IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 10, 2008 Keith Briggs Declared the Mini Stock Winner at Ocala by BJ Cavin The weather was wonderful, the racers were ready, and were it not for two accidents on I-75, one to the north and one to the south, the fans arriving at Ocala Speedway could not find much to complain about. After a week off to allow for Monster Truck mayhem on the infield, Florida's oldest race track was back in action with a $1000 to win Mini Stock race, plus the Late Models, the V8 Thunder Stocks, and the Gladiators. Sometimes when the fans exit the track after racing ends, they leave thinking that they know who won each feature race. But as any true race fan can attest, nothing is final until the tech man says that it is, and that was definitely the case at Ocala Speedway this week. A full two hours after the fans had gone home, things finally wound down under the tech shed in the pit area, and when the dust settled, some new winners had been declared. Mini Stock racers had been eagerly anticipating their $1000 to win feature race, but favored driver Keith Briggs was disappointed during his pre race interview. Briggs said his car had an overheating problem that they could not find a solution for, so he would take it easy during the feature and pull off of the track as soon as the car got too hot. The news the Briggs was somewhat disabled seemed to inspire some other racers as an all out free for all for the lead ensued. Terry Cady got the luck of the draw after the heat races and landed on the pole, but his lead would only hold through lap 3. As Cady battled for the lead with the 3 of David Clegg, there was contact between the two which popped a tire on Clegg's machine and ruined his night just as it was getting started. The 25 of Cole Ridenhour took advantage of that incident to jump into the lead, and on the next lap it was Cady's machine that failed. Cady would not make it to the pits and the caution would come out in order to push his disabled race car off of the track. Ridenhour still had the 75 of Stephen Hollbaugh to contend with, but that car slowed with problems on lap 23. Ridenhour would cross the finish line first, followed by Keith Briggs who had managed to hang in there despite the overheating problem, followed by Paul Combast, and Jon Layerd. But later under the tech shed Ridenhour's car was found to be outside of the rules, and Keith Briggs was declared the winner. For a guy who assumed he would be relegated to the back of the field because of overheated car, Briggs couldn't be happier. The official results showed Briggs as the winner, with Paul Combast second and Jon Layerd third. William Stalnaker would have a very good night to claim the fourth spot while Michael Bagley Jr would come home in fifth place. A very impressive field of late models were on hand to impress the fans, and the Choquette bothers only added to the excitement of what proved to be an exceptional feature race. Mike Eubanks led the field to the green but Shane Williams wasted no time in blowing past him to take the early lead. Williams was followed by Mark Whitener, Shan Smith, and Jason Kimball, but a lap 6 caution would break up the mad scramble for the lead. As the race restarted there was heavy contact between Shane Williams and at least one other car as they passed under the flagstand, and Williams would get way out of shape before getting the wheels back under his machine. That allowed Whitener to blast into the lead as Shane Smith took second and Jason Kimball stole third place. But a spin in turn one would slow things again on lap 10, and that seemed to be the cue for Jeff Choquette to kick it up a notch or two. Choquette would charge forward from his middle of the pack starting position to grab 5th place by lap 12. Paul George would find trouble on the next lap and smack the backstretch wall, bringing out another caution and yet another would come as four cars had a meeting in turns one and two. But despite the slow downs, Whitener would maintain his lead to the end. Shane Williams would recover to claim the second spot while Jeff Choquette battled to a third place showing. Shan Smith and Mike Eubanks rounded out the top five. Twenty-two V8 Thunder Stock cars took the green for their 20 lap feature led by Curtis Clark from the pole, but no sooner had the race begun it became apparent that the 12 of Jerrid Bennett was a force to be reckoned with. The 12 was in the lead mix for the entire feature, and was soon joined by the 44 of Todd Roberts which blasted to the front from a dismal starting position. Racing with Roberts and Bennett for the lead was Curtis Clark, James Sealey, Augie Burtram, and Doc Batson, and that pack of cars kept it interesting for the entire event. The caution flag played a major role in the race as it seemed to be destined to fly every few laps, but the real reason for the yellows was hard racing and quite a bit of bumping and grinding throughout the field. Roberts would maintain his lead despite cautions and stiff challenges to come across the line first, followed by Jerrid Bennett in the 12. but once more the tech man would have the final say as both Roberts and Bennett failed post race inspections and were disqualified. That left Augie Burtram as the winner with Doc Batson in second place and Donald Winne in third. Harold Erickson would place fourth with Curtis Clarke in fifth. The final race of the night saw four Gladiators go at it for bragging rights, and it took mere seconds for the 60 of Brian Chisolm to open up a healthy lead. Meanwhile behind him the 6 of Wallace Douglass was doing a loop in turn 4, avoiding a caution but putting himself far behind the others. Douglass would also have a run in with Guy Bacelo Jr on the front stretch on lap 8, but again the yellow would be unnecessary. However, the caution flag was displayed once during the race as the 19 of Roy Taylor had mechanical problems and came to a stop in turn 1. In the end it was Brian Chisolm with a commanding win, followed by Guy Bacelo Jr and Wallace Douglass for second and third place. Next Week, May 16th, is Armed Forces Night at Ocala Speedway with the much anticipated return of the Open Wheel Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Gladiators. In addition, the Stars Pro Truck Series is scheduled to appear for their racing debut on a clay surface, so fans can come and watch the trucks on the dirt instead of on pavement. Ocala Speedway Results for 5/9/08 Mini Stock (30 lap/$1000 to win) 1- 19T Keith Briggs 2- 19C Daniel "Paul" Combast 3- 02 John Layerd 4- 59 William Stalnaker 5- 3B Michael Bagley Jr. 6- 55 Larry Reynolds 7- 40N David Miller 8- 75 Stephen Hollbaugh 9- 21 Ray Etheridge 10- KD1 Terry Cady 11- 3 David Clegg 12- 00 Jason Touet DNS- 119Z Johnny Zackery DQ (tech) 25 Cole Ridenhour Late Model 1- 5 Mark Whitener 2- XXX1 Shane Williams 3- 70 Jeff Choquette 4- 17SS Shan Smith 5- 18 Mike Eubanks 6- 18JO J. O. Nobles 7- 79 Jason Kimball 8- 66 Mike Bresnahan 9- 0 Rich Pratt 10- 7 Kent Corbin 11- 51 (driver unknown) 12- 08 David Davis 13- 97 Justin Choquette 14- 88 Paul George 15- 24 Dennis Williams 16- 46 Darrell Padgett 17- 74 Chuck Adkins V8 Thunder Stock 1- 58B Augie Burtram 2- 10 Doc Batson 3- 3X Donald Winne 4- 4E Harold Erickson 5- 40C Curtis Clark 6- 69 George Whitell 7- 17 Mariah Berry 8- 63 Anthony Lignore 9- 3 Robert Schrunk 10- 66 James Sealey 11- 81- Courtney Eubanks 12- 66E Harold Erickson 13- 1 Jeff Barrett 14- 69A Jonathon Appleby 15- 59 Charles Smith III 16- 40 Homer Bryant 17- 70 Geoff Danielson 18- 72 Terry Dunbar 19- 14 James Sullivan III 20- 3D Jessie Corbitt DQ (tech) 12 Jerrid Bennett DQ (tech) 44 Todd Roberts Gladiator 1- 60 Brian Chisolm 2- 2B Guy Bacelo Jr. 3- 6 Wallace Douglass 4- 19 Roy Taylor Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!