BY THOMAS WHITE
(https://www.ocala.com/story/news/2006/06/11/williams-captures-powell-memorial/31161285007/)
OCALA – Patrick Williams was a man with a plan. Oh sure, it was a strategy formulated on the fly, in the minutes leading up to Friday’s 11th Annual Powell Memorial, but it was a plan nonetheless. A winning one at that. “I had no idea I’d be driving in the race,” Williams said. “I just came over to watch and the next thing I knew, I was out on the track.” Williams stepped into the race at the last minute, picking up a ride from five-time winner Wayne Anderson, who brought two cars to the track and could only drive one.
“It was the first time I’ve ever been in this car,” Williams said. “I had five laps of practice and that was it.
“I knew the car was fast. I wanted to get out front and go from there. I tell you, 99 percent of the time when you set a strategy, it backfires on you. But not tonight. ”
Williams started just back of Jeremy Gerstner, who was on the pole for the super late model race. Williams wasted little time getting to the front, taking over the lead from Gerstner almost immediately and holding on to it for the balance of the 125-lap race.
“I’ve been trying to win one of these Powell Memorials for years,” he said. “I’ve probably run in five or six of them. This race and this track are really special to me. I drove my first race here when I was 15-years-old. I’ve known the Powells all my life. When they were talking about them earlier, I was almost in tears.”
Williams wasn’t the only person at the track with mixed emotions. The packed house certainly enjoyed the night of racing, but thoughts of the Powell family were never far from anyone’s mind. The race honors the six members of the extended Powell family, who went down in a plane crash just outside of Gainesville in June of 1995.
The late James “Buddy” Powell and his family owned the Ocala Speedway from 1982-1993. The lineup for Friday’s race included James Powell III, who lost his mother and his father, Elizabeth and Buddy Powell, his aunt and his uncle, as well as his four-year-old twin daughters, Ashley and Nicole.
Powell, who won the race back in 2003, started off in the fifth position, but moved up to third by lap 15, settling in behind Williams and Scott Grossenbacher . Those three set the pace for the first half of the race, opening up some distance on the balance of the 13-car field.
Powell’s car, though, started to give him trouble and on the 52nd lap, Rich Pratt passed the 77 on the inside to take over third place. Powell did his best to hang on, but after awhile it was clear that it wasn’t going to be his night. With 40 laps to go, Williams lapped Powell and it was right about then that Powell decided to call it a night.
“I thought I had a shot for about 50 laps,” Powell said. “My car was pretty good there for right about 50 laps and then it really went to pieces. After that, we got so far back, there was no point in even staying out there, so we brought it in.
“I’m really proud of Patrick. He got his start right here and tonight he was in a league of his own.”
Williams, after a late caution, wound up winning by two car lengths over Grossenbacher. Pratt too third, while Kevin Durden and Fain Skinner rounded out the top five. Brian Finney, who was the fastest qualifier, followed in sixth place and was followed across the line by Tim Russell, Gerstner and Daniel Webster. Powell, who finished 85 laps, was the next best car in the field, with Jeff Scoefield, Wayne Anderson and Todd Brown making up the balance of the field. Anderson, driving a car nearly identical to that of the winner, was forced to the pits for good on the 58th lap.
Dick Anderson, the “King of Florida Short Tracks and the father of Wayne Anderson, tipped his cap to the winner.
“Wayne couldn’t decided which car to drive, they were both flying,” he said. “He decided to go with the other one and Patrick stepped in and did a great job. This is one of the most prestigious races in Florida, when you win this you’re doing something right. This is a great race and we think the world of James and his family.”
TOP 5 FINISHERS
1. Patrick Williams
2. Scott Grossenbacher
3. Rich Pratt
4. Kevin Durden
5. Fain Skinner
Friday’s program included a return to the booth for onetime track announcer, Tom Cooper, who shared the mike with Wolf Bowers for the evening.
“I announced for 31 years,” Cooper said. “I’ll still come out for some of the big races and they don’t get any bigger than this. I was working here at the track on the day of the accident. It shocked us all. I used to race against Buddy. This was a small racing community and it hit us all pretty hard. It means a lot to all of us to see James out here driving.”
James Powell, in turn, expressed his gratitude to everyone who had a hand in making the night as special as it was.
“It was a terrific turn-out,” he said. “I saw a lot of old friend, people who I grew up with. For some, this might be the only night all year they come out to the track. It’s good to see them. I think they know how much I appreciate it because I certainly do.”