IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

November 8, 2008 Jeff Mathews Clinches OWM Championship at Ocala by BJ Cavin Jeff Mathews is the Modified Champ at Ocala Perfect weather greeted the throng of fans who gathered at Ocala Speedway on Friday night, and they saw some of the most exciting racing action of the 2008 season. Race 5 of the Pepsi Six Pack Series meant that the Hobby Stocks were racing for a $1000 first prize, and the Open Wheel Modifieds were mixing it up for the last time this season with only 21 points separating the first and second place positions in the 2008 points race. The Mini Stocks also had a score to settle as Keith Briggs was poised to clinch his first points championship, and the Gladiators saw a new face get a first trip to the winners circle. A solid field of Open Wheel Modified racers tangled in what turned out to be a hard fought battle. Jeff Matthews carried just a 21 point edge over Roger Crouse, and Crouse was out to show that he was capable of winning both the race and the season championship. But once Jeff Matthews took the lead all Crouse could do was give chase, and that 21 points may have well have been 1021 from Crouse's perspective. Matthews would win the race and the championship while Crouse settled for second, driving Matthews' backup car because his car was out of service. Following Crouse for the third spot was John Bradley, and taking the fouth spot was Buzzy Reutimann. Chris Littrell rounded out the top five finishers. From the second that the green flag dropped on the first Hobby Stock heat race of the night, it became obvious that there was going to be a brawl to get to the $1000 waiting at the payout window for the winner of the race, and when the green waved to begin the 30 lap feature the racers wasted no time in muscling their way around the track. The race featured plenty of hard contact and a lot of excitement, which kept the fans cheering for more. Wally Schneider took the early lead and fought quite a battle with Grady Christian for most of the race. Christian finally found his way around Schneider for the lead, and later in the race some contact ended Schneider's adventure as he ran in the second spot. Grady Christian would hold on to take the win, followed by a hard charging Ken Sowers in second place. David Miller Jr once more proved that he could maneuver from the back to the front after a penalty set him back in the race, finishing third. Kevin Durden and Charlie MacNichols completed the top five. A problem with the 19T car forced a switch as the Mini Stocks lined up for their feature race. Keith Briggs borrowed Christopher Prouty's race car just to be sure that his points lead was untouchable, and drove the orange 26 to a respectable fourth place finish. But once again the dominant car was the 19C of Paul Combast, who dominated the race and won by an impressive margin. Arnold Perkins drove to a second place finish followed by William Stalnaker in third. Johnny Zachery finished fifth behind Keith Briggs. A very popular driver from Putnam County Speedway showed up at Ocala on the night and immediately took control of the race in that division. Jumping Jim is a fixture at Putnam but quickly gained respect at Ocala with a win. Jim liked winning at Ocala so much that he promised that he would make the drive to Zuber a habit in future races. Following Jim across the stripe was Paul Hahn, who simply could not chase down Jim's 32 truck. Guy Bacelo Jr. took home the third place trophy while Eddie Lentz and Zachery Perry earned top five finishes. November 21st marks Bud Zone Night at Ocala Speedway as the ASCS sprints return for another round on the clay at Ocala. They will be joined by the V8 Thunder Stocks who got a bit of a rest this week, plus the Mini Stocks and the Gladiators. Open Wheel Modified (Jeff Matthews wins the 2008 OWM Points Championship) 1- 33 Jeff Mathews 2- 33X Roger Crouse 3- 27 John Bradley 4- 00 Buzzy Reutimann 5- 00L Chris Littrell 6- Z Tim Zackery 7- 75C Charles O'Neill 8- 0 Richard Dickinson 9- 52 Greg Bonynge 10- 5 Tim Smith 11- 29 Mark Buie 12- 95 James Edgley 13- X Zach Perrman 14- 56 Dave Barber Jr. 15- 23 Josh Sanford 16- 74B Jacob Buie DNS- 74 Chuck Adams Hobby Stock (Pepsi Six Pack Race 5/$1000 to win) 1- 36 Grady Christian 2- 36S Kenneth Sowers 3- 21 David Miller Jr. 4- 35 Kevin Durden 5- 12 Charlie MacDaniels 6- 00T Eddie Tovet 7- 08 William Edwards 8- 01 William Martin 9- 57 Wally Schneider 10-18E Mike Eubanks 11- 58 David Kinsey 12- 99 Daniel Miller Jr. 13- 23 Glenn Baum 14- 56L Bill Littell 15- 0 Dalton Lanich 16- 15 Donald Paugh 17- 13 Jonathon Appleby 18- 9 Bruce Birkett 19- 83 Joe Boyd 20- 04 Bubba Christian 21- XX Augie Burtram 22- X Chris Waldron 23- 4B Michael Tovett DNS- 2 Edward England DQ (tech)- 6 Pat Dent Mini Stock 1- 19C Paul Combast 2- 55 Arnold Perkins 3- 59 William Stalnaker 4- 26 Keith Briggs 5- 11Z Johnny Zackery 6- 40M David Miller 7- 14 Frank Prouty DNS- 19T Christopher Prouty DNS- 00 Jason Tovett Gladiator 1- 32 Jumping Jim 2- 78 Paul Hahn 3- 2B Guy Bacelo Jr. 4- 96 Eddie Lentz 5- 23 Zachery Perry 6- 63 Brian Brogan 7- 2 Bobby Chavis DNS- 83 Kody Fisher DQ (tech)- 35 David Walls Next Week: ASCS Sprints! 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