It was a beautiful night for racing at Ocala Speedway as another good crowd of fans made their way into the grandstands. From the start it became evident that this Friday would be one of those where Murphy and his laws were in control, and what things could go wrong did go wrong for a number of drivers. Despite the hard luck and unfortunate outcomes for some, there was still great racing action and a few pleasant surprises.
The V8 Pure Stock division began the feature races and it only took one lap for fate to take control. Larry Welter Jr. took the pole and led the cars to the green flag but a spin further back in the pack brought out a caution and caused a restart. Matt Schell took his car from a dismal starting position to second place in just five laps, then took over the lead just three laps later. But on lap 10 Kenny Thornton's engine expired and oiled the front stretch, bringing out a red flag. On the restart after the cleanup, the finger of fate then pointed at leader Matt Schell, as the rear end on his race car came apart greasing up turn three and sending several cars spinning in all directions. Another clean up ensued and the officials then shortened the race in the interest of remaining on schedule for the night. In the end it was Larry Welter Jr. who prevailed as the winner in a 11 lap race, while James Erickson fought his way to second place and Bruce Shell managed to finish third.
Things did not go any better for the 4 Cylinder Division as two cars that raced in the qualifying heats failed to make the starting grid for the feature, and Brandon Elwood broke down and had to leave the track before the green flag flew. That left only three cars running at the green flag and caused the track officials to shorten this feature race to 12 laps. Pole sitter Mike Oglesby then sped his way to the finish from flag to flag as Justyn Elwood could not muster enough speed to pass him. But in post race tech Oglesby's car was DQed and the win was awarded to Justyn Elwood. Taking home the second place trophy was a very proud John Hagans, who after many races at Ocala had never had a top three finish.
The Street Stocks became the first division to complete their 20 lap feature race on the evening but it did not happen without incident. Justin Durbin won the pole and lead the field to the green flag, but a crash between Carl Carr and Mark Trexler caused the yellow to be displayed and forced a complete restart. The yellow again was out by lap 2 thanks to rough racing that resulted in debris on the track. Warnings were issued to drivers to calm it down before the green flag waved but it quickly became apparent that some listened while others did not. Shelby Mather took his new car to the front on lap 3 maintained that lead until challenged by a hard charging Dan Tremblay and Pete Close. Tremblay wrestled the lead from Mather with his bumper on lap 14 and Close followed into second place, then passed Tremblay for the lead one lap later. There is contact between Tremblay and close in turn one and the caution comes out as Close spins into the infield grass. At his point Tremblay is shown the black flag for conduct on the track and headed to the pits while Close reassumed the lead. Shelby Mather was not willing to settle for second place and tried a daring outside move coming out of turn four, but ended up pinched between Pete Close and the front stretch wall with no room to pass. Pete close took the win followed by Shelby Mather in second place, while Justin Durbin hung back to avoid all of the bumping and banging and finished third.
Lori Holbrook was the pole sitter as the Thunder Stock Division began their feature race, but a first lap collision between her and Chris Oliveri in turn one caused a complete restart. When the green was waved a second time Holbrook was passed for the lead by Oliveri, who promptly lost control in turn 4 and spun out bringing out another caution and forcing himself into the pits with car problems. From that point it was Josh Brown who took control, taking the lead on lap 3 with a car that had left the earlier heat races on the dreaded hook. Brown maintained his lead and drove to a convincing win, while Scott Anderson overcame handling problems to take second place and Lori Holbrook settled for the third place trophy.
Thirteen Sportsman cars took the green flag to begin their feature race with John Mamph on the pole and defending division champion William Edwards in the rear. In the end it was Mamph who drove away from the field to take the win, but Edwards put on quite a show racing from the back to the front with skillful driving, managing a fourth place finish. Jim Higginbotham had overcome nagging engine problems that had held him back for a few weeks, but spun on lap 14 and again on the final lap due to being at the wrong place at the right time. Shelton Bowers started the race on the outside of the front row and finished in second place to Mamph, while Greg Young drove a borrowed race car to third place.
The Fastruck Kids fielded an aggressive bunch of drivers who settled their 35 lap feature event through the process of elimination. Seven trucks began the race with Seth Greco on the pole, but by the time the 35 laps were complete only three trucks managed to see the checkers wave. Seth Greco proved to be the true survivor, enduring several collisions and spins to take the win in a battered truck, while Lance Daubach fought to a second place finish and Ross Chastain claimed the third prize.
Ten trucks raced with the Fastruck Pros as Vernon Hart led the field on the pole in a 50 lap feature. But James Green Jr. and John Kidwell quickly raced from deep in the field to take first and second respectively. Kidwell would race Green hard for the entire event, but in the end could not find a way to make a pass to earn a win. James Green Jr. was the race winner, followed by John Kidwell in second and Barry Bartlett III in third place.
The night was topped off with a Figure 8 race that amazingly went flag to flag without any incidents. Rick Hart started from the pole but was passed by Justin Durbin and Larry Welter Jr when he slipped out of the racing groove later in the race. Durbin took complete control of the race from that point, speeding to a convincing win over Larry Welter Jr. in second and Rick Hart in third.
Friday, May 25th will be another "Wacky Friday" at Ocala Speedway with a Tire Race scheduled to cap off the night. The Late Model Division will be returning as well, plus the other regular racing divisions.
Results from Ocala Speedway for Friday, May 18th
V8 Pure Stock 1- 53 Larry Welter Jr. 2- 66 James Erickson 3- 157 Bruce Schell 4- 3K Jessie Corbett 5- 14 James Sullivan 6- 17 Dave Alexander 7- 57 Matt Schell 8- 22 Kenny Thornton
4 Cylinder Stock 1- 17 Justyn Elwood 2- 23 John Hagens DNS- 28 Brandon elwood DNS- 20 Kenny Maddox DNS- 43 Mike Taylor DQ (tech) 1 Mike Ogelsby
Street Stock 1- 86 Pete Close Jr. 2- 17 Shelby Mather 3- 12 Justin Durbin 4- 65 Shane Nichols 5- 48 Joey Durbin 6- 4 David Foster 7- 14 John Buzenac 8- 39 Rick Bass 9- 3X Mark Trexler 10- 09 Carl Carr 11- 67 Norm Brown DQ (conduct) 22 Dan Tremblay
Thunder Stock 1- 67 Josh Brown 2- 07 Scott Anderson 3- 17 Lori Holbrook 4- 3K Chris Oliveri DNS- 96 Jason Henry
Sportsman 1- 8B John Mamph 2- 32 Shelton Bowers 3- 23 Greg Young 4- 08 William Edwards 5- 3 Harold Barup 6- 61 Eric Sauers 7- 39 Rick Bass 8- 8R Tim Shull 9- 11 Harold Edwards 10- 29 Leroy Donaldson 11- 76 Jim Higginbotham 12- 83 Mike Fortner 13- 17 Jason Holbrook
FAST Truck Kids 1- 74 Seth Greco 2- 77 Lance Daubach 3- 36 Ross Chastain 4- 1 Maxx Bennett 5- 46 Matt Cohen 6- 33 Casey Caudill DQ- 69 Stephen Nasse
FAST Truck Pro 1- 53 James Green Jr. 2- 7NY John Kidwell 3- 71 Barry Bartlett 4- 18 Dustin Henderson 5- 11 Graham McCorvey 6- 48 Vernon Hart 7- 83 Jason Strong 8- 05 Mike Powers 9- 40 Jessica Green 10- 92 Michael Cenzi DQ- 04 Daniel Blevins
Figure 8 1- 12 Justin Durbin 2- 53 Larry Welter Jr. 3- 13 Rick Hart 4- 48 Marlon Durbin 5- 14 John Buzinec 6- 07 Scott Anderson 7- 82 Aaron Welter
