From John Rittenoure
MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma (June 25, 2010) – If Jamie Passmore ever needed a win Friday night at Outlaw Motor Speedway could not have been a more opportune time. The defending champion came into the night just 12 points in front of Rafe Essary and in danger of losing the lead. But Passmore rose to the occasion leading all 20-laps on the way to his second OCRS victory of the season.
Passmore started on the pole and drove a flawless race.
“I have never really liked this place but tonight I got lucky,” smiled Passmore who increased his points lead to 21 over Essary. “Starting up front always helps.”
As the green flag waved on the 20-lapper Passmore jumped out front followed by Mike Goodman and newcomer Shane Sellers. But the yellow waved after just two laps as Kevin Guinn spun into the infield off the backstretch. When the race restarted Passmore only led one more lap before the red flag waved. Beau Gastineau tangled with Dean Drake, Jr. and flipped on the front straightaway.
The race continued three more laps with the three number four sprinters out front when the yellow waved for Jeremy Allen who was stalled between turns 3-4. After the restart Passmore opened up a two-turn advantage over Goodman and Sellers. Essary was running fourth and challenged Sellers for third when the yellow waved again for debris on the track with seven laps down. During the yellow Goodman exited to the pits and Sellers inherited second for the restart. Sellers was not able to close on Passmore and the race continued that way until lap 12 when the yellow waved again for Guinn and Jason Adams who tangled on the backstretch.
Another restart and again Passmore pulled away over Sellers. Matt Sherrell was able to pass Essary for third on lap 15. A final yellow for debris waved on lap 18 and that gave Sellers one more shot at Passmore. But it was not contest as Passmore pulled away for the victory over Sellers and Sherrell. Essary finished fourth and rookie Shayla Waddell rounded out the top five.
Passmore was surprised to find out he was outrunning the his closest competitors.
“You can not tell that when you are out front,” Passmore said of his lead. “I was going as fast at it would go. The key was staying down in the rubber.”
OCRS Sprints
HEAT 1: 1, Dean Drake, Jr. 2, Tyler Johnson. 3, Casey Wills. 4, Brady Demeree. 5, Kacee Frazier. 6, Tim Kent. 7, Jeremy Allen. 8, Joe Wood.
HEAT 2: 1, Shane Sellers. 2, Jamie Passmore. 3, Fred Mattox. 4, Beau Gastineau. 5, Terry Easum. 6, Travis Ashwood. 7, Travis Jenkins. 8, Kyle Clark.
HEAT 3: 1, Mike Goodman. 2, Rafe Essary. 3, Shayla Waddell. 4, Danny Smith. 5, Matt Sherrell, 6, Kevin Guinn. 7, Jason Adams.
DASH FOR CASH: 1, Jamie Passmore. 2, Mike Goodman. 3, Shane Sellers. 4, Dean Drake, Jr. 5, Tyler Johnson. 6, Casey Wills.
A FEATURE: 1, Jamie Passmore. 2, Shane Sellers. 3, Matt Sherrell. 4, Rafe Essary. 5, Shayla Waddell. 6, Fred Mattox. 7, Kacee Frazier. 8, Brady Demeree. 9, Tyler Johnson. 10, Kyle Clark. 11, Terry Easum. 12, Jeremy Allen. 13, Jason Adams. 14, Kevin Guinn. 15, Travis Ashwood. 16, Mike Goodman. 17, Danny Smith. 18, Dean Drake, Jr. 19, Beau Gastineau. 20, Casey Wills. DNS: Tim Kent, Joe Wood, Travis Jenkins.