Friday the 13th was in full effect at Ocala Speedway as the Gulf Coast Modifieds came to visit, but it was the Ocala regular divisions where the superstitious had their problems. There were also two extra feature races on the night thanks to a rainout from March 30th, plus the rained out Hoods Up Race as well.
Add all of that to the toughest 3/8ths of a mile in the southeast and it made for a busy night for the speedway staff, and a frustrating night for a few of the drivers. A good crowd was on hand to see a large field of cars, and in the end it made for an exciting night of racing.
In the Thunder Stock and Street Stock make up races, the fields were set by heat races and pill draws from two weeks before, but only a couple of cars failed to return to run the features, and others were allowed to compete from the rear of the starting grids. The Thunder Stocks saw Scott Anderson start on the pole but he found himself in trouble early and slipped back. Chris Oliveri came from dead last to take the win, followed by Bill Thomas and Josh Brown. Anderson managed to salvage a 4th place finish after a frustrating race.
The Street Stock makeup feature saw more frustrations as Jeff Stalnaker won from the pole. Speedy Pete Close near the front but almost immediately found trouble and was sent to the rear, yet he managed to make his way back to a third place finish. Jeff Stalnaker took the win followed by Shane Nichols in 2nd and Pete Close in 3rd.
The regularly scheduled features began with the V8 Pure Stocks and James Erickson on the pole, but the race took a totally different path after Jim Kruse lost his motor on lap 15. After a red flag for a clean up, the field raced to a green/white/checkered finish, but there was more drama to come in the tech shed as two cars were disqualified. The final results show Jessie Corbett with the win, followed by Larry Welter Sr. in 2nd and James Sullivan in 3rd.
The Thunder Stock scheduled feature saw Steve Young take the pole but Bill Thomas and Scott Anderson quickly wrestled it from him. Josh Brown joined the fray as they battled the whole race to a wild finish. Coming out of turn 4 on the final lap Josh Brown attempted a daring pass to the outside of Thomas who was in the lead, but Thomas moved up to block and briefly lost control. Thomas smacked the turn 4 wall hard, bounced off across the front stretch, and still managed to win the race, although he admitted afterward that it was a painful experience. Josh Brown finished in 2nd place followed by Chris Oliveri.
The Street Stocks made the best of their second feature of the night with another hard fought race as some front running cars found problems early. Leonard Arnold began on the pole, but it was Dan Tremblay who took control of the race and took the win. Justin Durbin fought his way into a 2nd place finish followed by Jeff Stalnaker in 3rd place.
Defending division champion Justin Durbin started from the pole for the 4 Cylinder Stock feature and controlled the entire race to take the win. the drama took place behind him as Brandon Elwood and Richard Kuhn got together, sending Elwood's #28 to the turn 1 wall.
Elwood recovered to take a second place finish followed by Joey Durbin in 3rd place.
The Sportsman Divison also had their share of mishaps as David Kinsey won from the pole, but Arthur Conquest and John Mamph stayed close and made a race of it, with Conquest harassing Kinsey the entire 20 laps before settling for 2nd place. John Mamph wound up in 3rd place and Matt Blum suffered an early spin in turn 4 and battled Rick Bass to get the 4th place finish.
The Late Model Division returned to Ocala Speedway along with heavy hitters Wayne Anderson and James Powell, but Anderson suffered a blown engine coming to the green flag that ended his night and brought out a red flag in order to clean the track. When Scott Millar led the field to the green flag he found himself having to fight off a hard charging James Powell to the finish to take home the win. Powell finished in 2nd place followed by Kevin Bryant in 3rd. Rounding out the top five were Brian Finney and Daniel Webster, taking 4th and 5th respectively.
The Gulf Coast Modifieds began their 50 lap feature with Lee Collins on the pole and a host of Ocala Speedway regulars spaced throughout the field. Robbie Cooper took control early and hung on to post a win in a race that saw 5 separate cautions. Each time Cooper was kept busy fighting off a hard charging Wayne Jefferson, and they repeatedly distanced themselves from the third place car of Alan McCafferty after each caution. David Baxley made his way into the 4th spot and gave McCafferty quite a race before settling for the 4th spot, and Curtis Neumann stayed out of trouble and finished 5th.
The night ended with yet another make up race from March 30th. Justin Durbin started from the pole and dominated the Hoods Up Race that ran on the kidney bean course through the infield and around the backstretch. Durbin took an easy win, and was followed by Larry Welter Jr. for 2nd and Larry Welter Sr. for 3rd place.
Next Friday, April 20th, will see the return of more divisional racing at Ocala Speedway, with 4 Cylinder Stocks, V8 Pure Stocks, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks, Sportsman, and Modifieds, featured on the night. And the night will end with the return of the Figure 8 division after a layoff of a few weeks.
