From John Lemon
Salina Kansas — (May 25, 2013) — Last month, Kade Morton pulled off a shocking win in the Oil Capital Racing Series with a sprint car feature victory. Tonight at the Caney Valley Speedway, Morton’s younger brother Chance equaled the same feat older brother accomplished when he won the evenings 25-lap A feature. It was an early birthday gift of sorts as Cade turns 15 years old on Monday. In taking the grand prize, Cade becomes the third first time OCRS feature winner in the young season with brother Kade and Harli White also accomplishing maiden victories.
Upon the start of the feature that was contested on a dry slick track where taking positions from others would require careful execution, C. Morton brought the field down to green in his Morton Excavating / Shock Doc / A-C Man Of Oklahoma / Napa-Coweta Auto Supply / STK Engines / XXX along with fellow front row starter Alex DeCamp in his Klint Pursley Trucking / STK Racing Engines / Eagle chassis. DeCamp would use the outside ring of the ¼ oval to his advantage by taking the early lead. As the cars were working the second lap, inside second row starter Fred Mattox would spinout in the second turn resulting in an early caution. Mattox would restart at the tail. On the restart, Kyle Clark, who was working the topside, got into turn two a bit heavy and slid up to the wall where he would slam to a stop. As he sat idle, Harli White and Brodix / PM Pro rookie of the year contender Joshua Tyre would be collected in the incident thus resulting in an immediate caution. Clark and White would be towed pitside with damage while Tyre would rejoin the field.
After getting a couple of laps in when the race was restarted, Johnny ‘Hotrod’ Kent would have the same misfortune as Clark and in the same exact spot. Hotrod would also be towed off with suspension damage. The restart still had DeCamp at the front, C. Morton second then Danny Smith, Alex Sewell, Brian McClelland and Casey Wills as your top five. When back to green, Decamp would head back to the topside cushion where he was comfortable running while C. Morton worked the extreme inside lane. On lap six, C. Morton reeled DeCamp in and shot into the lead as the duo exited turn two. DeCamp continued to work the high side and kept sight of the leader.
While the front runners were waging their battle, Sewell was pressuring Smith in his Action Auto Collision / Sewell Mechanical / Butler Built Seats / Factor 1 Racing / ART chassis with a Rob Forehand built bullet for the third position. Sewell would make the pass on the eleventh lap then Smith almost spun to a stop but managed to keep the car righted. As the group reached the halfway mark, McClelland tried to get a nose between OCRS first time competitor Mickey Walker and the infield. Contact was made and Walker spun to a stop in turns three and four. Walker was putting on an excellent drive as he started in the scratch position (last) and was up to sixth when the incident happened. He would rebound for a tenth place finish.
Sewell immediately when into attack mode on Decamp for second on the restart and took the spot away on the 13th lap only to have Decamp fight back and get the spot back at the line. The duo then came upon a lapped car in turn two where they split it and Sewell won the drag race down the backstretch for the position as the cars went into turn three. While they were fighting for position, C. Morton was out to a 10 car length lead and cruising on the bottom line. On the 19th lap, Smith, in his Same Day Auto Repair / DSO Engines / XXX, tagged the wall allowing K. Morton the opportunity to get by.
The final yellow would fall when Michael Tyre and Joshua Tyre would spin to a stop in turn three. All cars would run the bottom from this point forward. Smith would retake the spot he lost to K. Morton and a lap later, McClelland would work his way past Kade on the 22nd lap. Chance would hold on to claim victory with Sewell, Decamp, Smith and McClelland completing the top five. Positions 6-10 were: K. Morton, David Stephenson (up from 16th), Wills, Rafe Essary and Walker.
With nine cars passed, Stephenson was the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories ‘Hard Charger’ of the race. Terry Easum was the Dyno Services of Oklahoma Hard Luck award recipient after not being able to start the feature due to mechanical issues. Smith took honors in the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories heat, Essary did likewise in the Bob Hurley Auto Family heat and Mattox got the score in the Drive Shaft Inc. Heat.
Contingency award winners were:
Lightning Wings: Mickey Walker
Wesmar Power Parts: Joshua Tyre
M&W Aluminum Products: Fred Mattox
Grand Prix Auto Center: Michael Bookout
The Oil Capital Racing Series is currently without our fellow members Dan Schnackenberg and Whit “Gasman” Gastineau” as they, along with Steve Gastineau (Whit’s father), lost homes in the devastating tornado that hit Moore Oklahoma. OCRS drivers went into the grandstands with their helmets and the Caney Valley fans were very generous in donating cash to these families. OCRS wishes to give a special thank you to Wayde and Amy Klingsick of South Coffeyville Oklahoma. The Klingsick’s are longtime race fans that won the night’s 50/50 drawing. They in turn took their winnings and turned it over to OCRS to give to the families in need. There were OCRS teams who either donated their purse monies for the night and/or donated outright. All together, over $1700 was raised for the families in need. THANK YOU everyone for your support!
Next up for the OCRS warriors will be the return to Outlaw Motorsports Park in Wainwright Oklahoma next Saturday night, June 1st. We will look forward to seeing everyone there for another night of great sprint car action. Will a fourth first time winner emerge? Could that actually happen? Come check it out and see.
OCRS Race Results
Date of Race: Saturday, May 25, 2013
Car count: 18
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Heat
1, 5$-Danny Smith[4]. 2, 87F-Brian McClelland[5]. 3, 31-Casey Wills[3]. 4,
7m-Chance Morton[6]. 5, 7F-Joshua Tyre[1]. 6, 007-Michael Bookout[2].
Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat
1, 26-Rafe Essary[2]. 2, 84-Alex DeCamp[1]. 3, 55-Johnny Kent[4]. 4, 2-
Mickey Walker[4]. 5, 8M-Kade Morton[3]. 6, 11-Michael Tyre[5].
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat
1, 26M-Fred Mattox[1]. 2, 9$-Kyle Clark[2]. 3, 88-Terry Easum[3]. 4, 8-Alex
Sewell[5]. 5, 17W-Harli White[4]. 6, 22-David Stephenson[6].
OCRS A Feature
1, 7m-Chance Morton[1]. 2, 8-Alex Sewell[5]. 3, 84-Alex DeCamp[2]. 4, 5$-
Danny Smith[7]. 5, 87F-Brian McClelland[8]. 6, 8M-Kade Morton[14]. 7, 22-
David Stephenson[18]. 8, 31-Casey Wills[9]. 9, 26-Rafe Essary[10]. 10, 2-
Mickey Walker[11]. 11, 7F-Joshua Tyre[13]. 12, 26M-Fred Mattox[3]. 13, 007-
Michael Bookout[16]. 14, 11-Michael Tyre[17]. 15, 55-Johnny Kent[6]. 16, 9$-
Kyle Clark[4]. 17, 17W-Harli White[15]. 18, 88-Terry Easum. (DNS).
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger: David Stephenson +9
Dyno Services of Oklahoma Hard Luck Award: Terry Easum