Early Showers Fail to Dampen Excitement at Ocala
by BJ Cavin
During the late afternoon the skies around Ocala Speedway turned very dark, and by 6:15 they brought thunder, lightning, and rain. In fact, Ocala Speedway had absorbed copious amounts of rain during the week, adding up to an estimated 12 inches over a three day period. But the rain was limited and lasted only about 15 minutes, so racing began on time and any drivers or fans who stayed home missed plenty of heated action. And in fact, the rain was just what the track staff had needed. No one really wanted to drive the water truck anyway.
The Hobby Stocks had the spotlight for the night as the fourth installment of the Pepsi Six Pack Hobby Stock Challenge was run. The race was a make up from a rained out event back in June, and the earlier showers at Ocala Speedway had managed to scare some racers into not coming to run for the $1000 first prize. Fourteen Hobby Stocks showed up, and all of them raced hard.
Those that were there put on quite a show, as Jeff Stalnaker Sr. led the field to the green flag. It took less than three laps for Grady Christian to assert himself and jump to the lead, but maintaining that lead was no easy matter. He had challenges at various times from Bubba Christian, who tailed him for most of the race, and in the end from a hard charging Kevin Durden. Meanwhile Grady Christian's main antagonist found himself mired in traffic, and after a blow from another car in turn four began to fade in to the pack. David Miller Jr never really got going from his starting position, and never got a shot at challenging "Shady" Grady on the night.
Grady Christian fought off Kevin Durden to take the win, and Bubba Christian followed Durden to take home the third place trophy. Wally Schneider would have a good showing in fourth place and Alan McCafferty would round out the top five.
As the pre race rains fell on the speedway, all was a buzz over Buzzy Reutimann's presence in the pits and his plans to race with the modifieds. No sooner than his rig stopped to check in at the gate, than Buzzy Reutimann found himself in a photo op, the first one of many on the night. Unfortunately for Buzzy and his fans, the night did not go well. Reutimann was forced high in turn two and stayed high down the backstretch in order to avoid other cars, but somehow found himself driving up the backstretch wall near the entrance to turn three. Reutimann's vast driving experience allowed him to avoid a potential disaster, but his car sustained enough damage to send him to the pits for the remainder of the night.
As for the rest of the Open Wheel Modifieds, they put on a hard fought race that featured a lot of contact and ended up with many damaged cars. Jeff Matthews had the car to beat and no one seemed to have anything to challenge it. John Bradley would be the closest challenger but could never find a way around Matthews and steal a win. meanwhile the fans were awed by Roger Crouse who drove the final laps of the race in a car with the left front wheel literally dangling loose. Crouse would hang on to finish third by literally using his good three wheels to hold off all challengers. Jeff Matthews took the win followed by John Bradley for second place. Roger Crouse would follow in third with Ronald Soltis and Greg Leonard rounding out the top five.
Keith Briggs has dominated the Mini Stock division at Ocala Speedway in 2008, and once more he won in convincing fashion. But while Briggs was running away from the rest of the field, William Stalnaker was racing hard and driving smart in order to take home the second place money and trophy. Stalnaker passed eventual third place finisher Johnny Zackery on lap 9 and never looked back, while Arnold Perkins and Michael Bagley Jr. fought hard to finish in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Twenty four V8 Thunder Stocks were in the pits despite the early showers, and they saw Michael Stalnaker dodge several bullets to take the checkers in first place. The race featured problems early, including a multi car mele on the back stretch that resulted in a complete restart. The early leader was Justin Tilton who had started to the outside of pole sitter, Jonathan Appleby, but when the caution flew again on lap 6 it would spell disaster. On the restart Tilton's rear axle would snap, ending his night. Patrick Mennenga would dodge the problems and race his way to a second place showing, while Harold Erickson would come home in the third spot. Todd Roberts was the fourth place finisher while Jerrid Bennett placed fifth.
Guy Bacelo Jr, was on the pole for the Gladiator feature race, and nine other drivers took the green behind him. Bacelo's main challenger was the 78 of Paul Hahn, and eventually Hahn would make the pass and go on to a well deserved win. Guy Bacelo would settle for second followed closely by Tonya Lewis in the third spot. Nathan Rhodes finished in the fourth spot and James Gentiles came home in fifth.
The Late Models will return to Ocala Speedway on July 25th, along with the Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks, and Gladiators.
