by Jimmy Rouse – Ocala Speedway Media

A crazy night at Ocala Speedway had flipped cars, championship changes, and great battles all night long. The Top Gun Sprint Cars rolled into Ocala for the final time in 2010, the Amsoil V-8 Thunderstocks and Mini Stocks ran their final points events, the Gladiators battled, and the ladies competed in the Powder Puff race.

The Mini Stocks ran the first feature of the night and had the closest points battle of the 6 divisions at Ocala. Nick Kerr held 9 points over his father, Dan Kerr, going into the final night. At the beginning of the night, Buddy Pope jumped out to a lead and held it until half-way. Nick Kerr took the lead at this point and went on to win another feature en route to a Mini Stocks championship. Buddy Pope put a great effort in for 2nd while Dan Kerr took a hard fought 3rd. Sean Babcock finished 4th and Paul Combast took 5th right at the end. In victory lane, Dan waited for Nick to finish his burn-out and take championship pictures.

The season has been a wild one for the Amsoil V-8 Thunderstocks, but no one expected this. Before the race even got started, everyone was wondering where Mike Stalnaker was. Mike had a problem on the 8 so he jumped into the 326 after Gordon Cade made a generous donation to Mike. On lap 1, Jonathan Appleby, Steve Mooers, Brian Shea, Eddie Kilbury Jr., and Jesse Corbitt all spun in turn 4. All were able to continue. On lap 3, James Sullivan, III flipped the 14 in turn 1 after hitting the wall. Sullivan was okay after the wreck. On the lap 10 restart, Chris Fontaine took the lead from Scott Mooers and than Eddie Kilbury, Jr. and Jonathan Gillette spun in turn 4. The restart saw Kenny Asbell loop it on the frontstretch and then he continued. The final 10 laps were run under green and Mike Stalnaker carefully picked his way through the field. Fontaine would not be denied the win and beat Scott Mooers to the line. Vaughn Woodall was 3rd, right in front of his driver, Sean Babcock, who finished 4th in 2 features! Mike Stalnaker finished 5th but in tech a piece of rubber was found to be non-stock and Stalnaker was disqualified, moving Chris Rowe into 5th. What some said was impossible, was done and Scott Mooers won the championship at Ocala.

The Gladiators had the craziest night of them all and it started in the heat races. In Gladiator heat 2, Kyle Morse hit the tractor tire, bounced on the nose, and landed on top of the tractor tire. In the feature, the battle up front was Sammy Dell, Steve Johnson, Devin Walker, and Matt Shea. On lap 8, Larry Nelson and Howie Garvin tangled in turn 3 and turned into the tractor tire at the exit of 4. Coming to the white flag, Steve Johnson had a problem and Sammy Dell pulled out to a lead over Shea and Walker. In turn 4, Devin Walker ended up in the wall and was alert but a check-up at the hospital showed that he had a mild concussion and a jammed thumb. In turn 1, Matt Kramer rolled the 77 as the checkers were given to Dell. Matt Shea was 2nd, Jerry Taylor 3rd, Dalton Strehle 4th, and Bobby Super 5th.

For the final time in 2010, the Top Gun Sprints hit the clay at Ocala. Terry Witherspoon would start on pole in his 43 and Tim George would start the 1 on outside pole. A lot of people wondered where Rich Pratt would start, but he would not be able to start the feature as his car had trouble all night. Witherspoon pulled out to an early lead as Tim George pulled off track 3 laps in, but on lap 5, Kyle Welchance spun and stalled in turn 4.

Danny Martin Jr

After the restart, Danny Martin passed Witherspoon and would start to pull away until lap 9 when Danny Jones and Rocky Sullivan collided in turn 4. Both men were able to continue. After 5 laps, Jimmy Ballew, Jr. spun in turn 4. On lap 17, Kyle Welchance spun in turn 4 and would not be able to keep going. The final 8 were run under green and Danny Martin won his 2nd-in-a-row at Ocala as Terry Witherspoon finished a well earned 2nd, Shawn Murray ran 3rd all night, Shane Kreidler gained 6 spots to finish 4th, and Stephen Darvalics moved up 3 spots for 5th.

The Powder Puff had 9 drivers that would run 6 laps. Half-way through the race there were 3 cars at the front- the 41, the M83 of Brenda Fisher, and the 11Z of Jessica Zackery. Going into the final corner, Zackery dove underneath the 41 and took the big win. Brenda Fisher was 2nd, Stephanie Saul 3rd, the 41 in 4th, and Shiloh Benninghoff 5th.

The final event at Ocala Speedway will be run this upcoming Friday where the Late Models, Tee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks, and Gladiators run their final points events. The Amsoil V-8 Thunderstocks also run, but no winners from 2010 may run. Gates open at 5PM and racing starts at 8. For more information you may call the Speedway or visit www.ocalaspeedway.com.

Top Gun Sprint Cars

1- 24 Danny Martin
2- 43 Terry Witherspoon
3- 22 Shawn Murray
4- 13H Shane Kreidler
5- 41 Stephen Darvalics
6- 14 Ryan Partin
7- 99 Danny Jones
8- 18 Jimmy Ballew, Jr.
9- 27 Rocky Sullivan
10- 42 Tim Grahaugh
11- 83 Mark Ruel, Jr.
12- 47 Kyle Welchance
13- 1 Tim George
DNS- 17D Bruce Durden
DNS- 30 John Crowder
DNS- 7J Robert Bozeman
DNS- 2 Rich Pratt

Mini Stocks

1- 75K Nick Kerr
2- 81 Buddy Pope
3- 73 Dan Kerr
4- 69 Sean Babcock
5- 19C Paul Combast
6- 11Z Johnny Zackery
7- 47 Tim Zackery
8- 9 Ryan Babcock
9- 3D Dean Kinsey
10- 12B Jimbo Bird
11- 21 Ray Ethridge

Amsoil V-8 Thunderstocks

1- 84 Chris Fontaine
2- 10 Scott Mooers
3- 3W Vaughn Woodall
4- 5W Sean Babcock
5- 23 Chris Rowe
6- 19 Brian Shea
7- 76 Chris Shea
8- 3D Jesse Corbitt
9- 17K Eddie Kilbury, Jr.
10- 10M Steve Mooers
11- 18W Chris Watson
12- 64 Jonathan Gillette
13- 42 Scotter Bare
14- 56A Jonathan Appleby
15- 89 Kenny Asbell, Jr.
16- 14 James Sullivan, III
17- 4 Ronnie Harrell
DNS- 86 Mickey Jackson
DNS- 326 Gordon Cade
DQ- 8 Mike Stalnaker

Gladiators

1- 8 Sammy Dell
2- 96 Matt Shea
3- 31 Jerry Taylor
4- 7S Dalton Strehle
5- 14 Bobby Super
6- 7L Roy Lester
7- 10 Larry Nelson
8- 41 Howie Garvin
9- 76 Ken McCloud
10- 55JR Devin Walker
11- 77 Matthew Kramer
12- 88 Steven Johnson
13- 10G Chase Gustafson
14- 3H Brandon Haseleu
15- 83 Kody Fisher
16- 48 Steven Cox
17- 15 Hunter Gustafson
18- 83M Kathie Fisher
DNS- 12 Nathan Rhodes
DNS- 20 Casey Feaster
DNS- 82 Kyle Morse

Powder Puff

1- 11Z Jessica Zackery
2- M83 Brenda Fisher
3- 14 Stephanie Saul
4- 41 unknown driver
5- 18 Shiloh Benninghoff
6- 76 unknown driver
7- 3W unknown driver
8- 19 Lisa Medlin
9- 10 Colleen Nelson