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ARDMORE, Okla. (May 20, 2016) - Jay Sale was exhausted after Friday nights Sooner Late Model Series main event at Southern Oklahoma Speedway.
Sale was locked in a grueling door-to-door battle with David Hennan in the 25-lapper that saw the two swapping the lead back and forth. But Sale managed to lead the final 13 laps to post a hard-fought victory.
“I am wore out, but it was a fun race,” said Sale who was still catching his breath long after the race.
Hennan led the first three laps from the pole but Sale, who started seventh, quickly charged his way into second. A lap four yellow flag that waved for Chris Haynes who hit the wall in turn two, allowed Sale to set up a move on the restart. A lap later Sale pushed inside of Hennan for his first lead of the race.
“I could not get the car to slow down and turn in turn one so I knew the only thing I could do was try and get underneath him and it just stuck,” explained Sale of his move into the lead. “I got on it and it held.
“I was pretty good in (turns) 3 and 4 and terrible in 1 and 2. We went back and forth three or four times. He went back around me and I was back around him.”
Hennan felt the yellow flag hurt his momentum.
“I think that yellow kind of hurt us a little bit,” Hennan said. “The car was fast. I was just getting in too hard. I would push up a little and he (Sale) would get under me then I got back by him. I pushed up again and he got back by.”
Sale led for the next six laps before Hennan slide back in front. But the lead only lasted a lap before Sale gunned his late model back into the lead.
“When you are leading the race you don’t know exactly where the fastest line is then I just lost my head,” Hennan said of losing the lead again to Sale. “I should have stayed down there when I got the lead back. I got to driving too hard.
“He was missing my timing up. He would hit the brakes then take off. I would catch up. I thought about going high but it was real slimy.
“It was a good race.”
Sale picked up his first victory of the season despite having a car that was not handling to his liking.
“The car was way to tight and would not turn in,” Sale said. “The track was fast enough I could slide it through the corners.”
The win ended three weeks of bad luck that forced Sale to build a new car.
“This is a new car,” he said. “We destroyed a car last time and we don’t quite have the handle on it yet, but we are getting better.
“We had a crash, then the car caught on fire and we crashed again. This is our first good finish for the season.”
While Sale and Hennan were dueling for the lead, a battle raged for third between Dalton Ragsdale and Mark Harrison. Harrison challenged Ragsdale midway through the race and finally took over third on lap 17. Ragsdale settled for fourth at the finish. Darin Busch rounded out the top five.
Sooner Late Model Series
Southern Oklahoma Speedway
May 20, 2016
Car Count 14
Heat 1 (10 laps) - 1, 7-Dalton Ragsdale. 2, ZZ-Sloppy Hogg. 3, 31-Ray Peacock. 4, 4-Harlan Sale. 5, 93-Eric Brill. 6, 75K-Chris Haynes. DNS: Damian Patocha.
Heat 2 (10 laps) - 1, D11-David Hennan. 2, 81-Mark Harrison. 3, 56X-Jay Sale. 4, 56C-Darin Busch. 5, 164-TJ Sale. 6, 36-Jason Redman. DNS: Mark Brill.
A Feature (25 laps) - 1. 56X-Jay Sale. 2, D11-David Hennan. 3, 81-Mark Harrison. 4, 7-Dalton Ragsdale. 5, 56C-Darin Busch. 6, 93-Eric Brill. 7, 31-Ray Peacock. 8, 164-TJ Sale. 9, ZZ-Sloppy Hogg. 10, 75K-Chris Haynes. 11, 36-Jason Redman. DNS: Harlan Sale, Damian Patocha, Mark Brill.
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