Ocala Finally Beats the Rain - Baxley & Gallagher Continue Hot Streaks
By Dave Westerman
Mother Nature did her best to put a damper on things Sunday afternoon at Ocala Speedway, but when all was said and done, all the racing was completed well before dark. The WIND FM Modifieds were back and in big numbers for a Sunday afternoon show. Despite several no-shows of cars that had signed in Friday night, 20 Modifieds were on hand including several new machines.
Former Mini-Stock drivers Larry Goolsby and Randy "The Flyin' Fireman" Futch were in new machines out of the Maguire's Racing shop while Ocala Sportsman veteran Bob Masciarelli was out for the first time in his brand new car. Chris Gillespie and Randy Glick also made their first appearances at the track this year although neither had a particularly good day.
Dade City's Mike Wilson was back after a bit of a hiatus and he topped the field in the opening heat. The Gerstner brothers of Tampa dominated the remaining heats with Jeremy taking the checker in heat two and John in heat three. Glen Ervin had the pole for the 30-lap feature, but completing lap one, he and Jeremy Gerstner got together in turn one causing quite a melee that also involved the cars of Tom Bailey, Jason Garver, and John Kahl. Bailey had to go off on the hook while everyone else continued although Garver's car looked like a half-opened can of sardines. Mike Batten found himself on the point for the restart with Mike Wilson right behind him. Batten was having his best run of the year but Wilson was not to be denied as he took the lead on lap seven, just before Mark Emberson spun to bring out the caution. During the caution, rain began to fall. The cars headed for the pits as the fans headed for cover. Unlike the deluge of Friday night, this was just a signature Florida Thundershower that moved off after about an hour. Track drying efforts began while fans listened to the final laps of the Brickyard 400 on the PA system.
Once racing resumed, Wilson was at the point followed by Batten and David Baxley. Baxley slipped by Batten for second on lap 13 as Wilson's car began to show a trail of smoke. Bobby Valeo, Bob Masciarelli and Glen Ervin tangled up with two laps to go to bring out the caution at which time second-running Baxley stopped and showed track officials fluid on his windshield that was apparently coming from Wilson's car. Wilson's machine was stopped, checked and the leak detected. An unhappy Wilson was sent to the pits as Baxley assumed the lead for the restart and he cruised the final two laps for his second win in a row and fourth on the season. Raymond Vann has his best run of the year coming from 15th at the start to a second place finish while Jeremy Gerstner drove back to third after his first lap miscue followed by his brother John and Johnnie Newsome who both shot by Mike Batten who slipped high in turn four on the final lap to wind up sixth. Glen Ervin, John Foerg, John Kahl and Bob Masciarelli rounded out the top ten.
Steve Gallagher made it three straight wins in the Four Cylinder Stocks as he put his "Flying Tomato" VW on the point at the drop of the green and never looked back the entire 20 lap distance. Ric Fort made a late race pass of point leader Rick Kuhn to grab second spot while Tom Ellis and Weird Harold Barup completed the top five. Four Cylinder Stock heats went to Gallagher and Joel Byall.
Bellview's Frank Buchanan led a tight freight train of cars to claim his first Diamond H. Air & Heat Sportsman win of the year in his Southside Builders Camaro. William Edwards made a last lap charge, but came up half a car length short at the finish. Tom Posavec was third, just ahead of Pete Close, Jr., and Kyle Maynard as the 20 lap race went green to checker. Buchanan also won the heat.
It was a unique finish for the K-Country 93.7FM Street Stocks as apparently Paul Fletcher finished both first and second. Actually it was Ocala's Paul Fletcher driving his "Tweety Bird" Camaro to his third win of the year over Paul Fletcher of Zephyrhills in his trusty Monte Carlo. The two drivers are not related. Unfortunately, second finisher Fletcher's car was light across the scales and he was disqualified moving Mark Mitchell to the runner-up spot. That put Doug Webster third with David Chastain and Mike Rosa filling out the top five spots.
Next week the Steven A. Bagen Super Late Models are back in action in preparation for the upcoming Florida Pro Series even the following week on August 15th. The Diamond H Air & Heat Sportsman, K-Country Street Stocks, and Four Cylinder Stocks will also be in action next week.
RESULTS - OCALA SPEEDWAY - 8/3/03:
WIND FM MODIFIEDS (30 Laps):
1) David Baxley #64 2) Raymond Vann #99 3) Jeremy Gerstner #70 4) John Gerstner #77 5) Johnnie Newsome #31 6) Mike Batten #5.0 7) Glen Ervin #0 8) John Foerg #1 9) John Kahl #23 10) Bob Masciarelli #X 11) Bobby Valeo #8 12) Mark Emberson #34 13) Chris Gillespie #20 14) Mike Wilson #79 15) Jason Garver #27 16) Larry Goolsby #19R 17) Tom Bailey #24 DNS Randy Futch #19W DNS Kevyn Terry #007 DNS Randy Glick #199
DIAMOND H AIR & HEAT SPORTSMAN (20 Laps):
1) Frank Buchanan #07 2) William Edwards #08 3) Tom Posavec #01 4) Pete Close, Jr. #86 5) Kyle Maynard #27 6) Patrick Mennenga #16 7) Jim Higginbotham #76 8) Tommy Brakeman #20 9) Glen Baum #09 DNS Charles Hornbeak #67
K-COUNTRY STREET STOCKS (20 Laps):
1) Paul Fletcher #94 2) Mark Mitchell #71 3) Doug Webster #72 4) David Chastain #17 5) Mike Rosa #76 6) Bobby Taylor #66 7) Pete Reynolds #91 8) Bobby Carter #99 9) Rick Bass #39 10) Courtis Youmans #13 11) Sid Mosbrucker #62 12) Mike Fiddia #41 13) Mark Rider #61 14) A.J. Schreier #98 15) Tommy Roberts #08
FOUR CYLINDER STOCKS (20 Laps):
1) Steve Gallagher #39 2) Ric Fort #2 3) Rick Kuhn #47 4) Tom Ellis #31 5) Harold Barup #3 6) Michael Stalnaker #8 7) Terry Dunbar #72 8) Chris Noce #99 9) James Turgeon III #18 10) Joel Byall #40 11) Steve Moulton #41 12) Donnie Pitts #88 13) Heather Stalker #78 DNS John DeGeorge #11
