Williams tops Late Model at Ocala Speedway

by BJ Cavin

For the second week in a row, nature was threatening to wash out racing at Ocala Speedway. With thunderstorms literally surrounding the track during the late afternoon, a solid field of cars filled the pits and the grandstand filled with hearty fans, and as nature would have it, not one drop of moisture fell from the skies onto Ocala Speedway. And before the night was over the fans would see a very intense and competitive night of racing action.

The Late Models were back and put on quite a show, as their 25 lap race featured heavy contact and intense racing. The lead would change several times throughout he race, but in the end it was Shane Williams who would hold off all challengers to take the win. Mark Whitener also had the lead at one point, using the outside to make headway around the top three cars. But Whitener would settle for third place in the end as Shan Smith would surge forward late in the race to challenge Williams and grab second place at the checkers. Ryan Mitchell came home in the fourth position, followed by Clyde Herron in fifth place.

The Mini Stocks would begin their race with the field totally inverted, meaning several very fast cars were at the rear and feeling the need to get to the front. Patience prevailed as the field took the green, but pole sitter Frank Prouty found himself attempting to stay out of the way as fast cars made their way around him, and Prouty ended up collecting Paul Combast’s car in the process. Both cars would be done for the night, and on the restart Keith Briggs immediately began passing cars and moving forward. Briggs would move into the lead by lap 6 and remain there as the others battled it out for the second place trophy. Ray Ethridge would finish second, followed by William Stalnaker in the third spot. Arnold Perkins and Johnny Zackery would finish fourth and fifth.

If the fans thought that the Hobby Stock race would be another epic battle between Grady Christian and David Miller Jr. then they were certainly surprised when Christian’s car smacked the wall and limped off of the track on lap one of the race. Christian would return to the race, but would remain two laps down until the finish. Miller would then find himself in an equally intense battle with David Kinsey, and in the end Kinsey would manage to hold off Miller to seal the win. Miller would finish second followed by Wally Schneider in third place. George Richards and Joey Durbin rounded out the top five.

The V8 Thunder Stocks have gain a reputation for highly competitive racing as of late, and they did not disappoint this week. Pole sitter Harold Erickson would fall victim to a broken rear axle and drop out of the race, and the same misfortune would strike some other contenders as well. The battle for the top spot would feature plenty of side by side racing between Todd Roberts and Michael Stalnaker before contact between the two caused Roberts to spin out. Roberts was awarded his spot back while Stalnaker was penalized, and Stalnaker would opt to park his car at that point. That gave Doc Batson a green light to go after Roberts, but after some more intense racing Todd Roberts would come away the victor. Batson would finish in second place as Roberts beat him to the line by a nose. James Sealey would work his way up for a third place finish followed by Jeff Stalnaker Jr. and Justyn Elwood to round out the top five.

After all of the intense racing earlier in the night, the Gladiators inherited a rough, but challenging track for their feature race. But as the other divisions had done before them, the Gladiators also featured a close race to the finish. James Gentiles would capture the early lead and hang on, but would face some strong competition from James Sullivan in the final laps. Meanwhile last week’s winner, Paul Hahn, would look quite strong, but fell victim to a flat tire that ended his hopes of a repeat visit to victory lane. James Gentiles would take the win, followed by James Sullivan and Guy Bacelo Jr. Brian Brogan would manage a fourth place finish while Nathan Rhodes would be forced into the fifth spot by a tire failure.

Racing action for August 1st includes the Open Wheel Modifieds along with the Hobby Stocks, V8 Thunder Stocks, and Gladiators. In addition, the ladies get their shot at taming the track as Powder Puff Racing returns by popular demand!

Ocala Speedway Results for 7/25/08

Late Model

1- 1W Shane Williams
2- 17SS Shan Smith
3- 5 Mark Whitener
4- 5K Ryan Mitchell
5- 143 Clyde Herron
6- Z Tim Zackery
7- 18 Jamie Anderson
8- 18E Mike Eubanks
9- 87 John Morris
10- 51 Bobby Clark
11- 01 Kevin Mills
DNS- 16 Wayne Shugart
DNS- 1V Raymond Vann
DQ- J17 Joe Kump

Mini Stock

1- 19T Keith Briggs
2- 21 Ray Ethridge
3- 59 William Stalnaker
4- 55 Arnold Perkins
5- 119Z Johnny Zackery
6- 40M David Miller
7- 14 Frank Prouty
8- 19C Daniel “Paul” Combast
DNS- 26 Christopher Prouty

Hobby Stock

1- 58 David Kinsey
2- 21 David Miller Jr.
3- 57 Wally Schneider
4- 0 George Richards
5- 55 Joey Durbin
6- 28 Brandon Elwood
7- 1 Dalton Lanich
8- 36 Grady Christian
9- 10 Patrick Williams
10- 81 Donald Woosley
11- X Chris Waldron
12- XX Augie Burtram
13- 04 Bubba Christian
14- 18E Mike Eubanks
15- 23 Glenn Baum
16- 08 William Edwards
DNS- 89 Trey Cameron

V8 Thunder Stock

1- 44 Todd Roberts
2- 10 Doc Batson
3- 66 James Sealey
4- 1S Jeff Stalnaker Jr.
5- 17E Justyn Elwood
6- 58 Chris Fontaine
7- 3X Justin Tilton
8- 19A Michael Mennenga
9- 19 Michael Stalnaker
10- 5W Zachery Perry
11- 72 Terry Dunbar
12- 17 Jason Gamble
13- 14 James Sullivan III
14- 40 Homer Bryant
15- 7E James Erickson
16- 40J Larry James
17- 12 Jerrid Bennett
18- 69A Jonathan Appleby
19- 70 Geoff Danielson
20- 4E Harold Erickson
DNS- 05 Donald Winne
DNS- 18W Chris Watson
DNS- 81 Courtney Eubanks