Bobby East

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.

Bobby East
Born	Robert John East (1984-12-17)December 17, 1984 Torrance, California, U.S.
Died	July 13, 2022(2022-07-13) (aged 37) Westminster, California, U.S.[1]
Cause of death	Murder by Stabbing
Achievements	2012 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
Awards	2004 USAC Driver of the Year
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
11 races run over 2 years
Best finish	52nd (2007)
First race	2005 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis)
Last race	2007 Ford 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
31 races run over 3 years
Best finish	23rd (2006)
First race	2005 Chevy Silverado 150 (Phoenix)
Last race	2008 Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 (Las Vegas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 1
Statistics current as of June 8, 2020.

Racing career

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

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

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

NASCAR

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

Nationwide Series

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

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

(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

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.

External links

• Bobby East driver statistics at Racing-Reference