Mike Spivey Photo
Salina OK — (May 18, 2013) — Lindsay Oklahoma’s Harli White has garnered a lot of attention in 2013 and tonight at the Salina Highbanks Speedway, she showed just why there is a buzz about this 18 year old phenom as White took her third Oil Capital Racing Series sprint car main event win in just the fifth race of the season. If there were any doubters about whether or not Miss White had exceptional driving skills after tonight, that number surely must drop down to zero or else one must be in denial.
The staff of the Salina Highbanks had the track in a masterful prepared condition leaving many competitors in awe over the racing surface. Throughout the night, slide jobs by the bunches were the norm as the drivers made calculated darting moves to gain position on their counterparts. White would start outside sixth row for the fourth time this year in her Jerry Tucker Roustabout, Terraco Soil Farming, Crash Enterprises, All Star Café and Charlie’s Trucking Maxim with Boyd’s Engines number 17w. In the prior sixth row starts, one victory and some top fives would be well earned feats. Now make that 2 wins as White has proven to everyone that the newly instituted feature inversion by OCRS in 2013 is doing just what it was designed to do, put on a show for the fans while testing the might of the drivers at their at the highest levels.
Dual Brodix / PM-Pro rookie of the year contenders Michael Tyre and Chance Morton would start the 25-lap affair on the front row with Morton pushing his Morton Excavating / Shock Doc / A-C Man of Oklahoma / Napa-Coweta Auto Supply / XXX Chassis / STK Racing Engines sprinter to the front as the field swept into turns one and two. Second row starter Kyle Clark would storm into second in his Same Day Auto Repair / Get CNG Now.com / ART Chassis / DSO Engines car while Morton’s teammate and older brother Kade, a feature winner earlier in the season and with the same car package as Chance, grasping the third position.
As the field hit turn one for the second time, Johnny ‘Hotrod’ Kent would steal the third position from Kade Morton. Kent was in his familiar WFO Motorsports / Kent Construction / Care Family Medical / Wesmar Power Parts / Kent Fireworks / Eagle with Kent Engines power. Two laps latter, problems befell the older Morton as he spun to a stop in turn four. Brian McClelland would need to take evasive action that would cost him. Having started in the third row, McClelland avoided Morton by going off the high side of turn four and coming to a stop. He would refire and have to tag the field in the rear, as did Morton.
Chance Morton would restart on the point with Clark, Kent, Shayla Waddell, Tyre, White, Casey Wills and Jamie Passmore behind. White and Passmore would work their way past Tyre shortly after the restart. White then put on a power move as she sped by both Waddell and Kent working the fourth lap only to have yellow number two fly before the lap could be completed as Jeremy Allen, who entered the night in second place in points behind White, stopped on the front stretch. This would nullify White’s move and place Waddell and Kent back in front of her.
White would find her way past Waddell again on the sixth lap. A while later, David Stephenson would spin to a stop on the front straight that would call for another caution. A lap after the next restart, White would once again make another awesome move this time passing both Kent and Clark with a well executed slide job in turns one and two and she would be directly on Morton’s bumper. Morton’s lead would be short lived as White snatched the spot going into turn one the next time by. Passmore, in attempt to keep White in sight, moved by Kent soon after. Working lap nine, a problem would strike Kent as he came to a stop on the front straight just out of turn four where he lost a right rear wheel. He would be towed off.
A couple of laps after the ensuing restart, Passmore would move his GAP Roofing / Eagle / Wesmar Racing Engines past Clark and Morton with a major slide job of his own in turn one to begin a charge at White. While all this was taking place, McClelland had been making major progress by sliding and passing cars at random and amazingly, after going tail back earlier, he would be right back in the thick of things after splitting Waddell and Chance Morton at the same time during the half-way mark. Morton would slide back a couple of positions over the next few laps. The final yellow of the race would fall on lap 17 when Waddell and Casey Wills would get a bit too close for comfort in turn two. Wills would spin to a stop then rejoin the pack in the back while Waddell exited the race.
The last restart line up saw White lead Passmore with the lapped car of Tyre in between them then Clark, McClelland, Danny Smith, who had turned over in his heat race earlier, Chance Morton, Terry Easum (who was making his 2013 OCRS debut), and Rafe Essary. The restart was quite wild as Smith, in his Same Day Auto Repair / XXX chassis / DSO Engines machine, put a beautiful slider on both McClelland and Clark to go into third only to have both fight back around Smith by sliding one another before the trio got back to the scoring stripe. It was dirt track slot cars at its finest.
Smith slid teammate Clark next time they hit turns one and two for the fourth spot while McClelland worked feverishly to keep ahead of them for third in his Fode Trucking / Precision Coatings / Computertech Computer Repair / XXX / Warrior Machine #87F. With five to go, fans got some extra awesome action when Clark slid Smith in turn one, Smith took back that spot when they went into turn three but Clark would have none of it as he went right back by Smith just yards later in turn four. The field would stay that until with two to go when Easum, piloting the G&G Dozer / Finish Line Coatings / XXX / Wesmar Racing Engines #88 went by Smith for a top five showing.
White held off the Passmore charges by eight lengths with McClelland, Clark and Easum in the top five. Smith, Chance Morton, Wills, Essary and Joshua Tyre would complete the top ten. White was surprised by her win stating: “I didn’t think we could win here (Highbanks) from the 12th spot but we somehow did it. The car just went everywhere I wanted it to so that just helps me out. I just have to thank all my sponsors and my family because I couldn’t be out here doing this without them.”
Passmore gave his take of the race: “The last caution kind of hurt us but Harli is really on a roll right now and her car is really doing good for her. It’s was a racy track tonight. Brian (McClelland) got run off the track and he came back and got a good finish. Harli and I started 11th and 12th. It was just a very racy track. The track crew did a really good job with it.”
From McClelland: “ After what happened to me earlier, I guess you could say you saw the aggravated side of me. I just got up on the cushion and started passing cars. I was making some ballsy moves on the restarts but I figured what did I have to lose after having to go to the back anyway? We are getting the car figured out and getting some more power. We will be OK. It’s just been awhile since I have ran these Champ Sprints.”
Easum was the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger moving up 13 spots.
Alex Sewell was the Dyno Services of Oklahoma Hard Luck recipient.
McClelland took the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories heat
Kade Morton won the Bob Hurley Auto Family heat
Passmore was awarded the Drive Shafts Inc heat after winner Easum was DQ’d for not going to scales.
A-Feature contingency winners were:
Lightning Wings certificate: Joshua Tyre,
Grand Prix Auto Center certificate: Michael Tyre
M&W Aluminum certificate: Rob Hooper
Wesmar Power Parts certificate: Kade Morton
The sixth stop on the 2013 OCRS tour will be this coming Saturday during Memorial Day Weekend at the Caney Valley Speedway in Caney Kansas where the quarter mile bullring always produces close tight wheel banging action.
OCRS Race Results
Date of Race: Saturday May 18, 2013
(Position-Car-Driver-Start)
21 cars
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Heat
1, 87F-Brian McClelland[2]. 2, 17W-Harli White[4]. 3, 31-Casey Wills[1]. 4, 11-Michael Tyre[3].
5, 22-David Stephenson[5]. 6, 22K-Koby Barksdale[6]. 7, 17-Jeremy Allen[7].
Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat 2
1, 8M-Kade Morton[2]. 2, 9$-Kyle Clark[1]. 3, 26-Rafe Essary[5]. 4, 55-Johnny Kent[4]. 5, 5$-Danny Smith[3]. 6, 7F-Joshua Tyre[6]. 7, 84-Alex DeCamp [7]
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat 3
1, 4J-Jamie Passmore[6]. 2, 88S-Shayla Waddell[5]. 3, 7m-Chance Morton[4]. 4, 18-Rob Hooper[7].
5, 8x-Shane Pace[3]. 6, 8-Alex Sewell[2]. 7, 88-Terry Easum[1]. (DQ’d – did not report to scales).
OCRS A Feature
1, 17W-Harli White[12]. 2, 4J-Jamie Passmore[11]. 3, 87F-Brian McClelland[5]. 4, 9$-Kyle Clark[3]. 5, 88-Terry Easum[18]. 6, 5$-Danny Smith[14]. 7, 7m-Chance Morton[2]. 8, 31-Casey Wills[8]. 9, 26-Rafe Essary[9]. 10, 7F-Joshua Tyre[15]. 11, 8M-Kade Morton[6]. 12, 18-Rob Hooper[10]. 13, 11-Michael Tyre[1]. 14, 88S-Shayla Waddell[7]. 15, 55-Johnny Kent[4]. 16, 22-David Stephenson[13]. 17, 17-Jeremy Allen[16]. 18, 84-Alex DeCamp[17]. 19, 22K-Koby Barksdale[19]. 20, 8-Alex Sewell[-].
(DNS). 21, 8x-Shane Pace[-]. (DNS).
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger: Terry Easum
Dyno Services of Oklahoma Hard Luck Recipient: Alex Sewell
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