"I'm
noticing a turn of the tide on racing Web sites like Florida's
Karnac.com, the gathering place for the most dedicated race
fans in the state." -Orlando Sentinel
A beautiful night greeted a large crowd of fans who gathered for the most anticipated event thus far in the 2008 racing season at Ocala Speedway. And they were not disappointed as the ASCS Rebel Region Sprints put on a fantastic show and thrilled the crowd with heart stopping moments and superb action. In addition to the sprint cars, the V8 Thunder Stocks had their second feature race of the season and the Mini Sprints saw a new winner in their division.
The Mini Stocks got the first shot at the Ocala Speedway clay. Keith Briggs was eager to attempt another win with his 19T car, but thanks to his win in the last race he was relegated to starting the feature race from near the back of the pack. That starting spot put Briggs in harm's way as the 3 car of Michael Bagley Jr. spun in turn 2. Briggs could not avoid contact with the spinning car and the collision left him with heavy nose damage. Briggs ducked into the pit area for a quick repair and rejoined the race, but found himself already a lap down to the field.
Meanwhile the two 82 cars of Mason Price and Blake Spencer began a battle for the first place spot while Cole Ridenhour followed. Larry Reynolds would spin on the back stretch to bring out the second caution of the race on lap 2, which set up Ridenhour with a chance to steal the lead. On the restart Ridenhour did just that by overtaking the two 82 cars, and despite two more cautions he maintained that lead to the end. Following Cole Ridenhour to the checkers was Richard Wells in the 46 and Jon Layerd in the 02 car. Johnny Zachary and Michael Bagley Jr rounded out the top five finishers.
The ASCS Rebel Region Sprints followed the Mini Stocks in taking the green flag led by pole sitter T.J. Winegardener. But before the first lap could be completed a multi car fracas in turn 4 brought everything to an abrupt halt. Several cars managed to tangle in the turn, causing two to make hard contact with the wall while yet another cartwheeled through the turn. After a timeout to clean up the mess it was back to racing, and the 19T of Matt Tiffany took control of the race.
Tiffany would open up a huge lead by looking further and further to the outside to gain traction, but just a few laps from the end he would run out of real estate during a venture into turn 4. Tiffany's rear tire bumped the wall coming out of turn 4, which hooked the car and slammed into the wall ending what had been his race to lose. That opened the door for the 00 of Danny Martin Jr and the 4B of Bryan Gohn to battle it out for the win. Those two cars traded the lead before Gohn managed to get the advantage at the finish. Martin would finish second followed by TJ Winegardener for third place.
The V8 Thunder Stocks had only one chance to race previously in 2008 so they were more than ready to race once the green flag waved. After an initial false start the 12 car of Jerrid Bennett jumped out to an early lead, but trouble stuck in turn 4 as a chain reaction caused two cars to bounce off the wall and the rear bumper to be knocked off of another one. Once that mess was cleared another fracas ensued on the restart as several cars made contact in turn 2 when the 13 of Timothy Gigon spun. After yet another restart the contact between cars continued virtually every lap. James Sullivan and James Sealy would each assume the lead before another caution for a spin slowed things down bit. From that point on it was Marlon Durbin taking control and earning the win, followed by Sealey, Todd Roberts, Harold Erickson, and Larry Welter Jr.
Next Friday, April 18th, is designated as Firefighter's Night with $1 draft until 10PM. The Late Models will be back along with the Hobby Stocks, the V8 Thunder Stocks, and the Gladiators.
Ocala Speedway Results for 4/11/08
ASCS Rebel Region 360 Sprints
1- 4B Bryan Gohn 2- 00 Danny Martin Jr. 3- 11T TJ Wingardner 4- 4M Michael Miller 5- 4A Kenny Adams 6- 3 Sport Allen 7- 1X Matt Linder 8- 88 Shane Kreedler 9- 17 Samantha Taylor 10- 80 Danny Jones 11- Frankie Carlsson 12- 2 Frank Beck 13- 92 Matt Kurtz 14- 19T Matt Tiffany 15- 3X Brian Maddox 16- 4C Tyler Godwin 17- 29 Gavin Thomas 18- 6 Mike Schroder 19- 2 Red Stauffer 20- 02 Gene Laster
Mini Stock
1- 25 Cole Ridenhour 2- 46 Richard Wells 3- 02 Jon Layerd 4- 119Z Johnny Zachary 5- 3 Michael Bagley Jr. 6- 55 Larry Reynolds 7- 40N David Miller 8- 19T Keith Briggs 9- 82 Blake Spencer 10- 82B Mason Price 11- 59 William Stalnaker 12- 1 Tim Lehew
V8 Thunder Stock
1- 1 Marlon Durbin 2- 66 James Sealey 3- 44 Todd Roberts 4- 4E Harold Erickson 5- 58 Larry Welter Jr. 6- 58B Augie Burtram 7- 60 James Stalnaker 8- 3X Donald Winne 9- 56 John West 10- 69 Eddie Lake 11- 14 James Sullivan 12- 00 Michael Valdez 13- 5W Wayne Woodall 14- 21 Jeff Stalnaker Jr. 15- 81 Courtney Eubanks 16- 69A Jonathan Appleby 17- 72 Terry Dunbar 18- 62 Jay Koch 19- 12 Jerrid Bennett 20- 13 Timothy Gigon 21- 59 Roy Taylor 22- 85 Larry Welter Sr. 23- 7E James Erickson DQ- 19 Michael Stalnaker