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Bobby East

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Bobby East
BornRobert John East
(1984-12-17)December 17, 1984
Torrance, California, U.S.
DiedJuly 13, 2022(2022-07-13) (aged 37)
Westminster, California, U.S.[1]
Cause of deathMurder by Stabbing
Achievements2012 USAC Silver Crown Series Champion, 2013 USAC Silver Crown Series Champion
2004 USAC National Midget Series Champion
2008 Copper World Classic Winner
2004 Belleville Midget Nationals Winner
Awards2004 USAC Driver of the Year
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
11 races run over 2 years
Best finish52nd (2007)
First race2005 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis)
Last race2007 Ford 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
31 races run over 3 years
Best finish23rd (2006)
First race2005 Chevy Silverado 150 (Phoenix)
Last race2008 Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 (Las Vegas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 1
Statistics current as of June 8, 2020.

Robert John East (December 17, 1984 – July 13, 2022) was an American professional stock car racing driver.[2] He raced in USAC, ARCA, and NASCAR. During his career in the latter two, East was a member of Ford's driver development program.

Racing career

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In 2001, East became the youngest driver at 16 years old to win a feature USAC National Midget event[3] at the Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Indiana.[citation needed]

East competed full-time in the USAC National Midget Series where he was the champion in 2004 driving the Steve Lewis Racing No. 9. The car's chassis was built by his father, Bob East, who is a renowned short-track car builder of midgets, sprints, and silver crown machines. The title gave him the distinction of being the youngest national champion in the series' history at age 19.[citation needed]

East was the most victorious driver during the 2004 USAC season with 15 victories among the series' three divisions. He wound up in victory lane seven times in national midgets, five times in national sprint cars, and once each in the Silver Crown, Western States Sprint Car, and Speedrome Regional Midget Series during the season. The highlights of the season were winning the Hut Hundred and the Turkey Night Grand Prix. During this prestigious time he attained the nickname 'Beast' among his loyal fans, which is an amalgamation of the first letter of his first-name 'B' combined alongside his last-name 'East', which is unlike his kind demeanor and character to those that know him, but better describes his victorious 2004 season on Team Lewis placing 1st overall in his No. 9 car.

East then moved on to racing stock cars. He first attempted to qualify for three races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in Roush Racing's No. 33 Ford, but failed to qualify for two of those races. In the one where he did qualify (at Phoenix), he wrecked late in that event and finished 30th. Additionally, he drove the No. 21 for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing at the Homstead season-finale, but failed to qualify for that race, too. Also that year, East made his ARCA Re/Max Series debut, where he competed at Talladega in October 2005, driving the No. 29 Ford for K Automotive Racing. A few weeks later, he made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Memphis in the No. 46 for ST Motorsports and had a solid race, finishing 17th.[citation needed]

In 2006, East competed nearly full-time in the same truck, where he was teammates in the team's driver development program with fellow rookie Marcos Ambrose, who drove the team's No. 20 truck. East would finish the year 23rd in points despite missing the first two races of the season.[citation needed]

In 2007, East ran part-time in the Busch Series with Brewco Motorsports, splitting time in the team's No. 27, No. 37 and No. 43 cars. During the season, Brewco became Baker Curb Racing after a change in ownership.[citation needed]

East returned to the Truck Series part-time in 2008, reuniting with Roush to driving their No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150. This included him winning the pole for the race at IRP. Roush also tasked East with qualifying Cup Series Carl Edwards' Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series No. 60 car for the race at Memphis, the same track he made his debut at three years earlier. However, East was not able to qualify very high in the field, placing 34th, although Edwards would go on to win the race after making his way through the field to the front, taking the lead on lap 69 and staying there for the rest of the race. This effort would end up being East's last outing in NASCAR.[citation needed]

Personal life

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East was born in Torrance, California, and had also been living in Brownsburg, Indiana.[4] Following the conclusion of his motorsports career, East experienced depression, used alcohol, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia by medical professionals. His parents believed these were caused or exacerbated by chronic traumatic encephalopathy from repeated head trauma suffered in racing accidents. As East was a homicide victim, an autopsy could not be performed to confirm whether the disease was present in his brain within the required timeframe after death.[5]

Death

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On July 13, 2022, while filling his car with gas at a 76 gas station in Westminster, California, East was accosted by Trent Millsap, a transient who had a warrant for a parole violation out on him. The two exchanged words and Millsap stabbed East in his chest; East was rushed to the hospital, but died from his injuries shortly thereafter.[6][7][8] Millsap was later found hiding in an apartment in nearby Anaheim and was killed in a shootout with Orange County police.[9]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nationwide Series

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NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NNSC Pts Ref
2005 ST Motorsports 46 Ford DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM
17 		TEX PHO HOM 106th 112 [10]
2007 Brewco Motorsports 37 Ford DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH
24 		KEN MLW
22 		NHA DAY CHI GTY
16 		IRP
39 		CGV GLN MCH
38 		BRI 52nd 806 [11]
Baker Curb Racing CAL
24 		KAN
22 		CLT
27 RCH
25 		DOV HOM
12
43 MEM
36 		TEX PHO
2008 Roush Fenway Racing 60 Ford DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO MXC TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM
QL† 		TEX PHO HOM N/A 0 [12]
† – Qualified for Carl Edwards

Craftsman Truck Series

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCTC Pts Ref
2005 Roush Racing 33 Ford DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY MFD CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP
DNQ 		NSH BRI RCH
DNQ 		NHA LVS MAR ATL TEX PHO
30 		83rd 73 [13]
Wood Brothers/JTG Racing 21 Ford HOM
DNQ
2006 20 DAY CAL ATL
23 		23rd 2186 [14]
21 MAR
13 		GTY
13 		CLT
24 		MFD
34 		DOV
17 		TEX
28 		MCH
30 		MLW
17 		KAN
24 		KEN
34 		MEM
21 		IRP
11 		NSH
36 		BRI
29 		NHA
30 		LVS
22 		TAL
23 		MAR
21 		ATL
15 		TEX
22 		PHO
18 		HOM
16
2008 Roush Fenway Racing 09 Ford DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN
24 		CLT MFD DOV TEX
8 		MCH
18 		MLW MEM
8 		KEN IRP
19 		NSH BRI GTW
25 		NHA LVS
25 		TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 34th 771 [15]

ARCA Re/Max Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ARSC Pts Ref
2005 K Automotive Racing 29 Ford DAY NSH SLM KEN TOL LAN MIL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN POC GTW LER NSH MCH ISF TOL DSF CHI SLM TAL
36 		169th 50 [16]

References

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  1. ^ "Police Seek Suspect in Fatal Stabbing in Westminster". MyLAnews.com. July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Driver Bobby East Career Statistics – Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "Nine Racing – Bobby East". www.nineracing.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  4. ^ admin. "Bobby East: Coming Up Fast in NASCAR – FunCityFinder". Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  5. ^ Pat, Sullivan (December 18, 2022). "The Bobby East Story". usacracung.com. United States Auto Club. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  6. ^ "Police Seek Suspect in Fatal Stabbing in Westminster". MyLAnews.com. July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  7. ^ "Three-time USAC champion East dies at 37". speedsport.com. Turn 3 Media, LLC. July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  8. ^ Murray, Richie (July 15, 2022). "Bobby East, 3-time USAC National Champion, Passes Away at 37". USAC Racing. United States Auto Club. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "Westminster Police Kill Suspect in Slaying of NASCAR Driver Bobby East". MyLAnews.com. July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  10. ^ "Bobby East – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Bobby East – 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Bobby East – 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Bobby East – 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Bobby East – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Bobby East – 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Bobby East – 2005 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
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