VANN CROSSES LINE FIRST... MITCHELL GETS THE CASH AT OCALA
By Dave Westerman
The sun was still high in the sky and shining brightly when Red Vann took the checkered flag as the apparent winner of the Hangover 100 Sunday afternoon at Ocala Speedway. Several hours later as darkness and cold temperatures engulfed the speedway, Mark Mitchell of nearby Anthony was declared the winner and carried off the winner's share of $5,000.
Action began with qualifying on Saturday afternoon with Red Vann turning the quickest lap of the 29 entries at a sizzling 17.593. Tommy Roberts was second quick at 17.771 as these two drivers locked in the front row spots for Sunday's big race.
Three qualifying heats were also held on Saturday with Kyle Maynard, Pete Close, Jr., and Mark Mitchell scoring wins with a total of twelve more drivers added to the starting field.
Ten more staters were determined on Sunday as Mickey Burns and Michael Rosa headed a pair of 12-lap Consolation races.
With the field set, the green dropped for the Hangover 100 at just past 2PM with Roberts jumping to the early lead and Vann right behind him.
Caution flew on lap four when Augie Burtram's car slowed to a halt at the pit entrance. But it was already apparent that this was going to be a two car show as Roberts and Vann were clearly the fastest cars on the track.
Close, Jr. had worked his way up to third spot, but his car was leaking fuel and he was black flagged on lap ten and lost several laps in the pits.
Caution flew again on laps 19, 29, and 31 for harmless spins, but each time Roberts took off to a big lead with Vann hounding his every move. Brian Richardson dropped fluid on the track when the transmission broke in his car on lap 38 to bring out the fifth caution, then a David Kidd spin halted the action on lap 44.
A mandatory red flag for fuel at the halfway mark found Roberts still leading in front of Vann, Mark Mitchell, Kyle Maynard, Frank Buchanan, Paul Gladin, Kevin Durden, Patrick Williams, Arthur Conquest, and Doug Webster.
As the field came back to the green flag, it became apparent that Vann was no longer happy with running behind Roberts and the two drivers started going at it side by side, bumping several times in crowd-pleasing fashion. On lap 77, the two leaders got together in turn one with Roberts spinning to a stop.
Both cars were put to the rear of the machines on the lead lap and Mitchell now found himself in the lead.
An obviously upset Roberts chose to restart behind Vann and the fans were ready for the fireworks to begin. However, just after the green came out again, Roberts took his car to the pits with a flat tire.
Vann, restarting from tenth spot, was driving by the field like they were going the other direction, passing cars with ease.
Action was slowed as Buchanan and Durden tangled in turn one battling for fifth spot, a situation that allowed Vann to close up behind the lead duo of Mitchell and Maynard. Buchanan lost a lap before he could get his car back on the track surface.
Vann had no trouble with the leaders, driving by Mitchell on lap 91 to take the top spot away.
With the white flag set to come out, Paul Gladin had his engine come unglued to bring out the final caution flag.
Vann raced unchallenged to the checker followed by Mitchell and Maynard with Patrick Williams having the drive of the day coming from 18th on the starting grid to fourth.
Then it was on to the tech shed for what would turn out to be a very long late afternoon that would last well into the evening.
A complete teardown of the winner was ordered and the wait was on. After nearly two hours and several conferences among track officials, Vann's Camaro was determined not to meet the rules for the class and he was disqualified.
Now it was Mitchell's turn to tear down and again the wait was on. Finally, at just past 8:30 in the evening, Mitchell's car was ruled legal and he was declared the winner, getting the twin trophies and an envelope containing $5,000 cash.
Young Kyle Maynard was elevated to second spot, picking up $1200 for his efforts. Patrick Williams was third with 2002 Fall Champion Doug Webster fourth and Arthur Conquest fifth.
Kevin Durden was the last car on the lead lap, good for sixth spot, while Frank Buchanan, Mickey Burns, Marlon Durbin, and Mike Soukup rounded out the top ten, all one lap down.
The Open Wheel Lite cars ran a pair of features over the weekend with Tennessee's Doug Carrigan winning his 38th consecutive OWL feature on Saturday over Brian Gingras, Dan Nyhan, Rick Lundeen, Nick Shadid, Robert Ham, Ron Towles, Chris Harrison, and Harvey Johnson.
That race was marked by a wild crash which saw Jim Harrison roll his car three times. The force of the crash saw Harrison's eyeglasses come off, however alert track personnel found them on the track and they were fortunately unbroken.
Carrigan's big win streak was halted on Sunday as he was involved in an early tangle, then spun late in the race damaging the rear axle of his "Plum Crazy" OWL truck.
Jacksonville's Ron Towles went on to lead every lap of Sunday's main with Gingras finishing second for the second day in a row.
Rick Lundeen, Jim McDonald, Robert Ham, Nick Shadid, Wayne DeClerk, Dan Nyhan, and Jerry Davis completed the top ten finishers.
Saturday's Four Cylinder Stock feature was won by Tom Ellis, who claimed the victory over Justin Durbin, Ric Fort, Robert Davis, Joey Durbin, Chris Antis, Brooke Driggers, Rocky Bowden, and David Pine.
Drivers Chris Loepke and James Dahl made the trip down from Mississippi to compete in the Hangover 100. Only Loepke qualified for the race, eventually finishing 14th.
HANGOVER 100 FINISH:
1) Mark Mitchell, Anthony #71 2) Kyle Maynard, Ocala #07 3) Patrick Williams, Archer #121 4) Doug Webster, Ocala #72 5) Arthur Conquest, Bronson #78X 6) Kevin Durden, Archer #38 7) Frank Buchanan, Belleview #07B 8) Mickey Burns, N. Fort Myers #22 9) Marlon Durbin, Belleview #72B 10) Mike Soukup, Daytona Beach #45 11) Michael Rosa, Reddick #76 12) Ron Whaley, New Smyrna Beach #2 13) Paul Gladin, Ocala #9 14) Chris Loepke, Ocean Springs, MI #30 15) Gordon Cade, Morriston #21X 16) David Kidd, Wildwood #03 17) Pete Close, Jr., Ocala #08 18) Tommy Roberts, Belleview #44 19) Harold Edwards, Belleview #65 20) Dustin Sinquefield, Brooksville #21 21) Kenny Abney, Ft. McCoy #6X 22) Augie Burtram, Ocala #57 23) Brian Richardson, Bradenton #23 24) Sid Mosbrucker, Ocala #62 25) Don Teague, Inverness #2X 26) Red Vann, Zephyrhills #79 (DQ)
Did not Qualify: Gary Hotalen, James Dahl, Roger Brass, Glen Colyer, Claus Vinent.
