When I arrived at East Bay and saw the huge car count, I knew we had to find a way to include more drivers and put more money into the purse. I soon had a conversation with the East Bay owner and Spencer Wilson. Hearing that the purse had been advertised and the total number set, I then offered to bring a driver loyalty program, which would add two spots, 25th and 26th and in no way take a spot from another driver because they never existed. R.A.C.E. put in $7,400 in the existing purse to give more drivers an opportunity to compete with the huge car count.

The R.A.C.E. driver loyalty program rewards drivers who support and compete at the major events in an effort to keep them sacred and stand alone without being scheduled against. This will help promoters put together big events where drivers can compete at awesome venues in front of huge crowds. The program was performance based using last year's major races which were not scheduled against from another series, allowing all drivers an opportunity to qualify for them. These races were The Show Me 100, The Dream, The World 100, and The Topless 100. The points given for the finishes were taken from the same point system that was used as per the rules of the Extreme Dirt Car Series in last years rule book. The points for each race were added together for each driver to come up with their "last year" points. Then we went to the rule book and used a rule familiar to many of the touring drivers. "For the first 3 events of the season the provisional starters will be determined from last years points standings." A rule used by East Bay for much of the last ten years Winternationals. This is how the provisional worked for the first 3 days. Then to keep the blend of racers going, almost like a co-sanctioned provisional, we added "last years" points to the points from East Bay for our R.A.C.E. Driver loyalty program points list. The only exception was that N.A.R.A. only gave points to the racers that earned a spot thru the N.A.R.A. rules. R.A.C.E. also gave points to those drivers who earned a provisional thru our program. I hope that this clears up any questions that anyone had. I apologize for any confusion that anyone had on this program.

In addition to the provisionals given, R.A.C.E. awarded almost $140,000 in product and cash. There were 75 different drivers that received products and cash rewards. Everyone in the top 41 in points received either product or cash award from R.A.C.E. Each of the first five nights we paid the winner of the Strawberry Dash $1,000-$1200 in products and/or cash and the 2nd place of the Strawberry Dash $500 in product. On Saturday night the winner of the Strawberry Dash won $1800 in product and $1000 in product to the 2nd place finisher. R.A.C.E. also paid the first 3 non-qualifiers in all 4 B-mains for the first 5 nights. Each of the features for the first 5 nights we drew 3 numbers before each feature and paid out 3 finishers of those features. Fast time qualifiers on the last three nights also received free carburetors. Rookie of the Week award was given out to the highest points finishing driver to race East Bay for the first time. In addition to the finishes paid out, we paid out Hard Luck awards throughout the week. The PBM Engine Builders Challenge winner was Jay Dickens Racing Engines winning 66 points of 72 possible. Jay Dickens Racing Engines was awarded $2500 in cash and product. The R.A.C.E. Winternational Points Champion was Steve Francis.

Steve walked away with $10,000 cash and $5,000 in product. In addition, his crew chief, Ronnie Hackworth, won the crew chief award of $1,000 cash.

The R.A.C.E. Winternational Point Fund paid drivers up to 21st in points (due to a tie). The point fund top 21 is as follows:

1. Steve Francis
2. Terry English
3. Don O'neal
4. Rick Eckert
5. Billy Moyer Jr.
6. Dennis Erb Jr.
7. Shannon Babb
8. Steve Shaver
9. Jimmy Mars
10. Matt Miller
11. Donnie Moran
12. Brady Smith
13. Tim McCreadie
14. Dan Schlieper
15. Scott James
16. Tim Dohm
17. Earl Pearson Jr.
18. Brian Birkhofer
19. Shane Clanton
20. Darren Miller
21. Jason Montgomery

Bringing total cash and product for one week to over $140,000 !!!

Thanks to all the Manufactures, Businesses and Individuals that have contributed to the 2005 Winternationals Point & Contingency Fund which include: Isky Cams, Manley Performance, T&D Machine, Sunoco Race Fuels, ATL Fuel Cells, JE Pistons, Arrow Rods, Mr. Moto Products, Dart, Champ Pans, KB Carbs, Stealth Carbs, Taco Carbs, Brodix, Rapture Carbs, Stiles Headers, Wulff Pumps, Stock Car Products, Callies Performance Products, Willy's Carbs, Comp Cams, Crower, Five Star Bodies, Performance Bodies, Chapman Racing Heads, Bryant Racing, Barnes Systems, PBM Performance Parts, Peterson Fluid Systems, Dana Corp/Clevite/Perfect Circle, Crane Cams, Edelbrock, Carrillo Rods, Mahle Pistons, Scott Performance Wire, Moroso, Durabond Bearing, Oliver Racing Products, DelWest USA, Racing Engine Valves, ARP Fasteners, Cloyes, Sweet Mfg., All Pro Cylinder Heads, Clements Racing Engines, Cornett Racing Engines,RaceTek Race Engines, Gaerte Engines, Jay Dickens Racing Engines, Malcuit Racing Engines, Pro Power Racing, SMS Racing Engines, Larry Wallace Engines, Carl Grover Motorsports, Russell Baker Engines, Custom Race Engines, J&J Steel, Carlton Lamm, Bob Miller, Don Dureett, BSW Construction, East Bay Raceway Park, Sheltra & Sons, QuarterMaster, Ross Pistons, Wiseco Pistons, Rocket Chassis, CP Pistons, Delph Communications and NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson. A special thanks to Wayne Castleberry for all your extra time and efforts put forth to this event.

Thanks to you all who supported the East Bay Winternationals R.A.C.E. fund and congratulations to those of you who benefited from it. We wish you all a safe and prosperous year. Good Luck to all and looking forward to the National R.A.C.E. point championships!

Bill & Josie Schlieper