by BJ Cavin- Ocala Speedway Media
All Photos Courtesy of rewingphotos.com
OCALA, FL- Ocala Speedway’s racers and fans gathered on a humid Florida Friday night not only to enjoy the sport of stock car racing, but also to pay tribute to the innocent lives lost on September 11th, 2001. Ocala Speedway’s racers carried a huge flag to the center of the frontstretch while the crowd listened to a moving tribute featuring sound bites from that fateful day, plus our National Anthem. The tribute was followed by four divisions of racing, including the Late Models, the Tee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks, the Amsoil V8 Thunder Stocks, and the Gladiators, and the racing was followed by a visit to the tech man where three out of four divisions saw their results change after the racing had ended.
Mark Whitener has control of the points lead at Ocala Speedway and he wasted zero time in taking control of Friday’s feature race. After being chased down and beaten on the last lap on Saturday at the opposite end of the Ocala National Forest, “The Magic Man” was not going to allow history to repeat itself less than a week later. He quickly took control of the race from the man who beat him the previous weekend and never looked back, leaving everyone else to squabble over second place.
Whitener’s big lead was erased on lap 10 when a caution for debris bunched up the field, and Jackie Nosbisch got past John Kellum for the second spot. Kellum also failed to hold off Ivedent Lloyd who climbed to third place and began challenging Nosbisch for second. And in the final few laps laps Patrick Williams had also passed Kellum and was chasing down Nosbisch and Lloyd. Nobody could catch Mark Whitener as he scored an impressive victory, and Ivedent Lloyd managed to fight his way to the second finishing spot while Jack Nosbisch settled for third. Patrick Williams crossed the line in fourth place and John Kellum finished fifth.
TheTee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks were coming off of a very long hiatus as they lined up to race at Ocala Speedway on Friday, but the rust was shaken off early during heat racing and the feature race got off to an exciting start featuring a battle between Jody Wells and Trevor Gamble. Gamble won that battle and took control, but Daniel Miller Jr quickly disposed of Wells as well and locked onto the 64 car before a lap 3 caution slowed things down. Miller took advantage on the restart and gained control, and Gamble spent the remainder of the race making Miller work to stay in front.
Despite repeated challenges where Trevor Gamble got side by side with the 99 car, Daniel Miller was too much for him to overcome. Miller claimed the win while Gamble crossed the line behind him and Joe Boyd followed, but further review in tech resulted in Gamble and Boyd being penalized, so Dean Jarvis moved up to second place and Heath Walker was awarded third. Jody Wells was scored in the fourth spot and Tommy Ausburn was fifth.
The Hobby Stocks were not the only division where the results on the track were in dispute once the racing ended, and in the case of the Amsoil V8 Thunder Stocks, it was after 2AM with an engine completely removed from a race car that the dust finally settled. Jesse Corbitt lost his early lead to Scott Mooers, but Mooers by no means had control of the race. Corbitt hung in there, and Mike Stalnaker came charging forward and quickly complicated matters for the top two. By lap 5 Stalnaker had seized control as Corbitt and Mooers fought over second place. Some late race cautions kept everyone in touch with each other while Jason Gamble cracked the top three on the restarts. Michael Valdez also found the front pack and joined the battle as Mooers got shuffled up and out late, and Stalnaker maintained his spot at the helm.
Michael Stalnaker got a celebration in Victory Lane while Jason Gamble finished second, but a post race challenge of Stalnaker’s machine sent everyone to the tech shed for a long night of disassembly and discussion before the 8 car was declared the official winner. Jesse Corbitt was the third place finisher followed by “Bubba” Durbin in fourth place and Michael Valdez in fifth.
The Gladiator Division has the closest and most hotly contested points race of any division at Ocala Speedway, and that translates into hotter competition during each feature race. Sometimes that competition results in damage, and Kody Fisher got the short end of an early race tangle that put him into the wall and onto his side early on. Fisher walked away from the accident which red flagged the race for a period before the frontrunners could get back to fighting over the season points lead and a feature win.
“Super” Dave Ladrie jumped out to an early lead and held off the competition until Terry Dunbar got around him on lap 3, and Casey Feaster rocketed into the top three. Feaster kept coming and assumed the lead on lap 6, but later suffered a race ending setback when his timing belt self destructed, taking the serpentine belt with it and possibly doing severe damage to the engine. With Feaster gone, Matt Shea and Devin Walker moved into the top five as Ladrie and Dunbar continued their tussle over first place. Jerry Taylor also shot into the top three and began working over the leaders in the final laps.
Dunbar beat “Super Dave” to the checkers, but ran afoul of the tech man post race and earned a disqualification. That gave David Ladrie his first career victory and moved Jerry Taylor up to second place, followed by Matt Shea in the third spot. Devin Walker wound up, fourth, and Kyle Morse rounded out the top five.
Ocala Speedway returns to action on September 17th with the highly anticipated return of the alcohol free “All Churches Night” including Faster Pastor racing. The Colortyme Modifieds will also be in action, along with the Tee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks, the Amsoil V8 Thunder Stocks, the Mini Stocks, and the Gladiators. For more information, or to see the remainder of the 2010 racing schedule at America’s Dirt Track, visit www.OcalaSpeedway.com.
Ocala Speedway Results for 9/10/10
Late Model
1- 58 Mark Whitener
2- 21 Ivedent Lloyd Jr.
3- 12 Jack Nosbisch
4- 16 Patrick Williams
5- 41K John Kellum
6- 1* John Koller
7- 32 Phillip Cobb
8- 18JO J.O. Nobles
9- Z Tim Zackery
10- 8 Tim Dowling
11- 158 Augie Burttram
12- 35 Christian Augspurger
13- 26 David Ponder
14- 23VP V.P. Pipken
Tee Pee Tire Hobby Stock
1- 99 Daniel Miller Jr.
2- 37J Dean Jarvis
3- 55 Heath Walker
4- 11W Jody Wells
5- 69 Tommy Ausburn
6- 96 Ronald Lentz
7- 9 Sean Babcock
8- 08E William Edwards
9- 26 Brian Jerrels
10- 13 Philip Brown
DQ- 64 Trevor Gamble
DQ- 83 Joe Boyd
Amsoil V8 Thunder Stock
1- 8 Michael Stalnaker
2- 5W Jason Gamble
3- 3D Jesse Corbitt
4- 12D “Bubba” Durbin
5- 15 Michael Valdez
6- 10 Scott Mooers
7- 14 Tim Mathieu
8- 3W Vaughn Woodall
9- 66 Harold Erickson
10- 69A Jonathan Appleby
11- 326 Gordon Cade
12- 76 Chris Shea
13- 19 Brian Shea
14- 77 Jeff Stalnaker Sr.
15- 89 Kenny Asbell Jr.
16- 64 Jonathan Gillette
17- 55 Joey Durbin
Gladiator
1- 11 David Ladrie
2- 31 Jerry Taylor
3- 96 Matt Shea
4- 55JR Devin Walker
5- 82 Kyle Morse
6- 83M Kathie Fisher
7- 57 James McCloud
8- 10 Larry Nelson
9- 76 Ken McCloud
10- 3H Brandon Haseleu
11- 23 Rebecca Paugh
12- 15 Hunter Gustafson
13- 20 Casey Feaster
14- 83 Kody Fisher
DQ- 1 Terry Dunbar
