Pocola, OK — (September 8, 2012) — When sports fans buy a ticket for a sporting event, they often have high hopes that their experience will be full of excitement and highly entertaining. The 25-lap A Feature at the Tri-State Speedway was all of that and then some as Whit “Gasman” Gastineau and series points leader Jamie Passmore put on an epic dual on the 3/8 mile high banked track that had the fans in attendance savoring every lap right from the start.
Both started on the front row as each had an opportunity to start at the rear for “The Oil Medics – Back Row Challenge” for extra cash. Neither would take the challenge as the field would have such heavy hitters as Danny Smith, Shane and Roberts Sellers, Sean McClelland, Mike Peters and others that would make for a quality packed starting grid. Gastineau would jump out front first while ‘Jammin Jamie’, a winner 11 times this season would tuck behind in second and the fight was on. Johnny “Hotrod” Kent, Shane Sellers and Kyle Clark would complete lap one third through fifth respectively as the two speed demons would motor onward. McClelland would then dive low on Clark to take the fifth spot coming out of turn two.
As the lead duo would come to the stripe to complete lap two, Gastineau would be scored as the leader by the virtue of a single tire length. It would be the first of several such occurrences as the main event played out. Passmore would hug the bottom of the track as snug as possible while Gastineau’s preferred line was as high around the top as he could get. The amount of real estate between them as they were side by side was often three semi cabs wide and this went on for what seemed to be an eternity. Coming out of turn four to complete the third lap, Passmore got just enough of a run that he would officially be scored as the leader although to most eyes, it looked like a dead heat.
Gastineau would get a full run out of turn two and pull right back up along side Passmore. They would be virtually tied together. It would be Passmore by a nose at the line again. As if there was a DVD running on a loop system, the exact same scene would play out on the following lap. While this was going on, Sellers had made a move around Kent in the #41 BnK Automotive / Jennings Powder Coating / Hinton Body Shop machine for third. Coming down to complete lap six, Passmore finally had a full car length lead in his G.A.P. Roofing / Eagle / Wesmar sprinter. The next lap would see a three car length advantage for the first real sign of any daylight between the two. Further back, Robert Sellers was beginning to put pressure on McClelland for the fifth spot and those two would begin their own battle.
The Gasman snares 3rd win of 2012 / Mike Spivey Photo
Completing the 12th lap, Gastineau would once again run up behind Passmore as they would also encounter lapped traffic for the first time. Continuing the lines they started running with, it became a matter if the lappers would go low in the corner, go high or run the middle. They chose low and Passmore had to check up for a second and that allowed Gastineau to make a move. The driver of the DW’s Video / Shell Rapid Lube / Larry Allen Engines / Eagle roared down the back straight and made a dive bomb from the top of turn three to the bottom just barely getting in front of Passmore. They didn’t go but 20 yards to turn four where Passmore retook the lead as Gastineau came off the bottom line. Like another video replay, Gastineau did the exact same move in turn three of the next lap only this time, he held the lead and kept Passmore in the runner up spot. S. Sellers, Kent, McClelland and R. Sellers were still the next quartet.
The one and only caution of the night came while working lap 20 when Clark spun off track between turns one and two. This would put all the cars running for position tail to tail with one another. Not that they wanted to, but the fans would get a brief moment to collect their breaths. The restart order would be: Gastineau, Passmore, S. Sellers, Kent, R. Sellers, McClelland, Peters, Danny Smith and Rafe Essary. Gastineau would charge right back to the top of the track when the field went back to green and this time, Passmore would follow suit. Two laps later, Smith would pass Peters for position. On the last lap, Peters would slide high thus loosing positions.
Gastineau would bring it on home for his third A Feature win of the season. It was a redemption of sorts for the Gasman as he sat on the pole for the A Feature back in June at this very track and fought with Passmore on that night as well, only to spin trying to avoid stalled cars thus causing him to finish near the rear of the field. Passmore, S. Sellers, Kent and R. Sellers completed the top five.
Gastineau gave his thoughts about the feature. “He (Passmore) was a bit better coming out of turn four and I knew I was way better than him coming out of (turn) two so I could keep my momentum up. I would be busting it around the top (making progress) in turns one and two and it ended up working. This was a racy track. With me on the bottom and Jamie on the top, it was a great track. We got this car fixed from last year as we hurt it a couple of times and we keep on fixing it and it keeps on finding victory lane,” said the jubilant victor.
Passmore, while a bridesmaid this night and a driver with a reputation of being a very cool cat in most any situation, offered a surprising revelation to how he reacted on the track this time: “I just got hung up behind those lapped cars and Whit got the run on me on the outside and I kind of lost my cool after that. I couldn’t slow back down the way I needed to (from spinning his tires with too much throttle pressure). Especially down in turns three and four I just started running it in way to hard. It’s been a good long time since I was in a race that competitive. Whit’s a good clean hard racer. It worked out in his favor tonight.”
Shane Sellers Is Making His Presence Known Quickly / Mike Spivey Photo
Shane Sellers had a solid third place run in the Bob Martin owned Wells Engines car with a XXX chassis. “We were thankful in having a good starting spot in fourth and we were quick. We didn’t have enough at the beginning to get up ahead of them (Gastineau and Passmore). Once it (track) started to take rubber Whit got ahead of Jamie and then we all started staying at about the same speed. You had to be out front when it took (rubber on track). We were fast and were happy with our finish. Bob had some bad luck at the beginning of the year and we have been sorting some things out on this car and it seems to be getting better. Were just making it work till the end of the year and then we will regroup over the off-season and see what we got.”
“Hotrod” Kent was likewise pleased with his third top 5 in the last four outings. “We picked up this car (Eagle chassis) from Passmore about four races ago and man it’s made all the difference in the world. We are getting there, were working on our program a little bit more and I think the wins will come. I think the new car has helped as far as being a lot more consistent. We have been playing with some shocks and bars and seem to have found a package that we seem to take a liking to. We aren’t having to turn a lot of wrenches now. Its more like were fine tuning.” The #55 has backing by Wesmar Engines, Care Family Medical and Holt Graphics.
Robert Sellers made his first OCRS run since a 6th place finish a year ago in the Oklahoma State Championship race at Oklahoma Sports Park and returned with a very solid fifth in the Waurika Truck and Tire / Checkered Flag Trucking / Brand Racing Engines / Eagle chassis mount. Sellers started 11th and his six position improvement earned him the Ameriflex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger award. “When you start this deep in the field with this group of drivers, you’ll take a top five. Sometimes you just have to shoot for a top five when you have a mid-pack start so we will take it,” said the cagy veteran. “Coming to these bigger tracks (rather that the smaller track back home in Lawton, Ok.) takes a bit of getting used to with a whole different set up and driving style. We look to help Shane (son) and it makes it a bit more comfortable for him traveling together some and trying to get him some more experience by hitting these bigger tracks.”
Tri-State Fans Got To Meet The OCRS Drivers / Mike Spivey Photo
Layne Himebaugh took the Wesmar Racing Engines in the 12-lap B Feature over Andrew Deal, Casey Wills and Harli White as your top four transferring cars. Kent won the M&W Aluminum heat, Kyle Clark captured the Bob Hurley Auto Family heat, Matt Sherrell won the Drive Shafts Inc. heat and Gastineau took the Car & Fleet heat.
Dyno Services of Oklahoma is the newest sponsor on the 2012 OCRS series as of this Tri-State event. Dyno Services of Oklahoma will be providing a cash payout to the team selected as an events ‘Hard Luck’ recipient. On this night, that selection went to Kevin Cummings after suffering rear end woes in the B feature.
The next event for the winged warriors is Sunday night, September 9th at the big half mile at the Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee Oklahoma for the final leg of the weekend’s doubleheader. Race time is at 6pm.
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