Garrett Green en route to victory at East Bay Raceway Park. (Jim DenHamer photo)
Garrett Green en route to victory at East Bay Raceway Park. (Jim DenHamer photo)

Garrett Green Is Top Gun Again

GIBSONTON, Fla. — Garrett Green completed a sweep of Top Gun Sprints events at East Bay Raceway Park with a victory Saturday night at the third-mile dirt oval.

Green, who won from the eighth row on Thursday night, started in row five on Saturday night, but moved to sixth starting spot when Brandon Grubaugh missed the call.

When the race started, Green made immediate moves to second by the fourth turn and then swept to the lead just before the first lap was completed.

Caution came out shortly after that for a spin by Billy Bridges and Nebraska racer Tim Fricke, but Green had already established himself as race leader, ahead of Matt Kurtz and A.J. Maddox. Kurtz lost second, then slowed to a stop to bring out another caution as drivers from the back of the field started advancing into the top 10.

On each restart, Green was able to pull away from the field and Maddox had to defend to keep second. Justin Webster moved to the top and shot past Maddox for second on lap seven. Green again encountered lapped traffic and managed to put as many as four cars between himself and Webster.

The race went under a red flag when Kyle Connery flipped, causing heavy damage to his car. The remaining five laps would be just as hectic.

Shane Butler, who had taken the initial green flag in 18th, had quietly worked into the top five and then bypassed Maddox for third. That would be as far as he could get as he pressured Webster for second in the waning laps.

No one could catch the race winner as Green picked up his second East Bay win, his second series win of the year and asserted himself in the top spot in the point standings.

Michael Hart followed the crew’s advice and kept his No. 99 tucked in on the bottom line to roll to the V-8 feature win.

The finish:

Garrett Green, Justin Webster, Shane Butler, Danny Sams III, Hayden Campbell, A.J. Maddox, Robbie Smith, Joe Zuczek, Luke Hill, Andrew Griffin, Harley Zimmerman, Tim Fricke, Bruce Durden, Freddie McCall, Bryan Eckley, Nathan Barouch, Larry McVay, Johnnie Alexander, Scott Baldwin, Kyle Connery, Cole Nichols, Billy Bridges, Matt Kurtz, Brandon Grubaugh.