by BJ Cavin- Ocala Speedway Media
OCALA, FL- After nature stole another night of racing from the fans on June 18th, Ocala Speedway will be back in action on Friday, June 25th, with five exciting divisions. Fans will see hot competition from the Colortyme Rental Modifieds, the Sportsman Division, the Tee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks, the Amsoil V8 Thunder Stocks, and the Gladiators. And as an added bonus, the “Father Mows Best” lawnmower race that was rained out last weekend, will run at intermission this Friday night.
The Colortyme Modifieds are providing one of the closest points battles of the 2010 season as 11 top racers are within easy striking distance of points leader Jeff Mathews. Mathews’ lead is by a mere 15 points over Kyle Owen, while Kyle Bronson and Roger Crouse are tied at just one point shy of Owen. Wayne Hammond is 19 points shy of Mathews, while Chip Owen and Garrett Stewart are 26 and 36 points out of first place. Mathews got a win the last time out, but any slip on his part could result in any one of these racers replacing him at the top.
Danny Vogel and Stanton Mills entered the fray the last time out for Ocala’s Sportsman Division, and those two racers quickly proved that they were there to win. Vogel won the race while Stanton Mills finished second, while points leader Kevin Mills failed to start the main event due to mechanical issues. Augie Burttram’s third place finish was enough to vault him in front of Kevin Mills on the points ladder, while Vogel and Stanton Mills climbed all the way into third and fourth place in the points respectively. Kevin Mills is now in a position where he must perform well this weekend if he has any hope of staying in the top four or five in points, as Vogel and Stanton Mills are both within easy reach of taking him down a few more notches.
The Tee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks were expected to provide another side by side battle between Dean Jarvis and Heath Walker the last time out, but both of those drivers wound up watching from the sidelines as Bubba Christian took over and won. Jarvis is still the points leader with Walker just 10 points behind, so this Friday offers yet another chance for these two racers to steal the show. That is, barring anymore unfortunate bouts of lousy luck. In fact, the top three in the 2010 points race fared badly on June 11th, and now need to keep one eye in the mirror.
After enduring a run of races where it seemed impossible to finish, much less get a win, Michael Stalnaker put his race car back into the Victory Lane celebration with the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants V8 Thunder Stocks two weeks ago. While that finish failed to knock Jerrid Bennett out of the top spot, it at least kept Stalnaker within striking distance at 28 points out of first place. Right behind Stalnaker are the EBD Racing drivers, Brian and Chris Shea, who could easily overtake Stalnaker should he falter again. And a wild card in the mix is Scott Mooers, who struggled the last time out and never factored into the finish. After a less than spectacular outing Mooers should be more determined to run up front and challenge for the win, which could get in the way of someone else who wants it just as badly.
Casey Feaster grabbed a Gladiator Division win on June 1, drawing within 20 points of points leader Steven Johnson. Meanwhile Devin Walker has slowly been creeping up the ladder, and now sits in third place just three points behind Feaster, while Matt Shea’s second place finish on the 11th kept him in the fourth spot for 2010, and still climbing. Steven Johnson keeps posting top five finishes, but his competition is whittling away at his points lead little by little each week by finishing in front of him. Look for Johnson to step it up this week to defend the top spot, while Feaster keeps clawing at him from behind. And also look for Devin Walker to have his mechanical gremlins under control so that he can try to overtake Casey Feaster.