By John Lemon
Tulsa Oklahoma (November 12, 2012)- The Oil Capital Racing Series officially concluded the end of the 2012 OCRS / Goodyear Tire & Rubber sprint car racing season tonight with the series awards banquet. The banquet was held at the Tulsa Select Hotel and sponsored by: “Same Day Auto Repair”. Some new awards were presented to go along with the regular annual awards and sponsors of the OCRS series were acknowledged along with the drivers and teams themselves.
Score Four For Passmore
The climax of the awards portion of the evening’s calendar was the crowning of the series champion: Mr. Jamie Passmore. 2012 saw Passmore earn his fourth championship with the others coming in 2008-2010. The driver of the Glen Passmore GAP Roofing / Wesmar Engines / Eagle chassis captured 11 of 20 main events while placing in the top five 17 times and the top ten 18 times.
Passmore was thankful for his accomplishments stating: “I couldn’t have done it without my guys (crew members Greg Boney and Kevin Fillingham). Wesmar built us some really good motors, the Eagle chassis worked well all year and Goodyear gave us a good tire to get the job done.”
It was a year that saw Passmore rebound to his typical success after netting only one feature win in 2011 and a fifth place finish in points. When asked how this championship differed from the previous three, Passmore replied: “It really doesn’t a whole lot. I mean, when Kevin wasn’t with us last year, Greg and I were kind of lost and with having him back, we got things going right again. I like racing with all the teams in this series and I appreciate all the friends I have made here like Danny Smith.” Passmore received $5,000 of the $25,000 Goodyear points fund and victory hardware.
Smith was the series runner-up and was awarded $4,000 on stage along with his wife, Tina. When given an opportunity to speak, Smith had a tearful and heartfelt moment when he spoke of fallen crewmember Bill Petree, who passed away earlier this year. Smith held his award plaque up and said: “We lost a good man in Bill this year and this ones (season’s success) for him.”
Whit Gastineau, with wife Katie by his side, accepted his third place award and $3,000. Fred Mattox, with his parents David and Sauncia, took the fourth position while Alex Sewell, with father Andy and engine builder Rob Forehand, took to the stage for their fifth place award.
Eight other drivers earned a portion of the points fund available and those drivers include (in order of points finish): Tim Kent, Johnny Kent, Casey Wills, Shayla Waddell, Kyle Clark, Rafe Essary, Beau Gastineau and Michael Bookout.
Special Award Recipients
There were multiple special award recipients that received acknowledgments for their achievements made or earned over the course of the season. Some of these special recognition awards were for off-track acknowledgments as well as on-track. The drivers and/or individuals that received such honors included:
Johnny Kent: AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories “Hard Charger of the Year”
Alex Sewell: Brodix / PM-PRO “OCRS Rookie of the Year”
Alex Sewell: D&P Escort “Best Looking Car Award”
Greg Boney & Kevin Fillingham: “Co-Mechanics of the Year”
Michael Bookout: “OCRS Spirit of the Year Award”
Casey Wills: “OCRS Most Improved Driver”
Shayla Waddell: “OCRS Perseverance Award”
Jamie Passmore: “OCRS Sportsman of the Year Award”
There was also a “Special Presentation” award for former OCRS team member Don Young who passed away earlier this season. Pat Young, (Don’s widow) was on hand to accept in honor of Don.
The 13 teams that qualified for the points fund also joined in a door prize give-a-way format where a set of Schoenfeld headers, cases of K&N oil filters and K&N certificates along with multiple product certificates from Wesmar Racing Engines, Car & Fleet Parts and CP Carrillo were distributed.
In a surprise presentation, The Oil Medics of Ft. Worth Texas, awarded $1,000 cash to Danny Smith for simply being the one driver that accepted the “Back Row Challenge” during the racing season. Sponsors that were in attendance to receive special certificates for their contributions to the 2012 OCRS racing season include:
Corvan Robison of AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories
Bob Hurley Sr. of Bob Hurley Auto Family
Kelly Westphal of Wesmar Racing Engines
Shelly & Shayla Waddell of PM-PRO
Danny & Tina Smith of Same Day Auto Repair
Tim Kent accepted for Paul Montclair of M& W Aluminum Products
The night included an exciting and entertaining performance by professional comedian hypnotist C.J. Johnson. The show was outstanding and the room was abuzz with laughter from start to finish. For those that were participants and viewers of Johnson’s show, there will be extremely funny stories to share and tell for years to come. After Johnson’s show, the night ended with music and dancing.
OCRS wishes to give thanks to all the race teams, race fans, track promoters, media members and sponsors that made for a very exciting racing season. May everyone have a wonderful off-season and we will look to see everyone once again in 2013 as OCRS embarks on its 12th racing season!