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| Dirt Late Models hit the Pavement Friday at Ocala Speedway | by Dave Westerman
For the first time in eight years, dirt Late Models will be back in action at Ocala Speedway as the National Late Model Series comes to town for a 50 lap race presented by Buddy's Home Furnishings.
One lucky fan win will a 27-inch color TV from Buddy's Home Furnishings and Ocala Speedway, plus the first 50 fans receive a superior drink cup courtesy of Buddy's Home Furnishings that will be good for a discount beverage at the track.
The NLMS machines will open a two-race weekend at Ocala then move on to Columbia Motorsports Park near Lake City for a Saturday night race. The dirt cars have run at CMP the past couple of years with great success which means race fans at Ocala Speedway should be in for quite a show.
Eighty-six drivers have competed in the four National Late Model Series races held so far in 2003 indicating the strong following the Series has. Thus fans should be treated to an extra-large field of these wild-looking Late Model machines Friday night.
Rookie driver Patrick Sheltra leads the NLMS point standings after four events by eleven points over veteran driver Cecil Eunice and Henry Carter, the only driver in the top ten in points to have won a NLMS race this year.
Local favorite Ivedent Lloyd, who was always one of the drivers to beat week in and week out when the Ocala track was dirt, is expected to be in the field along with a host of top runners like Johnny Collins, Jay Carpenter, Michael Lloyd, Dwayne Johnson, Stacey Roberts, Charles Sealy, Tuck Trentham, Steve Lade, Steve Whitener, Bret Carlton, Skip Pannell, Jason Hylton, Bob McQuaig and many more.
A talented group of rookies are expected including point leader Sheltra, Greg Ward, Toby Justice, Aaron McQuaig and Jason Davis.
Also in action Friday evening will be the WIND-FM Open Wheel Modifieds, Diamond H Air & Heat Sportsman, Mini Stocks, K-Country Street Stocks, and Four Cylinder Stocks.
David Baxley stays on top of the points heap in the WIND-FM Modifieds by four markers over Jeremy Gerstner. Johnnie "The Rat" Newsome sits eight points in back of Gerstner and three points ahead of John Foerg with Jamie Tinkham currently fifth.
Back to back wins last Sunday have now put Larry Goolsby up by 22 points in the Mini Stocks over Marlon Durbin. Durbin has a healthy 24 point advantage over Jake Garver who is six points up on fourth place A.J. Schreier. Despite two wins and two second place finishes in recent weeks, Rick Sirmans is fifth in points by virtue of missing several early-season shows. However, Sirmans plans to run at Ocala on a regular basis and should be a contender for the title.
The best points race at the moment belongs to the Diamond H Air & Heat Sportsman class where just two points separate the top three. Frank Buchanan took over the point lead last week after Patrick Mennenga suffered a DNF on Sunday. However, Mennenga is only a point behind Buchanan while Tom Posavec is beginning to make his presence felt and is just two points out of first. Roger Damron and Kathy Ray are fourth and fifth in the current Sportsman tally.
Doug Webster and Mark Mitchell continue to sit atop the K-Country Street Stock point standings despite neither having won a feature so far this year. Webster used two second place finishes on Sunday to move out to a 14 point advantage over Mitchell while Kyle Maynard and Tommy Roberts are tied for third, five points behind Mitchell. David Chastain is fifth in Street Stock points.
Tom Ellis continues to lead the Four Cylinder Stock points, but now has Rick Kuhn just nine markers behind him after another strong run on Sunday afternoon. Second year drivers Joel Byall and Harold Barup are third and fourth, separated by just a point and Dan Sanderson is fifth.
Grandstands open Friday evening at 6PM with NLMS qualifying at 7:30 followed by a full night of great Ocala Speedway racing action at 8PM including the 50-lap run for the National Late Model Series.
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