Thunderstorms have been the rule at Ocala Speedway over the past week, with Tuesday's practice washed out and showers delaying Thursday's session as well. But after a week the clouds parted for Friday and a full slate of racing played itself out in front of an appreciative crowd. And the Goodyear Challenge Series paid it's first ever visit to Ocala for 100 laps of late model action as well.
Having never visited Ocala Speedway before, the majority of the drivers in the Goodyear Challenge Series were quite unfamiliar with the track's toughness. And probably the driver with the most experience with Ocala Speedway was 14 year old Drew Brannon, the youngest Goodyear driver. Brannon had paid previous visits to the speedway when he was racing a truck with another racing series, and that experience undoubtedly helped him as the night wore on. The 88 of Justin Larson started on the pole and held the lead solidly for quite a few laps until a slight error sent him high in turn 4. As he lifted the gas to straighten the car out, Rich Clouser ducked under him to gain the advantage and take the lead. Closer never looked back while Larson later develop problems and fell far back in the field. In the end it was Joe Winchell who applied the most pressure to Clouser, but was unable to make the pass. Rich Closer took the win, followed by Winchell in second and Darren Brown in third place. And Darren Brown overcame his own set of problems after he backed his car into the turn 4 wall on his second qualifying lap earlier in the evening. He and his crew made hasty repairs and the car returned for the main event as competitive as it ever was.
When racing began there were thirteen V8 Pure Stock cars in the pits. By the end of their feature race almost half of that field failed to finish the race, and two of those could not start the feature event. Eric Gellman won the pole and led the race until he and Matt Schell had a rather nasty meeting on the front stretch that sent Gellman's car into the wall. That accident sent Harold Erickson into the lead and he held off all challengers to collect the winning hardware and first prize money. The big surprise of the race was Josh Brown, who had just been promoted up from the Thunder Stocks to race with the more experienced drivers. Josh Brown fought hard and didn't give an inch, and in the end it collected him a second place finish, while Hall Robertson battled to a third place finish.
Richard Kuhn ran hard in the his heat race, but ended up with a not so wonderful starting spot as the feature race got underway. Mike Taylor started from the pole and held the lead for only 2 laps before Brandon Elwood muscled into the top position. Elwood held that lead for 2 more laps before Taylor regrouped and retook the point, holding it until lap 17 when Richard Kuhn again asserted his dominance and held on for the win. Mike Taylor finished a respectable second place while Justyn Elwood fought his way up from the back of the pack to finish third.
John Mamph doesn't race with the Sportsman division at Ocala every week, but this week he showed up with the car to beat, and fortunately for him no one else showed up with a car that could do it. Mamph led from the pole and drove away from the rest of the field to get the win, while Greg Young finished a solid second and Harold Edwards held on for third place.
Jason Henry attempted the same feat as Mamph pulled with the sportsman cars, only he was driving a V8 Thunder Stock. Wade Brown had been in contention early in the race, but handling problems kept him from challenging for first place. While Jason Henry was busy leading the field, a few cars were mixing it up behind him. Chris Watson emerged from that confusion to register a second place finish while Wade Brown held off Donnie Bucknell Jr. to finish third.
Seventeen Street Stocks were set to take the green flag led by Shelby Mather, and as the green waved it was Mather who dominated the race until lap 14 when he and Jeff Stalnaker Jr. tangled on the backstretch. That wreck left Mather's car unable to continue and Pete Close emerged as the leader just a lap later. Pete Close fought off David Foster and took a well deserved win, while David Foster settled for second and Rick Bass managed to finish in the third spot.
Next week Friday night racing returns along with the Open Wheel Modifieds for two, 25 lap feature races. The modified races had been originally scheduled for June 29th but thunderstorms forced a postponement. The first two installments of this event were run last month at Citrus County Speedway in Inverness, and the driver that accumulates the most points while competing in all four events will get a $1000 bonus check! In addition to the modifieds Ocala Speedway will present the other regular divisions, including the 4 Cylinder Stocks, Thunder Stocks, V8 Pure Stocks, and Sportsman.
Goodyear Challenge Series 100
1- 9 Rich Clouser 2- 57 Joe Winchell 3- 53 Darren Brown 4- 08 Drew Brannon 5- 46 Doug Moff 6- 31 Greg Kaouk 7- Jeremy Colangelo 8- 88 Justin Larson 9- 2 A. J. Currelli 10- 1x Chuck Burkhalter
V8 Pure Stock
1- 66 Harold Erickson 2- 67 Josh Brown 3- 91 Hall Robertson 4- 96 Bruce Pernitza 5- 18w Scotty Anderson 6- 53 Eric Gellman 7- 58 Larry Welter Jr. DNS- 22 Kenny Thornton DNS- 3K Chris Oliveri DQ- 57 Matt Schell (conduct) DQ- 44 Tommy Roberts (conduct) DQ- 3D Jessie Corbett (conduct) DQ- 82 Jim Kruse (tech)
4 Cylinder Stock
1- 46 Richard Kuhn 2- 43 Mike Taylor 3- 17 Justyn Elwood 4- 28 Brandon Elwood 5- 06 Karl Born 6- 02 John Laird 7- 83 Mike Fortner 8- 23 John Hagans
Sportsman
1- 8M John Mamph 2- 23 Greg Young 3- 11 Harold Edwards 4- 08 William Edwards 5- 39 Rick Bass 6- 8R Tim Shull 7- 76 Jim Higginbotham 8- 32 Shelton Bowers 9- 29 Leroy Donaldson 10- 38 Todd Kelley 11- 02 Mike Bates
V8 Thunder Stock
1- 96 Jason Henry 2- 18w Chris Watson 3- 79 Wade Brown 4- 98 Donnie Buckner Jr. 5- 25 Guy Bacelo Jr. DNS- 83 Don Buckner Sr.
Street Stock
1- 86 Pete Close Jr. 2- 4 David Foster 3- 39 Rick Bass 4- 83 Joe Boyd 5- 7E James Erickson 6- 11 Jeff Stalnaker Sr. 7- 97 Brent Cooper 8- 8B Tim Shull 9- 14 John Buzenic 10- 6 Leonard Arnold 11- 09 Carl Carr 12- 17 Shelby Mather 13- 10 Jeff Stalnaker Jr. 14- 12 Steve Grindstaff 15- 91 Hall Robertson
Next Week:
Dual 25 Lap Open Wheel Modified Features (make up races from rainout on 6/29)
4 Cylinder Stock V8 Pure Stock Street Stock Sportsman V8 Thunder Stock
