by BJ Cavin

Beautiful weather greeted fans and drivers at Ocala Speedway as the Open Wheel Modified cars headlined a full slate of divisional racing at Florida’s oldest race track. The fans saw no shortage of excitement as the racers put on quite a show, complete with hard racing, plenty of contact, and even some helmet throwing.

Kyle Owen led the Open Wheel Modified field to the green flag and led a lap before climbing the front stretch wall and banging off of the fencing above it, causing the first caution of the race. It was the second week in a row where a race car damaged the fencing on the front stretch, but this time the fence held fast and no lengthy repairs were needed.

Owen’s misfortune gave the race lead to Wayne Hammond, but he also got into trouble just a lap later after the restart. Hammond was involved in a multi car fracas in turn 4 which sent him to the pits for some hasty repairs and put him at the back of the field. Rick Scott, driver of the 8 car, was injured in the wreck and received care from Ocala Speedway medical staff, but was not seriously hurt.

Roger Crouse inherited the lead and refused to relinquish it, but every time he would build a cushion between himself and the second place car of John Bradley, the caution flag would slow things down and bunch up the field. Crouse would still be in the lead when a yet another wreck resulted in a green-white-checkered restart, but those laps were never completed thanks to contact between two cars right in front of the main grandstands. That wreck ended the race and the checkered flags waved as the field passed the accident under caution. Roger Crouse took home the first place hardware, followed by John Bradley in the second spot and Dave Barber in third place.

Eddie Tovet had the pole for the Hobby Stock race, but with Grady Christian lined up to his outside it was not long before the 36 machine was the leader of the race. David Miller Jr. started deep in the field and struggled to get to the front, but never gave up. Miller would battle his way into the top five before the race reached its halfway point and be in position to make some moves thanks to the mistakes made by others.

Meanwhile up front the action was between Wally Schneider and Grady Christian until Miller advanced himself into the top three. Miller would get past Schneider and begin harassing Shady Grady, leading to a prolonged battle. Schneider would have problems on lap 16 that sent him to the rear and out of contention as he ran in the third spot, and later contact between Schneider and another car under caution would get the 57 parked for the rest of the race. Miller and Christian would go at it lap after lap, with both crossing the line side by side on the white flag lap. But Grady Christian would emerge as the victor on the next lap, leaving Miller to settle for second. They were followed by Daniel Miller Jr. for the third spot. George Richards and Bubba Christian also had top five finishes.

Once more it was up to someone to step up and attempt to end the dominance of Keith Briggs in the Mini Stock division, but that was not to be. Briggs would extend his lead and win the race, followed by Paul Combast and Ray Ethridge for second and third.

A solid field of V8 Thunder Stocks bean their feature race banging off of each other through the turns, but Michael Stalnaker managed to wrestle away the lead and hold it throughout the race. While Mike Stalnaker was dominant, others behind him continued to pass using their fenders and bumpers to make room. Matt Schell, who started the race well back in the pack, bided his time and worked his way to a second place finish behind Stlanaker. James Sealey also fought his way forward to claim third place, while Jeff Stalnaker Sr. and Larry Welter Jr. managed to come home fourth and fifth.

Guy Bacelo Jr. began the Gladiator race in front and stayed there, but had problems later in the race that allowed others to get past him before Bacelo would take it to the pits. Brian Chisholm turned out to have the dominant car late in the race, and it was just after his pass on the outside of turns 1 and 2 for the lead that Bacelo’s troubles began. Chisholm would hang on and win, followed by Dalton Strehle and Tonya Lewis.

Next week Ocala Speedway opens up the clay for street machines with another Street Car Challenge Night! Complete rules for the street car challenge can be obtained at Ocala Speedway. Also next week the speedway welcomes the Late Models back for another visit, plus the Hobby Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks, and Gladiators.

Ocala Speedway Results for 9/12/08

Open Wheel Modified

1- 32 Roger Crouse
2- 27 John Bradley
3- 56 Dave Barber Jr.
4- 48 Wayne Hammond
5- 15 Jamie Carter
6- Z Tim Zackery
7- 7P Matthew Permann
8- 12 Chip Owen
9- 0 Richard Dickinson
10- 11 Chuck Gustafson Jr.
11- 28 Alan Reynolds
12- 61 Ronald Soltis
13- 23VP V.P. Pipken
14- 75C Charles O’Neill
15- 52 Greg Bonynge
16- 1 Ed Hill
17- 12M David Moherg
18- 33 Jeff Matthews
19- 79 Dakota Stephens
20- 8 Rick Scott
21- 68 Mike Kibbey
22- 2 Kyle Owen
DQ (conduct) 94 Jeff Bagent

Hobby Stock

1- 36 Grady Christian
2- 21 David Miller Jr.
3- 99 Daniel Miller Jr.
4- 0 George Richards
5- 04 Bubba Christian
6- 23 Glenn Baum
7- 83 Joe Boyd
8- 08 William Edwards
9- 57 Wally Schneider
10- 00T Eddie Tovet
11- 15 Don Paugh

Mini Stock

1- 19T Keith Briggs
2- 19C Paul Combast
3- 21 Ray Ethridge
4- 11Z Johnny Zackery
5- 55 Arnold Perkins
6- 40M David Miller
7- 25 Cole Ridenhour
8- 26 Christopher Prouty
9- 69 Sebastian Peterson
10- 14 Frank Prouty

V8 Thunder Stock

1- 19 Michael Stalnaker
2- 57 Matt Schell
3- 66 James Sealey
4- 9 Jeff Stalnaker Sr.
5- 58 Larry Welter Jr.
6- 10 Doc Batson
7- 14 James Sullivan III
8- 19A Jacob Antis
9- 3D Jessie Corbitt
10- 72 Terry Dunbar
11- 40 Homer Bryant
12- 81 Courtney Eubanks
13- 7 Justin Morgan
14- 69 Michael Carr
15- 4E James Erickson
16- 1S Jeff Stalnaker Jr.
17- 71 Jackson Nay
18- 04 Jon Layerd
19- 05 Donald Winne
20- 40J Danny James II
21- 69A Jonathan Appleby

Gladiator

1- 60 Brian Chisholm
2- 2 Dalton Strehle
3- 91 Tonya Lewis
4- 63 Brian Brogan
5- 2B Guy Bacelo Jr.
6- 78 Paul Hahn
7- 8 James Gentles