By John Lemon
Oktaha Oklahoma (October 6, 2013) – In a theme that just played out all season long, Kyle Clark won his first career Oil Capital Racing Series A-Feature in the season finale at the Oklahoma Motorsports Park and in doing so, Clark became the 11th driver to earn their first career OCRS victory lane appearance in 2013. He also was the 15th driver overall to score a victory in the 22 events that were conducted this year. Clark dedicated the victory to a dear friend, Trish Sneath, who recently passed away and was a special person in Clark’s life along with her husband Dennis.
The 25-lap feature was filled to the max with well executed slide jobs, both for the lead and for additional positions behind the leaders. The record books will show one single lead change, that being when Clark slid by pole setter Chance Morton to take the lead on lap seventeen. Prior to that lap, the two pilots exchanged the lead multiple times as Clark would slide pass Morton on multiple occasions only to have Morton return the passes prior to getting back to the start/finish line. In a couple of cases, Morton would barley make it to the stripe ahead of Clark to be scored the leader of that particular lap.
Morton, piloting the Morton Excavating / Shock Doc / A-C Man Of Oklahoma /Napa-Coweta Auto Supply / STK Racing Engines / XXX framed sprinter and Clark, in the GetCNGnow.com / Same Day Auto Repair / Dyno Services of Oklahoma / ART chassis, set sail off their front row starting positions with each rim riding what available cushion they could find near the outer wall. Morton would be the early race leader with Clark launching sliders after sliders looking for a way past. At one point, Clark went for a slider in turn one but Morton would have none of it as he mashed the throttle and squeezed through Clark and the concrete wall to retain the lead. How disaster was averted is still questioned.
Behind the lead duo, a trio of drivers were in a heavy exchange of slide job warfare of their own for the third position. Johnny Kent, Brian McClelland and Casey Wills were trying with all their might to break free from one another and attempt to chase down the leaders. Kent was the best of this group until lap ten when McClelland worked the low line extensively enough to take the third spot. A lap later, the red flag would fly as Kade Morton would flip in turn three. Kade would walk away OK.
Once Clark got by Morton for the top spot, McClelland thus set his radar on Morton as well. On lap 22, Morton lost momentum in turn two allowing McClelland to make a charge for the second spot. McClelland carried his speed higher into the corner this time and made the pass. However, a yellow for a problem by Michael Tyre’s stalled car negated that pass as the field would have to restart with the results of the completion of lap 21. This gave Morton a reprieve by getting his second position back for the restart.
On lap 22, McClelland repassed Morton for second in turns three and four only to have Morton cross over and reclaim the spot by a mere foot at the line. On the 24th lap, McClelland finally made a pass that would stick on Morton when he shot by in turn two. All the while, Clark was not having any of the commotion that was behind him and he motored on for the win he has long sought after. Andrew Deal followed McClelland and Morton for fourth with Kent retaining a top five finish.
Alex Sewell was sixth, Friday night’s winner Mickey Walker was seventh with Gary Owens eighth, Casey Wills ninth and Michael Bookout tenth. Bookout was also the recipient of the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger after starting in the 20th position. Travis Ashwood was awarded the Dyno Services of Oklahoma Hard Luck award after flipping his mount on lap two. Ashwood was OK. Series champion Harli White, who had a crew from ESPN on hand shooting footage for a future human-interest story, was an early exit casualty in the feature after experiencing terminating mechanical issues.
Kade Morton, older brother of Chance, not only suffered the flip in the feature to make for a tough night, but the night became tougher when he lost third place in the final point standings to Johnny Kent by just 18 points (1439 – 1421). The event wasn’t a total loss for Kade as he racked up the 2013 Brodix / PM-Pro OCRS Rookie of the Year honors.
Likewise, the night wasn’t a loss for White either. In a special ceremony after the feature, the family of the late Donnie Ray Crawford (Donnie, Jodie, Chassi and Ray Crawford) joined Harli and her family on the front stretch where they all acknowledged Donnie Ray as Tuesday October 8th is his birthday. Other than the Donnie Ray Crawford Memorial micro sprint race, it was the first time Donnie, Jodie and Chassi had been out to the races.
With the conclusion of the 12th season of OCRS sprint car racing, we wish to express our sincerest gratitude to all the fans that have supported the OCRS series not just this season, but throughout the years. OCRS also acknowledges the numerous track promoters that have welcomed the series with open arms and have been such great partners in which to work with.
Special thanks goes out to the fleet of sponsors in the OCRS series for they are so very essential in assisting to provide a quality product that hits the racetrack each and every time out. These sponsors include:
Hoosier Tire Southwest
Smiley’s Racing Products
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories
Bob Hurley Auto Family
Drive Shafts Inc.
Car & Fleet Parts
Dyno Services of Oklahoma
Grand Prix Auto
Lightning Wings
M&W Aluminum
Brodix Cylinder Heads
PM-Pro
Schoenfeld Headers
Allen Competition Engines
Racing Optics
Eagle Motorsports
Superior Auto Salvage
Morton Excavating
Maxwell Oil
Shock Doc
R&M Race Trailers
Thank You Sponsors!
We will soon announce the location and dates for the 2013 OCRS awards banquet on our website at: www.ocrsracing.com
OCRS Race Results
Outlaw Motorsports Park / Oktaha Oklahoma
Date of Race: Sunday October 06, 2013
Car Count: 23
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Heat
1, 55-Johnny Kent[4]. 2, 88S-Shayla Waddell[1]. 3, 9$-Kyle Clark[3]. 4, 7M-Chance Morton[6]. 5, 11-Michael Tyre[5]. 6, 8M-Kade Morton[8]. 7, 18-Rob Hooper[7]. 8, 3G-Jeff Garnett[2].
Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat
1, 8-Alex Sewell[4]. 2, 33-Gary Owens[6]. 3, 87F-Brian McClelland[2]. 4, 17W-Harli White[5]. 5, 25-Andrew Deal[7]. 6, 78-Perry Pickard[3]. 7, 007-Michael Bookout[1]. 8, 23A-Travis Ashwood[8].
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat
1, 31-Casey Wills[1]. 2, 5$-Danny Smith[3]. 3, 2-Mickey Walker[4]. 4, 4X-Robert Sellers[5]. 5, 3-Brian Gramm[2]. 6, 94-Dan Schnackenberg[6]. 7, 22-David Stephenson[0]. (DNS).
OCRS A Feature
1, 9$-Kyle Clark[2]. 2, 87F-Brian McClelland[7]. 3, 7m-Chance Morton[1]. 4, 25-Andrew Deal[9]. 5, 55-Johnny Kent[6]. 6, 8-Alex Sewell[8]. 7, 2-Mickey Walker[3]. 8, 33-Gary Owens[11]. 9, 31-Casey Wills[4]. 10, 007-Michael Bookout[20]. 11, 11-Michael Tyre[15]. 12, 78-Perry Pickard[17]. 13, 4X-Robert Sellers[13]. 14, 8M-Kade Morton[14]. 15, 94-Dan Schnackenberg[18]. 16, 18-Rob Hooper[19]. 17, 3-Brian Gramm[16]. 18, 5$-Danny Smith[10]. 19, 23A-Travis Ashwood[22]. 20, 3G-Jeff Garnett[21]. 21, 17W-Harli White[12]. 22, 88S-Shayla Waddell[5]. 23, 22-David Stephenson[0]. (DNS)
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger: Michael Bookout +10
Dyno Services of Oklahoma Hard Luck Award: Travis Ashwood