IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

September 27, 2008 Unexpected Winners Highlight Ocala Speedway Action by BJ Cavin Cool weather greeted a huge crowd at Ocala Speedway on Friday night as fans gathered to witness the Annual Fall Brawl for Open Wheel Modifieds. What the fans got was more excitement that many had planned on seeing, and four races where nothing went as expected. In fact, even sure bets often failed to seal the deal at the last minute, giving the night's racing an unpredictability that kept everyone quessing. With $1500 destined to go to the winner of the Open Wheel Modified event, it was certain that some intense action was going to figure into the equation. The race was nicknamed the Fall Brawl, and a brawl is exactly what it became. Four heats and a B main race set the field of 24 that went at it for the big money, and as the feature event began it became apparent that yellow would be the color of choice for the evening. The first multi car incident of the evening unfolded in turn 4 on the second lap of the race, and was followed by an almost continuous series of spins, collisions, and mishaps. Perhaps it was the first place prize money, or maybe it was simply a matter of many determined modified drivers attempting to get to the front. Whatever brought on the slugfest that ensued, it provided plenty of excitement and kept the track crews busy to the point of exhaustion. Due to time constraints the scheduled 30 lap event was shortened to 20 laps, but that did not deter a very determined Roger Crouse from challenging for the lead. Crouse would make a race of it, but in the end Devin Dixon would hold him off to claim the purse and the first place hardware as well. Crouse would settle for second, followed by Dave Schmauss in the third spot. Schmauss would have to battle from the back of the pack in a very battered race car to claim the third place finish, making him one of the biggest upward movers of the night. Jeff Matthews and Buzzy Reutimann would round out the top five finishers. The Mini Stocks returned after a week off and again nothing went is it seemed that it would. First off, Keith Briggs had mechanical issues and wound up leaving the track pushed by a wrecker. Secondly, what seemed like a race result set in stone went totally awry on the final lap, resulting in a totally unexpected final result. With Keith Briggs out of the mix on lap 9, suddenly a new driver emerged as the dominant force in the race. The 75 of Stephen Hollbaugh looked strong and was first to the finish, but later fell victim to technical issues and earned a DQ for the night. But the dominant car was the 22 of Shirlene Hammond who blasted to the front and outpaced the field to be way out front on the final lap. But Hammond's car would drift high and get into the lose stuff on that final lap, then make contact with the wall. And directly behind that incident was another where several cars made contact and spun, opening the door for some other drivers to race for the win after the white flag had been waved. William Stalnaker would avoid the trouble in turn 2 and race to the finish to take the win, followed by Christopher Prouty in the 26 machine. David Miller would cash in his start from the pole with a third place finish, while Shirlene Hammond would salvage a fourth place spot at the line. Jerry Bruce would round out the top five. The Gladiators would find a first time winner on the night as once more things did not go as it might have seemed that they would. Dennis White would lead the field from the pole but would soon lose that lead to Dalton Strehle, who was driving the only rear wheel drive car in the field. The 3X of Chuck Rush would power forward through the field until something went wrong in that machine, sending hi to the pits. That left Strehle to claim a victory for the first time, followed by Curtis Clark and Brian Brogan for second and third. Dennis White would manage a fourth place finish while Guy Bacelo Jr. would take the fifth spot. By the time the V8 Thunder Stocks made their way onto the track, everyone knew to expect the unexpected, but the end of the Thunder Stock race turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of the night and the expected winner would come up short by only a matter of a few feet. The race shaped up to be a three way battle between Justin Tilton, Harold Erickson, and Michael Stalnaker, with Doc Batson also in the mix early on. But as the race progressed Erickson and Michael Stalnaker would make contact on the front stretch, sending Erickson's car spinning and bouncing Stalnaker's machine off of the wall. Michael Stalnaker would be able to continue after the incident, but Harold Erickson was done for the night with a broken rear axle. But once more what looked like a sure bet somehow came unglued. Robbie Burkes would spin in turn 2 and manage to right his car just as the leaders took the while flag from the flagstand. Instead of moving over and allowing the leaders to pass, Burkes chose to race them instead, and on the front stretch coming at the checkers Burke's car was in and way as Justin Tilton and Jason Gamble were racing to the finish. Tilton and Gamble collided and spun, with Tilton's car coming up mere feet short of the stripe. Terry Dunbar would blast past to seal his second win in as many weeks, followed by Matt Schell for second place and Jeff Stalnaker Jr, for third. Donald Winne and James Sealy would round out the top five. The Late Models will return to Ocala Speedway on October 3rd, and will be joined by the Florida Mini Sprints for more awesome racing action. Also on the schedule will be the Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Gladiators. Ocala Speedway Results for 9/26/08 Open Wheel Modified Fall Brawl 1- 2 Devin Dixon 2- 32 Roger Crouse 3- 33X Dave Schmauss 4- 33 Jeff Matthews 5- 00 Buzzy Reutimann 6- 8 Rick Scott 7- 61 Ronald Soltis 8- 40 Greg Leonard 9- 80 Paul Shead 10- 11 Chuck Gustafson Jr. 11- Z06 Larry Mott 12- Z Tim Zackery 13- 12M David Moherg 14- 2H Cory Hipp 15- 23VP Doodle Pipken 16- 64 Austin Sanders 17- 00B Kyle Bronson 18- 31 Brian Hollifield 19- 11B Jamie Burrows 20- 3 Alex Boerner 21- 01 Shane Burrows 22- 0 Richard Dickinson 23- 15 Jamie Carter 24- 28 Alan Reynolds Mini Stock 1- 59 William Stalnaker 2- 26 Christopher Prouty 3- 40M David Miller 4- 22 Shirlene Hammond 5- 35B Jerry Bruce 6- 21 Ray Ethridge 7- 19C Paul Combast 8- 11Z Johnny Zackery 9- 31 Art Gulvin 10- 35 David Walls 11- 19T Keith Briggs 12- 91 Tony Lewis Jr. 13- 25 Cole Ridenhour DNS- 14 Frank Prouty DQ (tech) 75 Stephen Hollbaugh Gladiator 1- 2 Dalton Strehle 2- 23 Curtis Clark 3- 63 Brian Brogan 4- 66 Dennis White 5- 2B Guy Bacelo Jr. 6- 3X Chuck Rush DNS- 78 Paul Hahn DNS- 12 Brother Southard V8 Thunder Stock 1- 72 Terry Dunbar 2- 57 Matt Schell 3- 9 Jeff Stalnaker Jr. 4- 05 Donald Winne 5- 66 James Sealey 6- 81 Courtney Eubanks 7- 17 Jason Gamble 8- 3X Justin Tilton 9- 40 Homer Bryant 10- 9H Robbie Burkes 11- 4E Harold Erickson 12- 19 Michael Stalnaker 13- 40J Danny James II 14- 19A Jacob Antis 15- 14 James Sullivan III 16- 13 Jonathan Appleby 17- 10 Doc Batson 18- 04 Jon Layerd 19- 1S Mark Trexler 20- 66E James Erickson DNS- 63 William Martin DQ- 55 Joey Durbin Have an opinion on this story? 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