Check here for a full recap from Ocala Speedway and the 50-lap Sportsman race.
Sportsman Results
Wayne Morris showed he had the fastest car in qualifying for the 50-lap Sportsman race when he clocked the fastest time. But after drawing the 12-pill and starting on row 6, his chances for winning were grim.
But his car was too strong. Morris climbed his way up early to take the lead and the win, with Mike Veltman and Tim Shull rounding out the top 3.
After the 12-car inversion, Rick Bass and Jim Higginbotham sat on the front row. Bass jumped out to the early lead, but Shane Nichols gouged his way by on lap 2. Edward Allen fought his way up to second, and Aaron Williamson settled in third early on.
Trouble unfolded on lap 6 when Williamson and Allen collided battling for second on the front stretch. Both cars shot head on into the wall, collecting William Stalnaker and Higginbotham in the aftermath. Every car except for Williamson continued on, but officials send Allen to the rear of the field.
The crash allowed fast qualifier Morris to move up to fifth. By lap 9, Morris had moved to third and started working on Veltman for second. At the same time, Veltman had caught Nichols for the lead, and the three ran nose-to-tail for several laps.
Veltman and Morris split Nichols in turn 3 on lap 16 with Veltman moving to the top spot. Morris moved to second and started making a move on Veltman when Patrick Mennenga got turned into the turn 4 wall by Allen. While the caution was out, Mennenga got out of his car and threw his steering wheel at Allen as he drove past. Speedway officials then escorted Mennenga to the pits.
Veltman guarded the inside after the restart, so Morris made his own way by on the outside, taking the lead on lap 20. Veltman stayed with Morris as Shull moved up to third. The three ran nose-to-tail during the middle laps of the race.
The third caution came out on lap 30 when Todd Kelly spun around in turn 2. Veltman went on the assault for the lead on the restart, sizing up Morris at every turn while Shull watched from a carlength back.
Morris held on for the final 20 laps to take the win and the $1,000 prize.
Late Model Results
Scott Grossenbacher flexed his car’s muscles and cruised to victory in the Late Model feature, showing that he may be back to his dominant form of 2006.
Edward Allen and Robbie Smith led the field to the green, but Grossenbacher made the big move to the lead on the lap 2. The caution came out on lap 3 when Scott Millar spun down the backstretch.
Young drivers Daniel Webster and Kurt Jett charged to the front, but Webster’s run derailed when he spun Grossenbacher. The incident sent Webster to the rear of the field while Grossenbacher got the lead back.
After Webster spun on lap 17, Grossenbacher used a breakaway restart to seal the victory.
Street Stock Results
Jeff Stalnaker dominated the Street Stock feature, jumping to the lead early and then driving away from the pack to victory. Mike Wilson finished second, and Mike Stalnaker finished third.
Jeff Stalnaker moved out to an early lead as Shelby Mather lost ground on the outside. The entire field leaned on each other, and Stalnaker used the contact to stretch his lead.
The leaning led to crashing on lap 5 when Mather cut a tire on the backstretch, causing Rick Bass and Marc Mitchell to spin into the infield. Stalnaker jumped out to a good lead on the restart.
4-Cylinder Stock Results
Rick Kuhn was one of four different leaders in the 4-Cylinder feature, but he was the only one to lead the lap that mattered. Kuhn took the lead with three laps to go and held on to take the win in the 20-lap race.
Justin Durbin sat on the pole and led the first lap, but it didn’t take long for the caution flag to wave. Rick Heath spun John Hagans coming out of turn 4 on the first lap, sending both cars into the wall and to the pits with sheet metal damage.
Justyn Elwood squeezed Durbin up the racetrack to take the lead on lap 6, bringing his cousin, Brendan Elwood, to second. Brendan Elwood then got past Justyn to take the lead, and Kuhn followed to take second place.
Kuhn moved to the inside to take the lead, but Justyn Elwood cut a path on the outside to challenge Kuhn on the last lap. Kuhn held off the Elwoods in the final corner, and won the drag race back to the finish line.
Pure Stock Results
Bobby Taylor drove from the back to the front to win the 20-lap Pure Stock feature. Josh Brown held on for second, and Larry Welter finished third.
Brown led the 14-car field to green and jumped out to an early lead. Welter settled in behind and stalked Brown in the early laps.
The first caution flag came out on lap 6 when Joey Durbin and Mike Smith tangled and spun in turn one.
Welter went back to shadowing Brown on the restart, looking inside to make a move. As Welter moved to Brown’s inside, the caution light turned on again as James Owens spun in turn 4. The caution allowed Bobby Taylor and James Erickson to catch up to the two leaders.
Taylor moved past Welter on the lap-12 restart and then set his sights on Brown. Taylor got by on the inside on lap 15 and drove away to victory.
Starting Line Up for 50-lap Sportsman race
- 39 Rick Bass
- 76 Jim Higginbotham
- 65 Shane Nichols
- 61B Eric Sauers
- 23 Edward Allen
- 61E William Stalnaker
- 13 Aaron Williamson
- 08 William Edwards
- 94 Mike Veltman
- 32 Shelton Bowers
- 8 Tim Shull
- 56 Wayne Morris
- 38 Todd Kelly
- 29 Leroy Donnelson
- 121 Gordon Cade
- 0 Greg Young
- 3 Harold Barup
Kurt Jett won the first late model heat, and Scott Millar won the second.
7:30 p.m. -- Wayne Morris took the fastest time in the Sportsman division qualifying, just edging Tim Shull. After a random draw, track officials will invert 12 positions in the 19-car field.
6:15 p.m. -- Cars are rolling into the pit area and hot laps are underway.