By John Rittenoure
Round two of the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories OCRS Non-Wing series got off to a rocky start Friday at South Coffeyville Speedway. Several opening lap yellow flags played havoc with the 20-car field. But once racing was underway, fans witnessed Alex DeCamp and Danny Smith dice for the lead in what was a wild final lap dash to the checkered.
A last lap yellow bunched the field for the restart giving Smith one final shot at race-long leader DeCamp. DeCamp jumped the cushion in turn one and Smith drove underneath for the lead. The two swapped the lead back and forth a couple of times as they raced toward the white flag with Smith crossing in front.
DeCamp charged his Morton Excavating, Klint Pursley Trucking sprinter back ahead on the final lap, but Smith was not done. He pointed his sprinter down low on the final turn and powered into the lead with the checkered in sight. DeCamp made one more challenge down the front straightaway trying to beat Smith to the checkered using the high side. DeCamp pulled up beside Smith’s right rear but glanced into the guardrail allowing Smith to cross with his first win of the season. DeCamp recovered to finish a heartbreaking second.
“He (DeCamp) did a great job,” said Smith as he waited for his Tire Factory sprinter to pass tech inspection. “He was actually the fastest car. He gave me the opportunity. I did not earn the opportunity. He jumped the cushion a couple of times. That is all part of racing. When they come back at you like that there is no way close to clearing and you have to cross back under. But we finished it off.”
DeCamp led from the start and seemed to have the race covered until the restart interrupted his momentum.
“I spun the tires getting in there,” DeCamp said of the final lap restart. “The car was loose getting in there and I slipped over the cushion. I got a run back on Danny and slid him and never touched him. He got back underneath me and drove it in deep on the last corner and he got back underneath me. You hate to give up a straightaway lead. There was the yellow and it looked like the car was completely out of the groove.”
It was a tough loss for DeCamp to swallow, but he was happy with his car and the track surface.
“It was a awesome track,” said DeCamp. “We came from last to first in the heat race. Could not ask for a better deal. I got to thank my dad and everyone that helps me and my girl friend and sister for coming out. We had a good night and a winning car, it is just unfortunate.”
Smith, who retained his points lead with his victory, felt some inexperience led to the early yellows on the opening lap.
“The youth got them,” Smith said of the early laps in the race. “The youth made them make mistakes and that gave me the opportunity to get up there. Everybody was trying too hard. Everyone wants to win. We had some radio issues with batteries going dead that cost us some pace laps and it can happen to everybody. I want to say that I appreciate what Wayne Simmons and Justin Dobson for what they do on these cars. If it was not for them we would not be able to do this.”
David Stephenson crossed the line in third for his best finish of the season. Stephenson earned the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger award for advancing 12 positions from his 15th starting position. The finish came after some hard work in the pits to make the feature. Stephenson rolled in the third heat race leaving him little time to get the car back in racing condition.
Chance Morton, who won the opening Non-Wing feature the week before at West Siloam, finished fourth and Tim Kent rounded out the top five.
OCRS Race Results
South Coffeyville Speedway
Friday, June 27, 2014
20 Cars
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Heat
1, 7M-Chance Morton[1]. 2, 5$-Danny Smith[2]. 3, 4C-Kyle Cobb[3]. 4, 17E-Blake Edwards[4]. 5, 15D-Andrew Deal[7]. 6, 3-Tim Kent[6]. 7, 8M-Kade Morton[5].
Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat
1, 84-Alex DeCamp[7]. 2, 24-Kevin Risley[1]. 3, 87F-Brian McClelland[5]. 4, 97-Kevin Cummings[3]. 5, 007-Michael Bookout[4]. 6, 5-Cameron Hagin[6]. 7, 13W-Grant Wresche[2].
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat
1, 11-Michael Tyre[2]. 2, 9$-Kyle Clark[4]. 3, 16-Nigel Calvert[3]. 4, 01-Mike Huard[5]. 5, 22-David Stephenson[1]. DNS: 7-Cord Dodson.
OCRS A Feature (20-Laps)
1, 5$-Danny Smith[11]. 2, 84-Alex DeCamp[5]. 3, 22-David Stephenson[15]. 4, 7M-Chance Morton[8]. 5, 3-Tim Kent[16]. 6, 97-Kevin Cummings[13]. 7, 24-Kevin Risley[12]. 8, 8M-Kade Morton[18]. 9, 15D-Andrew Deal[10]. 10, 13W-Grant Wresche[19]. 11, 01-Mike Huard[1]. 12, 9$-Kyle Clark[7]. 13, 16-Nigel Calvert[4]. 14, 87F-Brian McClelland[9]. 15, 4C-Kyle Cobb[6]. 16, 5-Cameron Hagin[17]. 17, 11-Michael Tyre[3]. 18, 17E-Blake Edwards[2]. 19, 007-Michael Bookout[14]. DNS: 7-Cord Dodson.
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories Hard Charger: David Stephenson (+12).
D&E Supply Hard Luck Recipient: Cord Dodson.
Lap Leaders: DeCamp 1-19; Smith 20.