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Another Week of Solid Competition at Ocala
by BJ Cavin
A few showers passed over Ocala Speedway during the late afternoon hours on
Friday, and while they may have dampened the track somewhat, they did not
manage to dampen the enthusiasm of many race fans and drivers who were ready
for racing. By the time the hot laps session began the showers were over, and a
nearly perfect night for racing greeted the crowd. And the racers did not
disappoint either, putting on a very competitive and exciting show for all of the fans.
The Street Stocks had the honor of beginning the feature races for the evening
and David Baxley had the honor of beginning the race on the pole. Baxley was
driving a car he had purchased earlier in the week and wasted no time in
attempting to prove it was the car to beat. Baxley jumped out in front and remained
there, rebuffing challenges from David Foster until Pete Close fought his way from
the last spot to the front of the field. Close has begun the race dead last, but by
lap 6 had climbed to the eighth position, then to the fourth spot by lap 9. Several
cautions also worked in Close's favor, keeping the file bunched up and making it
easier for him to overtake the cars in front. David Baxley fought hard when Close
caught up to him, but two laps from the finish Pete Close made the pass for the
win, relegating Baxley to a second place finish. David Foster also hung in there
and went home with a third place finish.
Some new drivers have found their way into the field of Thunder Stocks as the
rookie division continues to give new drivers a place to learn the ropes. Guy
Bacelo Jr. led the field to the green flag but was almost immediately overtaken by
Wade Brown who dashed to the front, followed by Donnie Buckner and Chris
Watson. Brown had something to prove as he drove his way to a win, while
Buckner and Watson finished second and third respectively.
Shelton Bowers had hoped to do well this week but found that sometimes things do
not go as planned. Bowers' car expired during hot laps, but Leroy Donaldson
stepped out of his machine and allowed Bowers to run for points. And instead of
racing his way through the field as has been the case in recent weeks, William
Edwards earned the pole for the Sportsman division feature race. Edwards
relinquished the lead on lap 5 to a hard charging Matt Blum, who went on to
eventually win the race. Edwards would come home in the second spot, while Tim
Shull would fight his way from deep in the field to a respectable third place finish.
Last week the 4 Cylinder Stocks had witnessed Brandon and Justyn Elwood racing
to a virtual photo finish where Brandon was deemed the winner. This week those
two drivers once again went head to head and put on quite a show, only this time
around it was Justyn who went home with the first place hardware. Rick Kuhn
started from the pole and had hoped to race his way to a win, but it turned out that
the two Elwood machines were too strong to beat so Kuhn would wind up in the
third spot.
After Pete Close had battled his way from the back to the front in the Street Stock
feature to begin the night, Brent Cooper began the V8 Pure Stock feature race
from the rear and picked his way to the front in much the same fashion. Don
Welter led the field to the green flag and managed to keep the lead for 6 laps
before Larry Welter Sr. wrestled it away and Brent Cooper fought his way into the
second place spot. From there Cooper went to work on the leader and moved out
front on lap 10, then never looked back. Larry Welter Sr. would take the second
place spot while Jessie Corbett would make his way to third place.
Kyle Maynard was a very good shape as he began the late model feature race
form the pole, but Scott Grosenbacher almost immediately stole the lead at the
green flag. Once Grosenbacher was out in front he simply drove away, leaving
Kyle Maynard, Cody Pitts, and Daniel Webster, to settle who would finish second
and third. Cody Pitts fought hard and made every effort to finds a passing lane,
but Maybard managed to hold him off and finish second, while Pitts finished third.
The Fast Mini Cup Series set out the prove that size does not matter as the All Star
Kids division hit the track for a 10 lap feature. Cindarae Irish jumped out to an
early lead but lost it in turn 2 as she spun out. Unfortunately for her the spin and
resulting excursion through the grass would cause mechanical woes and her night
would end watching the race from the infield. From that point on the race belonged
to Daniel Miller, who checked out on the rest of the field and sailed to a convincing
win. Nick Hernandez would salvage a second place finish while Aaron Irish would
come home in third place.
The Fast Mini Cup Pro division fielded 8 cars in their feature event, with Jerry
Parker leading from the pole. But by lap 6 it was Jason Schoader who passed the
leader and pulled away to collect a win, while Joel Ashburn would race into second
place and Zach Zylo Hoyt would wrap up the top three.
The night of racing was capped off by a couple of novelty events to entertain the
fans. A Kidney Bean race was run with Larry Welter Sr. starting from the pole, but
for te second time in the night it was Brent Cooper who stole the show. By the third
lap cooper had overtaken the leader and was well on his way to a convincing win,
followed by Joey Durbin and Larry Welter Sr. And following the Kidney Bean race
the ladies took to the track in borrowed race cars for a Powder Puff event. It might
not have been the fastest race of the night but it was quite entertaining to say the
least.
Ocala Speedway will be welcoming the open wheel modified cars back for some
racing action next week, plus the usual list of regular divisions. And topping off the
night will be another School Bus Figure 8 race.
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