Yellow Fever Doesn't Slow McCafferty in Ocala UPM Modifieds
by Dave Westerman
Great weather and a fantastic crowd greeted the stars of the United Promoters Modified Tour Friday night at Ocala Speedway and the 50-lap race turn out to be a wild one.
Former track champion David Baxley got things off on a speedy note by tripping the clocks at 15.187 for quick time among the 23 cars in attendance. Jamie Burrows, Alan McCafferty, Gary Southard and Mike Wilson timed second through fifth quick.
The re-draw saw McCafferty on the pole for the main event, andfollowing a dominating win here last week, The Clermont driver was going to be tough. McCafferty stormed to the lead as the field took the green while Wilson slid into second just in front of Baxley. Starters Larry Bowden and Dave Dinehart would get a workout in this race as caution flags flew early and often.
Greg Nordstrom looped his machine on lap two for the first caution and when the green reappeared, it looked like this race might run the distance, but that was not to be the case.
On lap 12, UPM Point leader Dwayne Dempsey tapped Jamie Burrows during a battle for fourth spot sending the latter for a spin. Both cars were sent to the rear of the field. Two laps after the restart, Baxley drove by Wilson and set his sights on McCafferty, who had been dominating to this point.
It wouldn't take Baxley long with the aid of another caution on lap 19 as John Foerg spun into the infield while at the same time Nordstrom was hitting the turn four wall. Foerg continued at the rear of the field while Nordstrom was done for the night.
The fans were now being treated to a great battle for the lead as Baxley was right on McCafferty's bumper following the restart. Behind them there was plenty of "wheel-wanging" going on which culminated in Dempsey getting involved in a chain reaction bump and run in turn one.
Dempsey spun to bring out the caution and headed to the pits to relpace a flat tire, once again rejoining the field at the back. Just as the field took the crossed flags for half-way, Chris Fadling and John Gerstner got tangled up in turn four to bring out the yellow once again.
McCafferty and Baxley renewed their race for the top spot, but for only three laps as Foerg got loose out of turn two causing several cars to jumble up behind him. Fadling dove for the infield with Darren Jackson unable to avoid a collision.
The red flag was displayed to check on the drivers but thankfully they were fine and Jackson was even able to continue while Fadling's machine went off on the hook.
On the restart, Gary Southard spun to bring the yellow right back out. Just one more lap could be completed before Jackson and Burrows got together on the front straight causing a wild melee with cars going all different directions trying to avoid a wreck. This time Jackson's car would need tow truck assistance while Burrows also headed pitside.
Again only one lap could be run under green as Gary Southard backed his machine hard into the wall between turns three and four. Again the red flag was displayed to check on the driver, but other than some hurt feelings, Southard was OK while his battered machine was towed to the pits.
The fans were poised for a showdown for the lead as Baxley was putting the pressure on McCafferty while Kevin Durden had driven up to third from his 11th starting spot. Those fans would have to wait a bit longer as Bobby Dixon pasted the turn four wall on lap 32 for yet another caution. Dixon was OK but his car was finished for the night. As the green came back out, Baxley was looking for any advantage he could get, but McCafferty had all avenues covered while Durden began to have some problems and slipped back in the field as Red Vann and Patrick Williams moved up to third and fourth.
The final caution came out on lap 45 as Larry Martin and Kevyn Terry tangled in turn two with both cars able to continue. This set up a five lap dash to the checker but McCafferty kept his cool and the lead for the remainder of the distance. Baxley did all he could and settled for second spot just ahead of Vann and Williams while Durden held on for fifth.
Mike Wilson struggled after being passed by Baxley but still managed a sixth place effort while Lee Faulk drove the Debelius Motorsports car out of Orlando to a seventh place finish. Dwayne Dempsey came back from two trips to the rear of the field to get eighth while Mike Johnson and J.F. McClellan rounded out the top ten.
In victory lane, McCafferty thanked the large crowd for coming out and heaped praise on his long-time sponsor Central Florida Machine and Speed for what he called and "awesome" engine.
Chiefland's Roger Damron topped the Diamond H Air & Heat Sportsman division for the second week in a row. Damron and Wally Schneider put on a great show for the fans, racing side by side for the opening four laps before Damron put his Damron Refrigeration/Oglesby Drywall/Hugh's Concrete/W.A. Oliver Custom Painting Chevy Monte Carlo out front for good.
Schneider held on for second in the 15-lap event while Big John Smith finally made it through the last lap of a feature without problems and took a hard-fought third place just in front of Pete Close, Jr. who came to fourth after starting tenth. Frank Buchanan rounded out the top five.
Damron, Schneider, and Bob Masciarelli took heat race wins. Young Michael Stalnaker had a terrific night in the Four Cylinder Stocks. After winning his first career race in his heat, Stalnaker went on to lead most of the way in the feature which, as always, was very entertaining.
Joey Durbin and Tom Ellis did all they could to ruffle Stalnaker's feathers, but the kid was up to the task a picked up the win. Durbin and Ellis were second and third while much-improved Joel Byall had his best career finish in fourth. Rick Kuhn had another good run and crossed the line fifth.
Heat wins went to Stalnaker, Durbin, and Dan Sanderson. Twenty-seven K-Country Street Stocks started their 15-lapper and it would prove to be a wild one.
Jamie Dunn led lap one from his pole starting spot only to be passed by Rick Hart. Hart would lead two laps before Kyle Maynard took over the point. Maynard appeared to have the field covered until he came up to lap the slower car of Dot Kelly on lap twelve. They got together sending Maynard into a long slide. Third running Tommy Roberts got sideways trying to avoid the mess and slid into the infield where he hit the ambulance.
Maynard headed to the pits while Roberts also took a trip to the pit area to replace a flat tire. The ambulance received only minor damage.
In all the confusion, Tom Fralish emerged with the lead and he would enjoy his good fortune as he led the remaining three laps for his first win of the year driving his Tobby's Transmissions/Dick Wilson Tractor Service/Dade City Sod & Landscaping Camaro. David Chastain backed up his win of last week with a second place finish while Doug Webster finished third for the third time in four weeks. Mark Mitchell and Hart completed the top five.
Heat race wins went to Chastain, Mitchell, and Tommy Roberts. With the field of Street Stocks continuing to increase, Track Manager Tim Christman indicated a "B" Main may be needed in the coming weeks. Williston's Larry Goolsby grabbed the lead from Mike Mitrisin on lap four and never looked back as he dominated the 15-lap Mini Stock feature in his Maguire's Racing machine. Mitrisin held off Marlon Durbin for second while Wayne Wells and Neal Durbin rounded out the top five.
Mini stock heats went to Goolsby and Clint Foley.
The Open Wheel Lites made their first visit to the track this year with a green to checker race. Jacksonville's Bob Quick led every lap, but it wasn't as easy as it looks on paper as he had to fend off the challenges of five other drivers the entire race.
Following Quick's bright green Suzuki-powered car to the checker were Bill Burback, Brian Gingras, Jimmy Wagner and Ron Towles. Quick and Burback were the heat race winners.
Next week Ocala Speedway plays host to the USCS Outlaw Sprint cars along with a full racing show.
OFFICIAL RESULTS - OCALA SPEEDWAY - 3/28/03:
UPM MODIFIEDS - RACE THREE (50 Laps):
1) Alan McCafferty, Clermont #32 2) David Baxley, Anthony #64 3) Red Vann, Tampa #132 4) Patrick Williams, Archer #57 5) Kevin Durden, Gainesville #69 6) Mike Wilson, Dade City #79 7) Lee Faulk, High Springs #38 8) Dwayne Dempsey, St. Petersburg #6 9) Mike Johnson, Tallahassee #19 10) J.F. McClellan, Starke #01 11) Jeremy Gerstner, Tampa #70 12) Kevyn Terry, Citra #007 13) John Foerg, Clermont #1 14) John Gerstner, Tampa #77 15) Larry Martin, Gainesvilee #07 16) John Kahl, Orange Springs #23 17) Bobby Dixon, Riverview #205 18) Darren Jackson, Lakeland #7D 19) Chris Fadling, St. Leo #29 20) Greg Nordstrom, Glen St. Mary #06 21) Gary Southard, Bronson #39 22) Jamie Burrows, Valrico #11B DNS Robert Gulvin, Jr., Dade City #33
DIAMOND H AIR & HEAT SPORTSMAN (15 Laps):
1) Roger Damron #76D 2) Wally Schneider #57 3) Big John Smith #31 4) Pete Close, Jr. #86 5) Frank Buchanan #07 6) Michael Jordan #7 7) Bob Masciarelli #72 8) Robbie Cooper #98 9) Tom Posavec #01 10) Doc Batson #4 11) Eddie Kilbury #71 12) Michael Mennenga #57X 13) Charles Kopach #53 14) Kathy Ray #63 15) Steve Seymour #88 16) Larry Crews #L39 17) Jim Higginbotham #76 18) Ray Reavis #40
MINI STOCKS (15 Laps):
1) Larry Goolsby #27 2) Mike Mitrisin #1M 3) Marlon Durbin #10B 4) Wayne Wells #23 5) Neal Durbin #2X 6) Rocky Bowden #1 7) Jake Garver #10 8) Tim Grubaugh #8B 9) Clint Foley #7 10) Joey Brinson #26 11) A.J. Schreier #98 DNS Jeff Stalnaker, Jr. #8 DNS Brandon Grubaugh #11
K-COUNTRY STREET STOCKS (15 Laps):
1) Tom Fralish #1 2) David Chastain #17 3) Doug Webster #72 4) Mark Mitchell #71 5) Rick Hart #13 6) Jamie Dunn #24 7) Bobby Taylor #66 8) Krystal Batson #B4 9) Ocala Paul Fletcher #94 10) Todd Roberts #T4 11) Rick Bass #21 12) Estle Morrow #02 13) Mike Fiddia #41 14) Shirley Johnson #79 15) Chip Owen #151 16) Mike Rosa #76 17) William O'Quinn #09 18) Zephyrhills Paul Fletcher #28 19) Gordon Cade #21X 20) Tommy Roberts #44 21) Jimmy Wagner #81 22) Bobby Carter #99 23) Kyle Maynard #07 24) Travis Wofford #11 25) Dorothy Kelly #38 26) Sid Mosbrucker #62 27) Steve West #78 DNS Donnie Pitts #57
FOUR CYLINDER STOCKS (15 Laps):
1) Michael Stalnaker #8 2) Joey Durbin #38 3) Tom Ellis #31 4) Joel Byall #40 5) Rick Kuhn #47 6) Randy Futch #9-11 7) Ric Fort 32 8) Harold Barup #3 9) Mike Muroski #61M 10) Dan Sanderson #7 11) Kurtis Mitchell #00 12) Harry Drier #61 13) Terry Dunbar #72 14) Chris Noce #99 15) Dennis Harden #17 16) Steve Moulton #41 17) Charles Mishow #57 18) Jeff Pittsley #20 19) Clark Pittsley #64 20) Brooke Driggers #25 21) Robert Antis #5
OPEN WHEEL LITES (15 Laps):
1) Bob Quick #06 2) Bill Burback #77 3) Brian Gingras #09 4) Jimmy Wagner #17 5) Ron Towles #01 6) Larry Hubbard #2H 7) Kevin Baxter #69 8) Nuck Shaddid #68 9) Jerry Davis #02 10) Rick Lundeen #04 11) Erik Powell #71 12) John Sproul #72 13) William See #54 14) Becky Davis #6 2)
