The track crew at Ocala Speedway provided what turned out to be a near perfect surface for Saturday’s races, and their efforts were verified when lap times in qualifying began dipping lower and lower still.\u00a0 Tony Stewart Racing’s Levi Jones set the fast time, driving a backup car that until that moment had never been on the clay.\u00a0 Jones’ blistered the clay with a new track record of 14.758 around the tricky circuit.<\/p>\n
Heat racing saw Shane Cottle grab a win, plus Jerry Coons Jr, Kyle Robbins, and Steve Irwin, all registered heat race victories as more teams began figuring out how to deal with Ocala’s reputation as the southeast’s toughest 3\/8ths mile.\u00a0 The B main feature provided heated action as Chris Windom, Casey Riggs, Jon Stanbrough, and Casey Shuman, all transferred to the A main event.<\/p>\n
The 30 lap feature race began with Blake Fitzpatrick and Damion Gardner up front, and those two racers dominated the early going by running one and two.\u00a0 Gardner seemed extremely tough, and began building a lead as the leaders caught the rear of the field and began lapping traffic.\u00a0 Meanwhile Fitzpatrick would slip high in turn 1 and allow Bryan Clauson to slip by for second place.\u00a0 Clauson would get a shot at the lead by lap 8, but would not be able to make the move stick.<\/p>\n
The first half of the feature ran caution free and lapped traffic was a factor for most of those 15 laps.\u00a0 But at that point a tangle in turn four involved three cars, including Clauson and the lapped car of Steve Irwin, resulting in a slowdown that rebunched the field with Gardner in control. That caution also worked to the favor of Casey Riggs, who had used the outer perimeter of Ocala Speedway to slingshot his way forward through the field, placing him solidly in second place.\u00a0 Fitzpatrick remained in the third spot as the race restarted.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/USAC-Ocala-2-19_66762-275x220.jpg\" "\\"USAC-Ocala-2-19_6676\\"")
<\/a>With clear track in front of him for a few laps, Damion Gardner kicked in the afterburners and stretched his lead over Riggs, who a lap later had a little bobble that allowed Fitzpatrick to regain second place and Levi Jones to climb to third.\u00a0 But no one had anything for Gardner, who grabbed his second win in three nights.\u00a0 Blake Fitzpatrick got a second place finish for the second night in a row, while Levi Jones placed third in his backup machine.\u00a0 Hunter Schuerenberg and Casey Shurman rounded out the top five.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/USAC-Ocala-2-19_66411-200x300.jpg\" "\\"USAC-Ocala-2-19_6641\\"")
<\/a>As the UMP Modifieds took to the clay for their 20 lap feature, all eyes were on Devin Dixon and Jeff Mathews after their tangle and exit the previous night.\u00a0 And while those two provided some heated moments in the race, the real show was watching Kyle Bronson take control of the event and absolutely dominate the field to seal a win.\u00a0 Mike Spatola took a shot at his second Florida win, but Bronson would have none of that, forcing Spatola to settle for second place.\u00a0 And Devin Dixon, who battled with Jeff Mathews briefly before the two were separated by other competitors, placed third on the night.\u00a0 Kentucky’s David McWilliams and California’s Jeff Thomas finished fourth and fifth respectively.<\/p>\n