by BJ Cavin

For the second week in a row the racers and fans at Ocala Speedway were greeted by clear and cool weather, making for a comfortable night for watching exciting racing action. The V8 Thunder Stock division had the night off while the Florida Mini Sprint Association came to Ocala for the second time in the 2008 season. The Hobby Stocks and the Late models also provided intense action and competitive racing.

A solid group of dedicated mini sprint drivers came to Ocala Speedway ready to do battle, and they never disappointed the fans. Harold Matthews lead from the start but faltered early in the race with mechanical issues, dropping back several positions before mounting a recovery later on. That left the lead to a hard charging Leroy Moore who dominated the race, and held off a late threat by Matthews later in the waning laps.

Lap 6 brought a red flag as the 22 of Chris Pacetti flipped in turn 2 and landed on a tractor tire in the infield. Pacetti’s car was on its side when Ocala Speedway crew approached, but the driver was ok and insisted on getting the car righted. As soon as it was on its wheels Pacetti drove away and rejoined the field, only to have other problems later when his brakes malfunctioned. The brake problem would lead to a three car melee in turn 2 that ended his night.

Leroy Moore would hold off all challengers and take the win at Ocala, followed by Eddie Moss Jr. in second place. Jessie Teed would come home the third place finisher followed by Russ Heider and Harold Matthews.

A strong field of 21 late models took the green behind pole sitter Mike Eubanks, and it was not long before Shane Williams rocketed into the lead. Williams would hold the lead for a good portion of the race, but Shan Smith pulled a brilliant move after a restart to catch Williams off guard and steal the lead in turn 2. From that point Shan Smith was practically untouchable as he hung on to win the race. Williams would settle for second place despite the best efforts of a hard charging Rich Pratt who wound up the third place finisher. Tim Zackery would have a solid showing with a fourth place finish and Patrick Williams would race to a fifth place finish.

Keith Briggs got a lesson in humility last week at Ocala Speedway when his usually reliable mini stock racer left the race being pushed by a wrecker. But this week Briggs was ready to prove that last week’s failure was just a hiccup in an otherwise outstanding season. Briggs would power his way to the front and steal the lead on lap 4, never looking back after that point. Mike Eubanks would take his racer to the second place finish behind Briggs, while Paul Combast would round out the top three. Ray Ethridge would wind up taking the fouth spot while William Stalnaker would finish fifth.

The Hobby Stocks once again became an all out war between David Miller Jr. and Grady Christian, as the two heated rivals went at each other for the win. Miler would suffer an early setback when a collision with Ray Ethridge would send both cars to the rear of the field. Miller would work his way forward and erase a wide lead to catch Grady Christian and eventually pass him, while Wally Schneider would take home the third place finish. Bubba Christian and Eddie Tovet rounded out the top five.

The Gladiator division was left to finish out the night of racing. Brother Southard would hold the early lead but eventually succumbed to Jonathan Greene and some very hard racing. Greene would take home the first place trophy, followed by Brother Southard and Paul Hahn to seal the top three. Guy Bacelo Jr. would manage the fourth place finish followed by Brian Brogan in fifth place.

Next week the Open Wheel Modifieds return to Ocala Speedway racing for double points along with the Hobby Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Gladiators. And on October 17th Ocala Speedway welcomes the sportsman division to take on the toughest 3/8ths mile in the southeast. The sportsman cars will run a 30 laps feature event with $1000 going to the winner.

Ocala Speedway Results for 10/3/08

Florida Mini Sprint Association

1- 99 Leroy Moore
2- 8 Eddie Moss Jr.
3- 7 Jessie Teed
4- 86 Russ Heider
5- 25 Harold Matthews
6- 16 Paul Goosckalk
7- 711 David Pleaugh
8- 55 Alan Graig
9- 1M Eddie Moss
10- 5 Steve Crabtree
11- 28 Tim O’Donnell
12- 3 Andy Denton
13- 15 Paul Lanza
14- 6 Walter Arnold
15- 71 Scott Greene
16- 24 Ken Penta
17- 81 Randy Carrier
18- 22 Chris Pacetti
DNS- 63 Jeramine Mason
DNS- 5P Unknown
DNS- 26 Eric Garey

Late Model

1- 17SS Shan Smith
2- 1W Shane Williams
3- 0 Rich Pratt
4- Z Tim Zackery
5- 38 Patrick Williams
6- 00 Billy Costello
7- 71 David Shugart
8- 07 David Clegg
9- 17J Joe Kump
10- 18E Mike Eubanks
11- 01 Kevin Mills
12- 08 David Davis
13- 56 Jonathan Appleby
14- 18JO J.O. Nobles
15- 79 Jason Kimball
16- 28 Joey Ramonda
17- 32 Roger Crouse
18- 10 David Crews
19- 59 William Stalnaker
20- 16 Wayne Shugart
DNS- 12 Jack Nosbisch

Mini Stock

1- 19T Keith Briggs
2- 14 Mike Eubanks
3- 19C Paul Combast
4- 21 Ray Ethridge
5- 59 William Stalnaker
6- 11Z Johnny Zackery
7- 55 Arnold Perkins
8- 40M David Miller
DNS- 91 Tony Lewis Jr.
DNS- 26 Christopher Prouty

Hobby Stock

1- 21 David Miller Jr.
2- 36 Grady Christian
3- 57 Wally Schneider
4- 04 Bubba Christian
5- 00T Eddie Tovet
6- 83 Joe Boyd
7- 23 Glenn Baum
8- 81 Donald Woosley
9- 10 Austin Kirkpatrick
10- 08 William Edwards
DNS- 04L Jon Layerd

Gladiator

1- 17D Jonathan Greene
2- 12 Brother Southard
3- 78 Paul Hahn
4- 2B Guy Bacelo Jr.
5- 63 Brian Brogan
6- 2S Lamar Smith
7- 91 Tonya Lewis
DNS- 2 Dalton Strehle