Jesse Corbitt won the V-8 Rookie feature Saturday night at Ocala Speedway
Ocala, Fla - After two weeks off, racing returned and 76 cars showed up ready to do battle at Ocala Speedway. Starting the feature racing action with 14 cars was the sportsman class.
Pole sitter Patrick Mennenga took an early lead but on lap three, Frank Buchanan made a move on the inside to take the top spot away. Mennenga stayed right there waiting for a chance to get the lead back.
The field followed Buchanan all the way to the checkers as Mennenga took home second, Tim Sull 3rd, Jeremy Finengan 4th, and William Edwards 5th to round out the top five. Heat wins went to Edwards and Shull.
The always exciting 4 cylinder bombers were next on the track. Fifteen cars made up this race as Karl Born in his blue 06 took early control with the 47 of Rick Kuhn right there with him.
Lap two saw the first caution come out as the cars of Tim Nocella, Bill Lyman, and Travis Hoefler tangled up in turn 2. Everyone was fine and continued on.
Point leader Justin Durbin works hard through the field and by lap 12 is right there with the leaders. Finally on lap 13 Kuhn makes his move going into turn 3 and getting around the leader.
He goes on to win the 20 lap even as Durbin ends up in 2nd followed by 15th place starter Brandon Heywood as the 06 of Karl born falls to fourth right in front of Joey Durbin who finished 5th. Heat wins went to Born and Heywood.
Out next feature was the v 8 purestock. While no cautions were waved the racing was plenty exciting. As all 16 cars got underway, the 85 of Larry Welter Sr. took an early command. However that was short lived as 14th place starter Dave Quinsy took the lead on lap two and never looked back.
Kinsey walks away with this race as Welter Sr. holds out for 2nd; Joe Boyd worked himself into a nice 3rd place finish followed by Harold Erickson and pole sitter Eric Gellman. Heat winners were Gellman and Welter Sr.
Street stocks were up next as they had 17 racers ready for some action. "Speedy" Pete Close in his brand new car started on the pole and never looked back. Good, clean, side by side racing was the way this race went.
While Close got out to a good start followed by Don Stroshi, the battle was for third as Mark Mitchell and Larry Welter Jr. raced side by side for several laps before Welter finally took control of the spot. Mark looked several times for ways to get around Larry but it wasn't meant to be. Pete went on to win followed closely by Stroshi, Welter Jr, Mitchell and Jeff Stalnaker. Heat wins went to Close and Stroshi.
Only 7 of the 9 cars slated to start made the open wheel modified race. Robbie Cooper got the "luck of the draw" which put him on the pole and rookie Kyle Maynard right beside him.
From the start of the green, Cooper lead the field On lap 5, things got a little hairy for Maynard as he spun to avoid taking out the leader.
His car was fine and he would continue to finish the race. The 0 car of Troy Robinson then followed the leader with several looks to try to make a pass but was not able to do anything. Cooper takes the win with Robinson right there as well as 3rd place finisher Jeremy Gersntener. Chris Faddling and Kevin Terry rounded out the top five.
Up next was the big 30 lap v 8 rookie race. The 94 of Danny Fletcher set fast time out of the 15 cars making up the field and when it came time to pull the invert pill, he pulled out lucky number nine. Therefore that put the 23 of Margret Morgan on the pole.
As the green flag dropped it took no time for trouble to happen. The 4e of Zeb Shellenburg loses control coming off turn 4 and collects the 35 of Rick Gellman. Both drivers are fine but their nights are done.
The green flag drops as the race gets back underway and on lap two, Jim Arouse takes the top spot away. The 42 of Dave Rainey is right there and also takes a spot away from Morgan.
Lap eight sees the 91 of Hall Robinson and the 17 of Lori Holbrock get together on the backstretch. The following restart has Krouse leading with Rainey and the 97 of Dustin Hughes right behind him.
Things stayed this way until point leader Jesse Corbit makes his move on lap 15 and takes the lead away. Lap 16 sees Hughes lose control off turn 4 and collects the 58 of Larry Swift.
Drivers were fine and walked away but their nights were also done and over with. After that it was smooth sailing for Corbitt who went on to win both the race and the rookie championship. Jim Krouse came home second followed by Fletcher, Holbrock and Morgan.
Only four cars showed up for the boat and trailer race. Larry Welter Sr. made quick work of the 10 lap race. Larry welter Jr, right rear missing on his trailer, finshed 2nd with Ted Vineski and Lou Trenblay rounding out the field.
Five cars made the trip to Ocala for the $1,000 to win demo derby and the fans got to see five of the hardest hitting cars there. The 88 of Wayne Chamberlin took home the big money.
Next week at Ocala Speedway will be the figure 8's making the trip through the infield as well as all regular classes. Also on Saturday is the FMS Extravaganza with the Fast Late Models, Fast Trucks and Fast Kids showing up to put on a show for the fans to see.
Only 7 of the 9 cars slated to start made the open wheel modified race. Robbie Cooper got the "luck of the draw" which put him on the pole and rookie Kyle Maynard right beside him. 
