Bobby East Claims USAC Midget Victory
Brownsburg competitor Bobby East put on a late charge going from the seventh spot with 9 laps remaining to pass Darren Hagen on the next to last lap to get the win in the USAC Midget feature but the fans left Anderson Speedway talking about the run by Kyle Hamilton on Sunday.

Hagen led the first 98 laps and turned back a strong challenge from Kyle Hamilton but on the last restart East took advantage of the high groove to blast his way to the front for high eighth win at Anderson Speedway.

Dave Darland also took advantage of the high line to move from the eight position to a third place finish followed by Cale Conley and Tracy Hines.

East and Darland changed tires during the red flag and accepted the penalty of starting at the tail of the lead lap cars.

“We put tires on and Darren (Hagen) was a sitting duck,” he said.

The fans were talking about Hamilton’s run. After starting 16th in the 23 car starting field, Hamilton moved into the top 10 after 40 circuits. But from there the Danville driver started using the outside line to perfection rapidly gaining positions.

During the course of eight laps Hamilton passed Tracy Hines and Cale Conley on the outside and made an inside move on Brad Kuhn to move into the second position, a straight-away behind Hagen.

It appeared Hamilton got the break he needed when on lap 75 when Jerry Coons Jr. made contact with the outside retaining wall in turn two. Hagen was able to pull away from Hamilton, but that gap quickly began to narrow.

On lap 88 Hamilton got along side Hagen on the outside in turn 1 and when the two cars touched wheels, Hamilton was forced to go high. He again started to close on the leader when on lap 91 the third place running car of Levi Roberts and Tate Martz tangled in turn two. Hamilton’s day came to an end on the restart when his engine let go.

While Hagen and Hamilton were battling up front there was a spirited battle between Roberts, Conley, Hines, Bobby East and Dave Darland for the third through sixth positions.

The red-flag caused by Hamilton’s engine expiring changed the entire complexion of the race, with East and Darland making the right call to change tires, with only eight cars on the lead lap at the time.

Anderson’s Chris Teepe took the lead in the Front Wheel Drive oval feature after racing side by side with Kokomo’s Gary Bragg Jr. on lap seven and then went on to capture the feature win.

Bragg Jr. dropped back in the middle stages of the race, but following a restart on lap 14 after Mike Alley bounced off the turn four wall. Bragg made a late charge passing Jeff Williams for second and then closed on Teepe, who won by .369 seconds. Williams finished third followed by Gary Bragg Sr. and Don Ellis.

The race was red-flagged before one lap was completed when Anderson drive Peter Corsaro made hard contact with the turn three outside wall, hitting the rubber barrier. Carsaro was talking with emergency personnel at the track before being transported to the hospital.

The Champion Racing Association Late Model series kicks off the 2010 season at Anderson Speedway next Saturday for a 125-lap feature event. The late models will be joined on the racing card by the Front Wheel Drive and Figure 8 divisions. Racing action starts at 7 p.m.