Carlton Clobbers Florida Pro Series Field at Ocala Fans and Drivers Open up Their Hearts for Wilbanks Family
by Dave Westerman
Despite a stellar field of Florida Pro Series Super Late Models, the biggest for any Super Late Model race this year at Ocala Speedway, no one had anything for former Florida Pro series champion Rick Carlton as he dominated the field for all 100 laps Friday night.
The real winners on this evening however were the Wilbanks family. Rennie Wilbanks, the former tech inspector for Ocala Speedway and his wife Carleen, who took photos at the speedway for several years, have both recently quit their jobs to spend all their time with their son, 13-year-old J.R. Wilbanks, who is battling cancer. Spearheaded by Street Stock driver Tommy Roberts, fans, track officials, drivers and crews raised over $3,100 to help the Wilbanks family through this tough time. Many race teams and fans donated $100 or more. Once again, the racing family proves it will be there to help out one of their own when in need.
Twenty-seven Florida Pro Series cars signed in with Craig Seewald being the only driver unable to time trial after a wall-banger in practice. Seewald would be able to make repairs and join the tail end of the field for the 100-lapper. Shane Seig, driving the Great Clips car for Dick Anderson, set quick time at 14.713 seconds but saw that time disallowed in tech when his car came up light on the scales. Merritt Island schoolteacher Brian Finney's lap of 14.721 seconds would thus become quick time followed by Rick Carlton at 14.728, Wayne Anderson at 14.739 and Wayne "Rocketman" Jefferson at 14.777.
The re-draw of the top ten qualifiers saw Finney pick the eighth spot and Anderson tenth. Carlton picked the outside pole while Florida Pro series point leader Jay Middleton of Lake City took the pole in his North Florida Medical Chevrolet. Carlton wasted little time taking the lead at the drop of the green with Middleton settling into the second spot just ahead of local favorite Patrick Williams in the Armstrong Homes entry. Seig, relegated to last on the starting grid following his DQ after time trials, pulled off the track and out of the race on lap five.
Carlton had his McNatt Plumbing Monte Carlo on a rail, pulling out to a healthy advantage before the first caution flag came out on lap 15 as Scot Walters got together with another car and spun into the infield off turn four. Despite some body damage, Walters was able to continue. Carlton continued to lead Middleton, Williams, Mike Bresnehan and James Powell III following the restart. Powell breezed by Bresnehan on lap 25 bringing Wayne Anderson with him. Caution number two came out on lap 34 as Keith Zavrel spun in turn four. With Carlton still dominating, Anderson slipped past Powell for fourth just before the caution flew for bodywork flying off the car of Walters. Walters took his now "air conditioned" car to the pits.
The race was back under green on lap 60 with Carlton cruising in front of Middleton, Williams, Anderson, Powell and Bresnehan. Powell's car began to slow and he faded back into the field, eventually dropping out on lap 71. Carlton was flying, opening up a full straightaway advantage over Middleton while Williams had his hands full trying to hold off Anderson's Calabrese Racing/Airframe International Chevy.
Wayne Jefferson brought out the final caution flag on lap 85 as his engine expired. The red flag was thrown to clean up the oil left on the track, setting up a 15-lap shoot-out for the win. However, this was Rick Carlton's night. On the restart he simply drove away from the field to claim his first Florida Pro win in two years. Middleton solidified his point lead with a second place finish while Williams held off the hard-charging Anderson for third. Aric Almirola did the passing job of the night, starting 13th and methodically working his way up to fifth. Bresnehan, Rich Pratt, Brian Finney, Mike Fritts, and E.J. Wise rounded out the top ten.
In other racing action, the WIND-FM Modified 30-lap feature was a wild one with more twists and turns than a WWE TV show. Johnnie "The Rat" Newsome grabbed the early lead in this one as there was all kinds of jockeying for position behind him. John Gerstner got too low in turn three and spun into the infield, then back up on the track causing the field to scatter on lap eight.
The restart saw Troy Robinson move in to challenge Newsome and Robinson would slip by to take the lead on lap eleven. Charging from his ninth starting spot, point leader David Baxley moved by Jeremy Gerstner for third on lap 14, moving up to challenge Newsome for second. Something broke on sixth-running Alan McCafferty's car on lap 23 and he hit the turn four wall to bring out the caution.
On the restart, Baxley and Jeremy Gerstner sped past Newsome who started to fade back into the field. Chuck Burkhalter and Raymond Vann got together in turn two on lap 27 with Jason Garver having no place to go as he hit Burkhalter's machine putting both cars out of the race. Robinson easily led the final three laps to the checker, but it was a wild finish for second as Baxley and Gerstner locked horns with Baxley spinning sideways across the stripe to take the apparent runner-up spot. However, Baxley got a little too "excited" coming in for the victory lane celebration and track officials disqualified him for unsportsmanlike conduct. With Baxley earning no points or money for the evening, he saw the point lead slip from his grasp.
It still wasn't over as apparent winner Robinson was found to have unapproved nine inch wheels on his car and he was disqualified in tech thus awarding the win to Jeremy Gerstner, his third of the year. "I can't understand why David (Baxley) is so upset," said Gerstner. "It was just hard racing and he still would've finished second, in fact actually won the thing. I feel bad for Troy Robinson because he was so hooked up he could have won on flat tires. But the competition is so keen in this class right now, we'll take a win any way we can," he said.
In just his second week out in a Modified, Bob Masciarelli claimed second ahead of Mike Batten, Newsome, and Jamie Tinkham. Completing the top ten were Raymond Vann, John Gerstner, Kevyn Terry, John Kahl and Jason Garver. Modified heats were taken by Jeremy Gerstner and Jason Garver. Usually when you suffer engine problems, have your car catch on fire, dump oil and water all over the race track and drop a cylinder... well you haven't had too good a night... unless you're Tom Posavec. An engine malfunction in warm-ups almost ended his evening early. "Something broke causing the engine to fill up with water forcing the oil out causing a fire," said Posavec.
Track crews took nearly 15 minutes to clean up the mess and everyone figured Posavec's car would be on the trailer - wrong! Posavec's crew went to work and found out the problem could be repaired especially since the Diamond H Air and Heat Sportsman feature would take place after the Florida Pro 100-lapper giving them ample time to complete the work. To top it off, Posavec was on the pole for the 20-lap feature and he quickly took the lead at the drop of the green. Posavec would have plenty of opportunities to give his engine a rest in this race.
The red flag flew on lap four as Pete Close, Jr. tangled with William Edwards and hit the turn to wall airborne. Close's Bellview Auto Salvage Camaro was badly damaged but he fortunately walked away unhurt. Posavec was easily fending off the field after the restart, but the red flag would be out again on lap eight as Patrick Mennenga's engine exploded on the backstretch and he spun wildly into the infield. No sooner did the track crew clean up the mess and the green come back out, than the red was out yet again as Jim Higginbotham's engine came unglued on the backstretch on lap nine.
Once the green came back out, Posavec was again looking strong, however he began to struggle over the last five laps having to pull out all the stops to hold off a hard-charging William Edwards who had moved into second to claim his second win of the year. "We dropped a cylinder with five laps to go," said Posavec. "I can't believe we won tonight," he said. Edwards held off a tight pack for second with Bob Masciarelli backing up his second-place Modified finish with a third in his Sportsman car.Kyle Maynard passed teammate Frank Buchanan late in the going to take fourth spot after Buchanan made a huge attempt to pass the leader on the outside, but got freight-trained by the pack. Heats for Sportsman were won by Mennenga and Masciarelli.
Speedy Pete Close, Jr. had a better time of it in the K-Country Street Stocks as he led all 20 laps for his second win in a row. There was plenty of action in this one too and several cautions along with one red flag when Estle Morrow pounded the turn four wall while trying to avoid a wreck in front of him. Morrow wasn't injured but his car was in bad need of attention. Pardon the pun, but no one could get close to Close in this race as he motored away to an easy victory. Doug "Big Bird" Webster held off a determined Tommy Roberts for second while David Chastain and Bobby Taylor rounded out the top five. Winning the two heats for Street Stocks were Webster and Roberts.
Also make it back to back wins for Michael Stalnaker and his Nissan in the Four Cylinder Stock class. The Ocala youngster did something no one else has been able to do recently - beat Steve Gallagher's Volkswagen when Gallagher is still running at the end of the race. Gallagher pushed Stalnaker the entire distance as they motored well in front of the rest of the field, but the young man was up to the challenge claiming his fourth win of the year. Gallagher was a close second ahead of Justin Durbin, Weird Harold Barup, and Dan Sanderson. Point leader Rick Kuhn had problems with his car and borrowed Chris Noce's machine for the feature finishing seventh. Four Cylinder Stock heat wins went to Gallagher and Ric Fort.
The new V-8 Stock class made its debut with Bobby Taylor taking the initial win in a close battle with Ken Sheffield. Charlie Kennedy, Dan Tremblay, and Laura "Mrs. Tweety" Fletcher completing the top five.
Official Finishes - Ocala Speedway - 8/15/03:
Florida Pro Series Super Late Models (100 Laps):
1) Rick Carlton, Homossassa #3 2) Jay Middleton, Lake City #74 3) Patrick Williams, Archer #5 4) Wayne Anderson, Wildwood #84 5) Aric Almirola, Tampa #14 6) Mike Bresnehan, Lecanto #31 7) Rich Pratt, Anthony #0 8) Brian Finney, Merritt Island #80 9) Mike Fritts, Orange City #77 10) E.J. Wise, Ocala #71 11) Brock Oglesby, Ocala #88 12) Michael Faulk, Gainesville #25 13) Joe Winchell, Davie #13 14) John Gerstner, Tampa #62 15) David Hodges, Jr., Valdosta, GA #16 16) Steve Lamb, Hollywood #99 17) Scott Grossenbacher, San Antonio #09 18) Jody Turner, Jacksonville #7 19) Wayne Jefferson, Tampa #55 20) James Powell III, Astor #37 21) Doyle Boatwright, Lawtey #57 22) Scot Walters, Naples #2 23) Keith Zavrel, Booksville #47 24) Eddie Hamby, Miami #43 25) David Hussey, Georgia #32 26) Craig Seewald, Hollywood #44 27) Shane Seig, Tucker, GA #92
WIND-FM Modifieds (30 Laps):
1) Jeremy Gerstner #70 2) Bob Masciarelli #72 3) Mike Batten #5.0 4) Johnnie Newsome #31 5) Jamie Tinkham #98 6) Raymond Vann #99 7) John Gerstner #77 8) Kevyn Terry #007 9) John Kahl #23 10) Jason Garver #27 11) Chuck Burhalter #1 12) Alan McCafferty #32 13) Bobby Valeo #8 14) Glen Ervin #0 DQ Troy Robinson #0B DQ David Baxley #64
Diamond H Air and Heat Sportsman (20 Laps):
1) Tom Posavec #01 2) William Edwards #08 3) Bob Masciarelli #72 4) Kyle Maynard #27 5) Frank Buchanan #07 6) Tommy Brakeman #20 7) Glen Baum #09 8) Justin Reynolds #20X 9) Jim Higginbotham #76 10) Patrick Mennenga #16 11) Greg Dick #10 12) Pete Close, Jr. #86 13) Paul Hudson #08X
K-Country Street Stocks (20 Laps):
1) Pete Close, Jr. #08 2) Doug Webster #72 3) Tommy Roberts #44 4) David Chastain #17 5) Bobby Taylor #66 6) Mike Rosa #76 7) Paul Fletcher #28 8) Sid Mosbrucker #62 9) A.J. Schreier #98 10) Mike Fiddia #41 11) Rick Bass #39 12) Ted Vesneski #71 13) Bobby Carter #99 14) Mike Wilson #1 15) Estle Morrow #02 16) Paul Fletcher #94
Four Cylinder Stocks (20 Laps):
1) Michael Stalnaker #8 2) Steve Gallagher #39 3) Justin Durbin #33 4) Harold Barup #3 5) Dan Sanderson #7 6) Tom Ellis #31 7) Rick Kuhn #99 (in Chris Noce's car for points) 8) Terry Dunbar #72 9) Tony Thompson #007 10) James Turgeon III #18 11) Heather Stalker #78 12) Festus Barup #69 13) Ric Fort #2 DNS #47 (Rick Kuhn)
V-8 Stocks (15 Laps):
1) Bobby Taylor #66 2) Ken Sheffield #25 3) Charlie Kennedy #34 4) Dan Tremblay #40 5) Laura Fletcher #21 6) Bryan Wise #5
