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| Action Heats up with Six Divisions at Ocala Speedway | by Dave Westerman
As a late spring/early summer heat wave grips all of Florida with temperatures of 90-plus degrees, action will be as hot as the weather Friday night at Ocala Speedway with all six regular racing classes in action.
After a week off so their dirt late model counterparts could give the track a try, the Steven A. Bagen Super Late Models will be back in action this week.
Several new faces are also expected over the next few weeks as drivers prepare for the return of the Powell Memorial on June 6th, a race every SLM driver in the state wants to win.
As summer weather approaches, Super Late Model teams are faced each week with qualifying just before sunset then having crews make the proper adjustments for the feature race for a much cooler racing surface later in the evening.
Ocala's E.J. Wise, driving his family-owned Wise Auto Sales Monte Carlo, heads the SLM point chase by 10 over Archer's Patrick "Doughboy" Williams who wheels the Armstrong Homes/Petty Quarterhorses entry.
Those two have a pretty comfortable margin over third place Gig Smith while Troy Robinson is fourth, but just a point ahead of fifth place Tim Shull.
Anthony's David Baxley has been quite dominant recently in the WIND-FM Modifieds, but still has only a nine point advantage over Tampa driver Jeremy Gerstner. Fellow Tampa driver Johnnie Newsome is seven markers behind Gerstner in third and just a point in front of John Foerg. Jamie Tinkham got back on track with a strong run last week and sits fifth in points.
After a one week hiatus, Belleview's Patrick "Sweet Pea" Mennenga is back on top of the Diamond H Air & Heat Sportsman points following his win last week.
Lurking just three points back now is steady Tom Posavec of Dunnellon.
Posavec hasn't won a feature yet this year, but has been posting consistent top five finishes. Frank Buchanan, who held the points lead last week, is only two points behind Posavec while Roger Damron and Kathy Ray round out the top five in points this week.
Quite a rivalry is now going full-tilt in the Modified Mini Stock class between point leader Larry Goolsby's Maguire's Racing team and the Fascats Cattery team of Rick Sirmans.
Between the two, they've finished either first or second in the last six features and despite some light-hearted "trash talking" in the pits, their racing on the track has been very clean.
Goolsby continues to hold a rather comfortable 25 point advantage over Marlon Durbin who most feel will break into the win column soon. Steady Jake Garver has been keeping the rubber side down recently and is still third in points while Sirmans' recent surge has moved him to fourth in points even though he missed several early-season events. Rookie Mini Stock driver A.J. Schreier holds fifth in points.
The K-Country Street Stocks have run every week since the season began, and point leader Doug Webster has finished no worse than seventh in any race, no small feat since 54 drivers have already earned points and it's still early in the season.
However, young Kyle Maynard of Ocala is really starting to draw some attention after picking up his third win of the year last week and moving into second in points, 16 behind Webster.
Mark Mitchell is just one point behind Maynard and seven in front of fourth place Tommy Roberts while David Chastain remains fifth in points.
Tom Ellis' once healthy point lead has dwindled to just a point over red-hot Rick Kuhn in the Four Cylinder Stocks. Kuhn took his second win of the year last week to move right in on Ellis.
Harold Barup remains third in the Four Cylinder standings, but is 35 points behind Kuhn and just a point ahead of fourth place Joel Byall.
Harry Drier, who runs the only Chevette in the field, has moved into fifth in points.
The Classic Auto Racing Series has rescheduled the race postponed from April 18th to next Friday night, May 16th.
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