
track. Largo’s Sport Allen was the first to turn a lap in under 13 seconds, but
was quickly forced down the speed charts. The final car out was World of
Outlaws competitor Tim Kaeding, who used the late draw to his advantage to
snare quick time.
Allen would lead the field to the green in the first heat race and would lead
nearly the entire race Rahmer, whose car was still misfiring during qualifying,
finally got his machine fixed and found himself on Allen’s tail with two laps to
go. Rahmer made his move going into turn three on the final lap, sliding under
Allen and going on for the win. Kaeding was third.
Dustin Morgan started the second heat from the pole and would build a huge
lead over the first few laps. Once Danny Smith got to second, he quickly ran
down Morgan and made several attempts to take the lead. Coming down for
the checkered flag, the lapped car of Spud Gustin got in Smith’s way, allowing
Morgan to pull out the victory. Eric Baldaccini was third.
Immediately before the feature event, 2-time defending All-Stars series
national champion Greg Wilson won the 10-lap Strawberry Dash, followed by
Chad Leighton and Morgan.
If there was ever any doubt about the strength of Rahmer’s car after the early
mechanical woes, they were quickly squashed when he jumped out into the
early lead in the 25-lap feature from his outside pole starting slot. Smith, as
he did in his heat race, quickly got into second and began reeling in Rahmer,
who was already lapping the rear of the field.
Stuck behind the slower cars of Allen and newly crowned King of the 360’s
Jason Johnson, Rahmer couldn’t take his normal high line and was passed by
Smith for the lead. It looked as if Smith was going to run and hide from the
rest of the field, pulling out to nearly a straightaway lead in just two laps as
Rahmer struggled to get by Johnson.
However, on lap 10, Leighton spun in turn 4 and lightly clipped smith, forcing
him into a spin. Both cars spun around and kept going and the caution never
fell, with Smith falling back to fifth and Rahmer regaining the lead.
For the rest of the race, Rahmer easily worked his way through traffic and was
never seriously challenged for the lead. The real show was coming from
Smith, who was able to charge all the way back to second in the last couple of
laps. But when the dust finally settled, it was Rahmer standing in the winner’s
circle.
“We were just out there being patient with all the lapped cars,” Rahmer said.
“When you get that many lapped cars together like that nothing good ever
happens, and Danny ended up being caught by one. We had our problems
early, but I have to thank Kenny Adams and Bryn Gohn and everybody else
for coming down here and helping us out tonight.”
Following Rahmer across the striper were Smith, Lance DeWease, Kaeding,
and Wilson.
The 32nd annual Winternationals at East Bay resume Thursday evening, with
the UMP dirt modifieds coming to town for 3 days.
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