The Caretaker Wins With
Last Lap / Last Turn Pass
Smith Halts Passmore’s Win
Streak At Five
John Lemon
OCRS Public
Relations
Ardmore Oklahoma
(August 25, 2012)- Someone had to do it. Someone was bound to do it. Tonight,
at the Southern
Oklahoma Speedway, the
Caretaker did it. Sapulpa’s Danny Smith halted the five race Oil Capital Racing
Series sprint car win
streak of OCRS point leader Jamie Passmore, a streak that dates back to June 30th
by making a turn four pass coming to the checkers as Passmore spun trying to keep
the lead he had held since lap six of the 25-lap main event. The Smith victory
narrows the points chase for the Goodyear Tire &
Rubber / OCRS
Championship to just 149 points (1307-1158).
Smith won for the second time
this season in his Same Day Auto Repair / BMS Engines / XXX Chassis with
Goodyear tread. “I know what happened to him, (Passmore) he ran out of fuel and
jumped the cushion, we both ran out of fuel,” said the jubilant winner. “I hate
to win it like that. Jamie is a friend of mine but sometimes things happen and
we will take this. My car has almost no fuel in it now.”
The feature started off with
mishap right from the get go. First time Pole Dash winner Harli White of
Lindsay, Oklahoma was fighting off outside front row starter Passmore entering
turn one when a case of bumper cars began to take place right behind them.
Drive Shaft Inc. heat race winner Kyle Clark, teammate to Smith, got hit and
went into a half spin from his third row starting spot. With the field bearing
down on him, several cars collided with one another with a few coming to a stop
with Clark, Shayla Waddell, David Stephenson and Alex Sewell all parked in the
turn. Russell Boren made it to turn three before his car would come to a rest.
Michael Bookout cruised to turn four before his car would roll to a stop. Tim
Kent, and Beau Gastineau would head into the pits. Morgan Dowdy from Amarillo
Texas was making his first start in OCRS competition and suffered damage to
both wings but he would restart.
White would once again fend off
the challenge of Passmore on the restart. The field would complete a single lap
when David Stephenson went flipping into turn one landing upside down on his
head. With the exception of a beat up racecar, he otherwise would be OK. Dowdy
would retire to the pits prior to the next restart, which would begin single
file with the one lap in the books.
Danny Smith Conquers Southern Oklahoma Speedway / Mike Spivey
Photo
Looking to become
the second woman in OCRS history to win a main event (and second this year),
White took off when the track went back to green with Passmore, Smith, Johnny
“Hotrod” Kent and Rafe Essary in the hunt. Passmore used his knowledge and
skill to make the pass on White on lap six. The driver on the move was Moore
Oklahoma’s Whit “Gasman” Gastineau who had started in the 19th
position and was 5th by lap three. That run would come to an end on
lap 11 when Gastineau’s car would lose power with the result being a yellow
flag to clear the #2w from the racing surface. The restart would see Passmore
on the point followed by White, Smith, Kent and Fred Mattox as the top five in
order.
Smith was set to make his charge
as he took second from White on the ensuing restart and zeroed in on a tough
hombre in Passmore. The field would run tight and steady until lap 16 when the
next yellow unfurled for Essary who spun his #26 machine. Before a full lap
could be chalked, fifth running Fred Mattox in the 26m car would spin thus
requiring another caution. This miscue allowed Gary Owens to slip into the top
five for the first time in the race.
The next restart with 10 laps to
go saw Smith wrestle the lead away from Passmore briefly in turns one and two
only to have Passmore retake the lead before getting back to the flagstand.
These two warriors would engage in a pressure packed duel as White kept within a
respectable striking range. However, with just a couple of laps left, White
slid her car up and over the outer edge of turn four and stalled to bring out
the final caution of the race. She would restart at the rear.
The dash to the checkers was
everything a ticket buyer looks forward to seeing. At the drop of the green,
Smith made another stab to get by Passmore in turns one and two. He produced a
slide job that put him in front only to have Passmore execute a crossover move
and retake the lead going down the back straight. Coming to the white flag,
Smith’s car stumbled as it was beginning to run out of fuel. He still managed
to move up onto Passmore’s bumper heading in the final two turns. Passmore
jumped the cushion in turn four and started his spin while Smith stayed in the
middle groove and went on to take the win.
In the scramble to avoid the spun
Passmore, J. Kent worked his way through to take second for his career tying
best finish. Owens took third followed by Sewell who came back from the opening
start skirmish and Mattox would round out the top five. Layne Himebaugh was
sixth and was the events AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories “Hard Charger” after
starting 16th. White finished seventh, first time OCRS contestant
Derek Cottrell was eighth, Passmore was credited with ninth and Boren completed
the top ten.
The next stop for the OCRS winged
warriors is this Labor Day weekend where the ¼ mile bullring of the Caney
Valley Speedway in Caney Kansas will host OCRS Saturday night for the touring
series’ second appearance of the season at CVS.
Track website is: www.caneyvalleyspeedway.net
Southern Oklahoma
Speedway
Race date: June 30, 2012 -
Event 15
23 cars
M&W Aluminum Heat:
1- Johnny Kent (2), 2-
Danny Smith (6), 3- Gary Owens (2), 4- Fred Mattox (4),
5- Alex Sewell (3), 6-
Layne Himebaugh, 7- Whit Gastineau (7). 8- Chuck Bellefeuille (DNS)
Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat:
1. Casey Wills (2), 2-
Harli White (3), 3- Rafe Essary (4), 4- Derek Cottrell (6),
5- Michael Bookout (5), 6- Beau Gastineau (1), 7- Brandon
Jennings (DNS)
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat:
1- Kyle Clark (1), 2- Tim Kent (2), 3- Jamie Passmore (4), 4-
Shayla Waddell (5),
5- Russell Boren (5), 6- Morgan Dowdy (8), 7- David Stephenson
(6), 8- Jeff Garnett (3)
Pole
Dash:
1- Harli White (1), 2- Jamie Passmore (4), 3- Danny Smith (6), 4- Casey
Wills (3),
5- Johnny Kent (5), 6- Kyle Clark (2)
OCRS
A Feature:
1- Danny Smith (3), 2- Johnny Kent (5), 3- Gary Owens (10), 4-
Alex Sewell (13),
5- Fred Mattox (12), 6- Layne Himebaugh (16), 7- Harli White (1),
8- Derek Cottrell (9), 9- Jamie Passmore (2), 10- Russell Boren, 11- Jeff
Garnett (21), 12- Chuck Bellefeuille (22), 13- Rafe Essary (8), 14- Whit
Gastineau (19), 15- Tim Kent (7), 16- Casey Wills (4), 17- David Stephenson
(20), 18- Morgan Dowdy (18), 19- Kyle Clark (6), 20- Shayla Waddell (11), 21-
Michael Bookout (14), 22- Beau Gastineau (17), 23- Brandon Jennings (DNS)
AmeriFlex Hose
& Accessories “Hard Charger”: Layne Himebaugh +10
www.ocrsracing.com
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