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Passmore Cruises To Caney Valley Speedway Triumph

Danny Smith Accepts Oil Medics Back Row Challenge

John Lemon

OCRS Public Relations

Caney Kansas (September 1, 2012)- Sprint cars of the Oil Capital Racing Series made their second and final stop of 2012 at Kerry Gorby’s Caney Valley Speedway and as with the first visit, the fans came out in large numbers to witness some of the most thrilling open wheel racing the region has to offer. Current OCRS points leader and favorite to take the 2012 Goodyear Tire and Rubber / OCRS Championship, Jammin Jamie Passmore, had one specific goal for his run at CVS. That goal was to improve his finish by one more podium step as he ran a solid second at CVS last time out to Whit “Gasman” Gastineau in May.

Danny “Caretaker” Smith was looking to sweep the night’s program as he won the Drive Shaft Inc. heat and then, earned the right to start on the pole position by virtue of his score in the 5-lap “Pole Dash” race. In victory lane after the dash and after some coxing from the throng of fans in attendance, Smith relinquished his coveted starting position and accepted “The Oil Medics” Back Row Challenge where Smith would start dead last. If won, he would collect a $2,000 bonus.

Jamie Passmore in 4j battles with Terry Easum in 88 / Mike Spivey Photo

Passmore would out jump new pole starter in Fred Mattox at the start and lead the distance for the win. The feature was not without its drama for mishaps. Casey Wills spun the Oil Express Fleet Services #31 on the second lap. Glen Passmore wound up a wounded duck in his G.A.P. Roofing #69 on the backstretch of lap 13 for yellow number two. He would not restart. The restart line up would see Jammin Jamie out front followed by Russell Boren who was putting on a good run on the bottom groove while most of the field was running the topside. Caney native Andrew Deal would sit third in his OCRS return with Gastineau fourth and Terry Easum fifth in his second OCRS start of the season.

First time OCRS starter Kade Morton “Workin’ It” / Mike Spivey Photo

With a full moon and a number 13 to get in the books, for the superstitious minded, this made for a very unlucky combination, as getting lap 13 in would be a nightmare for some. In addition to the G.Passmore issue of not getting unlucky 13 in, rookie sprint car driver and first time OCRS starter Kade Morton, would spin his #8m mount in turn two on the restart before a lap would be completed. The next attempt to get lap 13 in found six cars slamming to a halt in the same area Morton just spun in prior. Three cars that stopped on the low side of the racing surface were: Alex Sewell, Alex DeCamp and the Oil Medics back Row Challenger, Danny Smith. These three would restart at the rear.

Unfortunately for the three at the top of the track, none on that group would restart. Johnny Kent got the worst of it as his car got creamed in all the mass hysteria that took place in the corner. Kyle Clark was the first to drill Kent then when Clark bounced to the side, a former OCRS regular and another first time starter in 2012, Brian Roberts, slammed into Kent. It seemed as if the full moon that was out was shinning a huge spotlight in turn two. Once the wreckage was cleared, it was finally time to get in that unlucky lap 13. That indeed happened as the field went green but lo and behold, the turn two Bermuda Triangle didn’t take long to get its next victim, as on lap 14, Matt Sherrell, a third place finisher in 2011 points, slid high above the rim and stopped necessitating another yellow. Sherrell would tag the rear where he would ultimately finish tenth.

Car Owner Kelly Fode brought the duo of Frank Suddath (L) and Brian McClelland (R)

Mike Spivey Photo

After all the calamity, the restart would see Passmore in the lead with Boren sitting in the catbird seat, Deal third, then Gastineau, Mattox, Tim Kent from the 18^th hole, Easum and Brian McClelland. Deal would snag second from Boren on the restart while Gastineau maneuvered around Boren as well. Easum, looking at what was unfolding ahead of him took no time in making a move on Boren as well and also made a pass on the #43 machine.

The feature’s final yellow would fall two laps after the restart when Boren, who was looking the best he has since not racing sprints in 12 years until returning in 2012, spun in turn three. Tim Kent was making some good progress running the bottom and was putting a lock on the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories ‘Hard Charger’ award. Passmore would cruise on in for the 11^th win of the season in his G.A.P. Roofing / Wesmar Engines / Eagle chassis. “The car ran well tonight,” said the pleased winner. “There are some good cars that started up front with us and we just had to run hard and not make a mistake. I hope the fans liked what they saw as we like coming here and hopefully they (Caney Valley management) will have us back here next year.”

Deal felt like a winner in his Dyno Services of Oklahoma / A.R.T. mount with his runner-up finish. “I just didn’t have quite enough for him (Passmore),” said Deal. “I didn’t push it real hard on the top because it was getting pretty squirrely up there. I couldn’t really get to him so I didn’t really see any reason to run all that hard. I saw Whit’s nose once and got back up on the wheel a bit. This was the first night on the motor which was built by David Stephenson, and it ran well. The whole package is pretty much what we ran last year,” said the talented driver who grew up in Caney.

Gastineau would take the third spot, which was his best run since getting the same result on Friday the 13^th back in July at the Brill’s Motor Speedway. “I thought the track was decent,” said the Gasman. “ People started running the bottom in (turns) one and two and kicked up a lot of marbles up there (high side) and I tried to miss them the best I could. The top was a bit better back in May. I think if we would have started up front we might of won it like we did in May.” Gastineau’s finish moves him to within 5 points of Mattox for third place on the standings (1128-1123).

Tim Kent claimed fourth with Easum fifth. The rest of the top ten were: McClelland, Layne Himebaugh, Smith, Shane Sellers and Sherrell. Next weekend will see a doubleheader event for the OCRS travelers. On Friday September 7^th, it’s on to the monster sized half-mile of the Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee Oklahoma where Passmore looks to sweep the three race Thunderbird series and the next night, the series will make a second 2012 visit to the Tri-State Speedway in Pocola Oklahoma where Tri-State fans welcomed the sprint car contingent with welcomed arms in last June.

OCRS Top Ten (as of 9/1/12):

(1) Jamie Passmore #4j: 1402

(2) Danny Smith #5$: 1232

(3) Fred Mattox #26m: 1128

(4) Whit Gastineau #2w: 1123

(5) Tim Kent #79: 1061

(6) Alex Sewell #8: 1032

(7) Casey Wills: #31: 995

(8) Johnny Kent #55: 968

(9) Shayla Waddell #88s: 873

(10) Kyle Clark #9$: 827

Caney Valley Speedway

Race date: September 1, 2012 - Event 16

26 cars

M&W Aluminum Heat:

1- Fred Mattox (2) 2- Whit Gastineau (1) 3- Shane Sellers (5) 4- Alex Sewell (7) 5- Layne Himebaugh (4) 6- Tim Kent (3) 7- Zach Beeler (6)

Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat:

1- Jamie Passmore (1) 2- Matt Sherrell (2) 3- Glen Passmore (4) 4-Alex DeCamp (3) 5- Casey Wills (7) 6- Brian Roberts (5) 7- Michael Bookout (6)

Drive Shafts Inc. Heat:

1- Danny Smith (2) 2- Andrew Deal (3) 3- Brian McClelland (5) 4- Kyle Clark (4) 5- Jeff Garnett (1) 6- Frank Sudduth (6) DNF

Car & Fleet Parts Heat:

1- Russell Boren (3) 2- Terry Easum (4) 3- Johnny Kent (5) 4- Kade Morton (6) 5- Len Larkin (2) 6- Michael Tyre (1) DNF

Pole Dash:

1- Danny Smith (4) 2- Fred Mattox (2) 3- Jamie Passmore (6) 4- Terry Easum (5) 5- Andrew Deal (3) 6- Russell Boren (1)

NOTE: Danny Smith accepts Oil Medics “Back Row Challenge”

Wesmar Racing Engines B-Feature (top 4 transfer):

1- Kyle Clark (1) 2- Layne Himebaugh (2) 3- Tim Kent (5) 4- Brian Roberts (6) 5- Zach Beeler (8) 6- Len Larkin (4) 7- Michael Bookout (9) 8- Jeff Garnett (3) 9- Michael Tyre (7) DNF 10- Frank Suddath DNS

OCRS A-Feature:

1- Jamie Passmore (2) 2- Andrew Deal (4) 3- Whit Gastineau (6) 4- Tim Kent (18) 5- Terry Easum (3) 6- Brian McClelland (10) 7- Layne Himebaugh (17) 8- Danny Smith (20) 9- Shane Sellers (11) 10 – Matt Sherrell (7) 11- Alex DeCamp (15^th position) 12 Casey Wills (14) 13 Fred Mattox (1) 14- Alex Sewell (10), 15- Kade Morton (13) 16- Russell Boren (5) 17- Johnny Kent (11) 18- Kyle Clark (16) 19- Brian Roberts (19) 20- Glen Passmore (12)

AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories Hard Charger: Tim Kent +14

www.ocrsracing.com