Mike Stalnaker Fastest Street Stock At Ocala Friday Night
By Ricky Ellison
Ocala, Fl. - Another hot night in Florida could only mean an even hotter night at the Ocala Speedway. Eighty-nine racers showed up to see if this was their week to get into victory lane.
Twenty-three street stocks kicked off the night's feature action in their 20 lap event. Mark Mitchell in his #71 grim reaper car started on the pole with the always fast car of Mike Stalnaker right beside him. Mitchell grabbed the early lead but Stalnaker make sure it wasn't to big and had him in his site the entire time. The first caution came out on lap six as Eric Cabera and Norm Brown got together.
Both cars were fine and able to continue. Lap eight see's Stalnaker make his move on Mitchell and overtakes the top spot. Mitchell falls to second and is pressured by the 9 car of Jeff Stalnaker. The race goes green the rest of the way as Mike Stalnaker takes the win followed by Mitchell, J.Stalnaker, Pete Close Jr,and Don Stroshi. Heat wins went to Mitchell, Shelby Mather, and Close.
The V8 rookies make their way out on the track next for feature race.7 cars showed up to see if they had what it took to get to the winner circle. Eddie Killbury started on the pole with the 58 of Katie Welter right beside him.
Killbury jumped out to an early lead but Welter would have none of it and on lap 3 she took the lead from him and never looked back.
Killbury would later fall out with mechanical problems.Welter went on to take this race as Jim Kruse came home in second and Margret Morgan third.
Fourteen sportsmen took to the track next.William Edwards and Shane Nichols made up the front row but it was all Edwards in this caution free race. While Edwards clocked out,the battle for second heated up.Clint Foley took it on lap two but by lap eight Jermey Finengan took control of it. Foley dropped to third with the 16 of Patrick Mennenga right on his bumper.
All the cars seemed to be equal as nobody could do any more passing. Edwards went on to claim his victory followed by Finengan,Foley,Mennenga,and Frank Buchanan.Heat wins went to Mennenga and Tim Schull.
It was the "luck of the draw" once again as Robbie Cooper sat on the pole to lead 14 modifieds to start their feature race. The 0r of Troy Robinson started on the outside of Cooper and from the drop of the green, settled in right behind him. Lap 7 saw the 25 car of Curtis Pervett go up in smoke and done for the night.
As the race got back underway, Jermey Gerstner makes his move around Alan McCaferty for fourth spot and then sets his eyes on third. Meanwhile Robinson is looking for a way around the leader but cant find a way around him.
One late caution bunches the field back up but Cooper is not bothered by it. He goes on to win his second race in a row as Robinson, Geretner,Chris Faddling and Kyle Maynard rounded out the rest of the top five. Heat wins went to Maynard and Faddling.
V8 pure stocks were next up with 15 cars ready for action.Jeff Barrett and Harold Erickson brought the field to the green flag and Barrett jumps out front right away.
Just as the first lap is completed,the first caution comes out as the 28 of Tom Potts and the 42 of David Rainey get together. On the restart,Barrett takes off but Erickson doesn't let him escape and on lap three him and the 53 of Eric Gellman pass the leader. This would be as close as Gellman would get to the lead as Erickson pulled away from the pack.
Gellman would end up finishing second,Barrett third,Brent Cooper fourth and last week's rookie winner,Jesse Corbit finished fifth. Heat wins went to Barrett and Erickson.
As always the 4 cylinder bombers know how to keep the fans on the edge of their seat and it was no different this time around. Coming out 10 cars ready to go, Karl Born led the field to the green. However his hands were full of the Durbin brothers and on lap two Joey Durbin takes over the top spot.
Justin follows suit but Born doesn't give up to easily. As the laps wound down,the battle for the lead becomes a three car race. Joey gives the car everything it can handle but on lap 18 Born gets around him as Joey gets lose coming off turn four.
Born goes on to win with Joey Durbin in second,Justin Durbin in third,Rick Kuhn in fourth and Brandon Elwood finished fifth. Heat wins went to Born and Elwood.
Lastly,6 cars made up the 15 lap figure eight race. On lap two Larry Welter Jr overtakes the lead and never looks back. Don Stroshi would finish second and Aaron Welter would up third.
Next Friday night will have all regular classes plus figure eights and powder puff racing.For more info visit www.ocalaspeedway.com
** Figure 8's **
1. L. Welter Jr. #58 2. D. Strohsal #15 3. A. Welter #82b 4. R. Hart #13 5. E. Cabera #97 6. J. Cruse #82
** Openwheel Modifieds **
1. R. Cooper #98c 2. T. Robinson #0b 3. J. Gerstner #70 4. C. Faddling #29 5. K. Maynard #27 6. A. McCafferty #32m 7. K. Jett #9 8. K. Terry #13 9. G. Ervin #or 10. G. Valdez #60 11. J. Holbrook #16k 12. C. Perett #25 13. D. Brown #7 DNS M. Batten #50
** Sportsman **
1. W. Edwards #08 2. J. Finnigan #22 3. C. Foley #56 4. P. Mennega #16 5. F. Buchannon #2 6. T. Schull #8 7. S. Nichols #65 8. D. Mylam #69 9. H. Barup #3 10. J. Higgenbotham #76 11. G. Sheets #17 12. H. Edwards #11x DNS M. Blum #1 DNS D. Kelly #38
** Street Stock **
1. M. Stalnaker #08 2. M. Mitchell #71 3. J. Stalnaker Jr. #9 4. P. Close #86 5. D. Strohsal #15 6. S. Mathers #17 7. D. Batson #77 8. L. Welter Jr. #58 9. J. Erickson #7E 10. N. Brown #67 11. J. Appleby #69 12. G. Cade #121 13. J. Buzinec #14 14. E. Cabera #97 15. J. McQuade #49 16. L. Arnold #05 17. D. Woosley #81 18. J. Bradford #6 19. M. Bates #93 DNS C. Penska #77 DNS T. Pearson #04 DNS M. Holbrook #17x
** 4 Cylinder Stock **
1. K. Born #06 2. J. Durbin #81 3. J. Durbin #12 4. R. Kuhn #47 5. B. Elwood #28 6. S. Evans #30 7. T. Dunbar #72 8. P. Nelson #08 9. M. Hunley #18 10. J. Hagen #2
** V8 Pure Stock **
1. H. Erickson #66 2. E. Gellman #53 3. J. Barrett #4e 4. B. Cooper #97 5. J. Corbitt #30 6. G. Smith #39 7. D. Welter #28 8. T. Potts #28p 9. J. Ledford #3 10. K. Sheffield #25 11. L. Welter Sr. #85 12. D. Rainey #42 13. R. Siggins #007 DQ A. Welter #82 DQ H. Robertson #88
** Rookies **
1. K. Welter #58 2. J. Cruse #82 3. M. Morgan #23 4. J. Brown #67 5. J. Sullivan #14 6. E. Kilbury Jr #71 DQ M. Fish
