This message was edited on
October 16, 2011 at
11:43:34 AM by OCRS-PR
A KING IS
CROWNED
McClelland
Earns Third OCRS Championship
John Lemon
OCRS Public Relations
Caney Kansas
(October 15, 2011) – Veteran sprint car pilot Sean McClelland returned to
full time action in the Oil Capital Racing
Series in 2011 to accomplish one very specific task. The objective was to
win his third OCRS championship and earn the lion’s share of the $25,000 point
fund as offered up with the support backing of the Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Co. In the 2011 season finale at Kerry Gorby’s quarter
mile Caney Valley Speedway,
McClelland completed his objective with a thrilling victory in tonight’s
A-Feature event besting field of 28 entrants for the night.
With
a 77-point cushion coming into the night over Whit “The Gasman” Gastineau,
McClelland only needed 19 points to secure the title he also conquered in
2002-2003. McClelland simply had to qualify for (and start) the main event and
the 2011 title would be his. He was victorious in the evenings first heat race
and that alone earned himself 16 of the 19 needed markers towards title town.
El
Reno Oklahoma’s Josh “The Hammer” Toho, who has been running strong in the
latter half of the season, would start the A-Feature on the pole by virtue of
his victory in the “Pole Dash” race contested earlier in the night. Toho would
lead the field into turn one in the Bob Martin owned BnK Automotive / Mobil
Mart / Braswell Carburetors / Hinton Body Shop / XXX chassis mount. Owasso
Oklahoma’s Matt “The Mongoose” Sherrell, Sapulpa’s Danny Smith and McClelland
would follow suit.
McClelland would push the Lawton Auto Parts / Maxwell Oil/ Finishline Machining / XXX Chassis
“Black Widow” past Smith a lap later. Soon thereafter, a yellow would ensue for
a spin by Darien Roberts in turn one. Local favorite Andrew Deal from nearby
Dewey Oklahoma would pull into the pits with mechanical woes prior to the field
returning to speed. Once back underway, McClelland would race past Sherrell in
his Pat and Don Carrens owned Sherrell Paint & Body Shop special for the
second spot and the chase to reel in Toho was on.
One
lap later, yellow number two would fall when Billy Frazier spun to a stop
trying to avoid cars that had checked up ahead of him in turn one. Yellow
number three would fly a few laps later when Kirby Bedford spun at the entry of
turn number one. At this point, Stillwell’s Rafe Essary, who came into the
night holding a slim three point advantage over Sherrell for third place in the
standings, had moved his way up to third from his fourth row starting spot with
precision passing on his peers.
On
the eighth lap, Sherrell would overtake Essary on the backstretch only to have Essary
earn that position back at the line. In the meantime, McClelland was giving
Toho all he wanted as Toho was working feverishly to earn his first career OCRS
main event win. The lead had collapsed so much, McClelland was only half a car
length behind when the duo sped past the starting stand on lap thirteen.
Traffic was just about to enter into the equation when flagman J.D. Etter waved
the next yellow for Essary who had stopped with front end damage to his XXX
sprinter in turn two. Unfortunately for Essary, this would seal his fate in the
fight with Sherrell for the third spot in the 2011 points chase.
The
restart would see Toho on the point followed by McClelland, Sherrell, Smith,
Jamie Passmore, Brady Demeree, Whit Gastineau, Glen Passmore, Tim Kent and
Frank Sudduth as your top ten runners. McClelland would make a rare mistake
when he almost spun in turn one on the restart allowing for Sherrell and J.
Passmore to speed past as Smith had to check-up to avoid a collision. Smith
would race down the backstretch in fifth behind McClelland.McClelland would overtake J. Passmore
in turn one of the 17th lap and was looking at the chrome bumper of
Sherrell when the next yellow befell when Frazier had contact with another car
knocking his front end down in turn one.
On
the next restart, with Toho and Sherrell charging into turn one on the low side
of the track, McClelland would charge to the top in an effort to improve his
position. That move when for naught. He then tried slinging the ‘Black Widow’
beneath Sherrell going into turn three of the same lap. That moved failed also
as Sherrell had a car that was dialed in well. With five laps to go, the events
final yellow would appear when the cars of Bedford and Casey Wills would get
together and come to a rest in turn four.
McClelland made another try on the high side of turn one on the restart
and this time he found just the right spot for forward bite to maneuver past
Sherrell but not to be out done, Sherrell inched his way ahead again before the
pair would head down the backstretch. When they came back around to the front,
McClelland would make the pass for keeps. At this point, McClelland was “radar
locked” onto Toho and in his mind, second wasn’t an option to be settled for.
The next time by the flagstand, McClelland made the pass for the lead. Toho,
who would be the 2011 OCRS “Rookie of the Year”; flat refused to surrender and
pushed McClelland to the bitter end often running up his backside in hopes to
get back by. McClelland would cross the line first for his series leading
eighth A-Feature victory followed by Toho, Sherrell, Smith and Jamie Passmore
completing the top five. Glen Passmore, Gastineau, Brian McClelland, Tim Kent
and Darien Roberts would round out the top ten.
Earlier in the evening in the “Pole Dash” run, in an effort to earn a
front row spot for the feature (McClelland started outside row two), McClelland
made serious contact with the front stretch wall in an attempt to move forward.
When asked about that incident in victory lane McClelland responded: “Just
trying to win that deal. I came here to win and that’s what we set out to do.”
As for the feature run: “Josh ran an excellent race. He made me work hard for
that one. He would have deserved it but I was here to win too.” About the
miscue in turn one in the latter stages of the race when he almost spun
McClelland responded: “Yea, that made me mad. I was just trying hard and I got
mad. I knew I was going to have to work harder for what I done. I tell ya,
those Goodyear tires didn’t let me down tonight. They really did their job and
it all worked out for us tonight.”
Asked
about what made this championship run different than 2002 and 2003, the champ
replied: “ This one was a little tougher. Whit (Gastineau) has a strong motor,
a good car and his dad (Steve) sets it up really good. He battled me all year
and I fought him tooth and nail. He will win one (championship) eventually. He
is a little young but he learned what it took to win one this year. I never
really looked at the points (during the season), I just came out here to win
every race and just let the points take care of themselves.” McClelland added:
“ We came out of here with the most wins and that’s a good accomplishment.
There is a lot of good talent in this class (OCRS series) and to win this
championship makes me proud.”
The
champ had few people to acknowledge for his title run as well. “First and
foremost, I have to thank my girlfriend Tracy since she puts up a lot with me.
I’d like to thank Michael Brown of Lawton Auto Parts, Maxwell Oil, Penske
Shocks and so many others. Shane (crew chief Shane Vandervliet), Michael and
Calvin help a lot and without them I couldn’t do it. I really appreciate their
help. The one person I definitely want to thank is Cliff Anderson. He is a
major supporter of what we do and I can’t begin to tell you how much he is
appreciated."
Gastineau made a valiant effort and while falling a bit short on the
championship, he does acknowledge the success of his season: “ It (championship)
was either ours or his to lose and those DNF’s (Did not finish) races cost us.
There was the night at Salina (Highbanks Speedway) where we won before and
suffered a DNF, then those two weeks in Muskogee (Thunderbird and Outlaw
speedway’s) it’s just a part of it. We were good enough all year, just have to
get those finishes. We ran strong and had some really good wins. You cant
complain about second place and you get a good chunk of change (point fund
money) and we will go on an improve for next year.”
Brian
McClelland won the B-Feature with Casey Wills, Tim Kent and Kirby Bedford
earning the last four remaining positions up for grabs in the main event. Sean
McClelland, Brady Demeree, Josh Toho and Danny Smith took the four heat races.
“The Princess” Shayla Waddell of Oklahoma City had a night she would like to
put behind her. She crossed the line first in the fourth heat but was
disqualified for not reporting to the scales per OCRS rules. Then in the
B-Feature, Waddell was coming up through the field from her scratch starting
position to snare a transfer spot when she went a bit to low in turn four and
collected an infield tire marker which ended her night.
The
Oil Capital Racing Series would like to thank our sponsors for their support
for the 2011 racing season. These sponsors include:
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co
Carter
/ Maxwell Auto Service
Same Day Auto Repair
Keizer
Aluminum Wheels
Grand Prix Auto Center
Brodix
Cylinder Heads
Schoenfeld Headers
AmeriFlex
Hose & Accessories
John Boy Racing Components
OCRS
also thanks the promoters at each facility for your continued support to the
OCRS series and for all the hospitality each and every one of you provided OCRS
during the course of the 2011 season. OCRS also wishes to thank the FANS of the
OCRS series for your patronage as well. It is a pleasure and an honor to bring
our program to a track near you and it is with the utmost acknowledgement that
our fans are the most important group of people in our fraternity. If you wish
to see more OCRS sprint car action at your track in the future, contact your
promoters and let them know as your voice is the most important voice to
be heard from. Keep checking in on the OCRS website at www.ocrsracing.com for details on the 2011
OCRS awards luncheon. Thanks to everyone and we look forward to seeing everyone
again in 2012!
~~~
CAN YOU HEAR THE THUNDER? ~~~
Caney Valley Speedway Results
Race date: October 15, 2011 - Event 19
Car count: 28
HEAT 1: 1, Sean McClelland. 2, Rafe Essary. 3, Jamie Passmore. 4,
Darien Roberts. 5, Brian McClelland. 6, Beau Gastineau. 7, Layne Himebaugh.
HEAT 2: 1, Brady Demeree. 2, Glen Passmore. 3, Frank Sudduth. 4,
Kevin Cummings. 5, Kirby Bedford. 6, Len Larkin. 7, Eric Barnes.
HEAT 3: 1, Josh Toho. 2, Matt Sherrell. 3, Kyle Clark. 4, Whit
Gastineau. 5, Casey Wills. 6, Tim Kent. 7, Derrek Wilson.
HEAT 4: 1, Danny Smith. 2, Billy Frazier. 3, Andrew Deal. 4, Keith
Bolton. 5, Dean Drake Jr. 6, Phillip Davis. 7, Shayla Waddell. (DQ).
DASH: 1, Josh Toho. 2, Matt Sherrell. 3, Danny Smith. 4, Sean
McClelland. 5, Billy Frazier. 6, Brady Demeree.
B FEATURE: (Top 4 transfer into A-Feature) 1, Brian McClelland. 2,
Casey Wills. 3, Tim Kent. 4, Kirby Bedford. 5, Phillip Davis. 6, Layne
Himebaugh. 7, Beau Gastineau. 8, Len Larkin. 9, Eric Barnes. 10, Shayla
Waddell. 11, Derrek Wilson. DNS: Dean Drake Jr.
A FEATURE: 1, Sean
McClelland. 2, Josh Toho. 3, Matt Sherrell. 4, Danny Smith. 5, Jamie Passmore.
6, Glen Passmore. 7, Whit Gastineau. 8, Brian McClelland. 9, Tim Kent. 10,
Darien Roberts. 11, Brady Demeree. 12, Frank Sudduth. 13, Keith Bolton. 14,
Kyle Clark. 15, Kevin Cummings. 16, Kirby Bedford. 17, Casey Wills. 18, Billy
Frazier. 19, Rafe Essary. 20, Andrew Deal.
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