From John Rittenoure
Oktaha, OK — (September 27, 2014) — Chance Morton seems to be hitting his stride as of late with his second OCRS feature in three weeks and his third of the season on Saturday night at Outlaw Motorsports Park.
Morton, picked a good night to win with extra money on the line thanks to AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories that drew in a 28-car field. But Morton had to run down Shayla Waddell who was setting a strong pace in the early going.
“I just tried to run her down and stay consistent at the same time,” said Morton of his run toward the front in his Morton Excavating sprinter. “I was just hoping for a caution so we could catch up to her.”
Following a lap 12 yellow Morton was able to pass Waddell on lap 13 for the lead and stayed there the final 12 laps for the victory despite changes in the handling of his new Maxim chassis.
“The car got a little bit tighter but that gave us the opportunity to drive it a little bit harder,” he said.
Waddell was not able to keep pace but ironically her backup sprint car driven by Shane Sellers was able to take up the chase and finish second.
“The car was awesome,” Sellers said of his run in the number 88 backup car. “Unfortunately for Shayla we had a yellow about halfway through. I don’t think anybody would have caught her if it were not for that yellow.”
Sellers was making a run at Morton when he broke a rear shock late in the race.
“That yellow helped me sitting fifth. I passed two cars in one and two,” recalled Sellers. “I was the fastest car on the track. I got to the bumper of Chance (Morton). He kind of had to get out of the gas and I kind of biked up in the cushion and broke a right rear shock. I did not have a shock for the last seven laps. I was up on my toes. It was hard to race that track with no right rear shock. To come home second with no right rear shock, I am pretty happy.”
The high groove seemed to be the place to run for Sellers.
“For that kind of track you had to either set up for the bottom or the top,” Sellers said. “I thought more people would go to the bottom so I set up for the top. We had it dialed in.”
It was a good ending to a night that started on a disappointing note when Sellers and his dad broke down on the way to Outlaw.
“My dad was going to race tonight, but on the way here we broke an axle on our flat bed trailer,” said Sellers. “He had to kind of hang out on the side of the road and wait for another trailer. I feel bad that he could not run as he was kind of wanting to.
“I was able to get in Shayla’s other car. They were kind enough to let me run it. They have been good to me. We just kind of wanted to get them both out there and have some fun.”
Both 88 cars were fast as Waddell had opened up a straightaway lead on the field through the first 10 laps before a yellow closed up the field.
“I am the kind of a driver that when I get into a rhythm I get faster, smoother and better,” Waddell said. “Once that rhythm breaks I just lose it.
“If the race had been ten laps I would have won it,” smiled Shayla.
Waddell had no idea she was leading by such a large margin.
“I did not know where anyone else was,” she said. “I just assumed they were right behind me.”
The final OCRS event of the 2014 season is next Saturday at Caney Valley Speedway and Shayla would really like to be there.
“Hopefully I can talk my dad into racing again next weekend,” Waddell said.
Finishing behind Sellers at the checkered was Mickey Walker who came from 13th starting position to third after winning the B feature. The finish earned Walker the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Hard Charger award. Brian McClelland was fourth and B feature third place finisher Johnny Kent rounded out the top five.
Andrew Deal leads Danny Smith by 42 points as the OCRS title chasers head to the last event of 2014 next Saturday at the Osage Casino Caney Valley Speedway in Caney Kansas.
OCRS Race Results
Oklahoma Motorsports Park
September 27, 2014
28 Cars
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Heat
1, 15D-Andrew Deal[1]. 2, 7M-Chance Morton[5]. 3, 84-Alex DeCamp[2]. 4, 87F-Brian McClelland[6]. 5, P78-Perry Pickard[3]. 6, 17E-Blake Edwards[4]. 7, 3G-Jeff Garnett (DNS).
Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat
1, 007-Michael Bookout[2]. 2, 5-Cameron Hagin[4]. 3, 94X-Morgan Fletcher[7]. 4, 94-Dan Schnackenberg[3]. 5, 55-Johnny Kent[5]. 6, 23A-Travis Ashwood[1]. 7, 9$-Kyle Clark[6].
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat
1, 69-Glen Passmore[2]. 2, 88S-Shayla Waddell[1]. 3, 16-Nigel Calvert[3]. 4, 77-Brian Bishop[7]. 5, 22-David Stephenson[4]. 6, 8M-Kade Morton[6]. 7, 5K-Koby Barksdale[5].
Car and Fleet Parts Heat
1, 13-Strike Hill[1]. 2, 26M-Fred Mattox[2]. 3, 88-Shane Sellers[4]. 4, 2-Mickey Walker[5]. 5, 5$-Danny Smith[3]. 6, 31-Casey Wills[7]. 7, 2W-Kenneth Walker[6].
Wesmar Racing Engines B Feature
1, 2-Mickey Walker[3]. 2, 16-Nigel Calvert[2]. 3, 55-Johnny Kent[5]. 4, 22-David Stephenson[6]. 5, 5$-Danny Smith[7]. 6, 8M-Kade Morton[10]. 7, 31-Casey Wills[8]. 8, 5K-Koby Barksdale[11]. 9, 17E-Blake Edwards[9]. 10, P78-Perry Pickard[4]. 11, 84-Alex DeCamp[1]. 12, 3G-Jeff Garnett[13]. 13, 2W-Kenneth Walker. 14, Dan Schanckenberg DNS, 15, Travis Ashwood DNS, 16, Kyle Clark DNS
OCRS A Feature (25 laps)
1, 7M-Chance Morton[6]. 2, 88-Shane Sellers[10]. 3, 2-Mickey Walker[13]. 4, 87F-Brian McClelland[9]. 5, 55-Johnny Kent[15]. 6, 69-Glen Passmore[8]. 7, 15D-Andrew Deal[11]. 8, 13-Strike Hill[12]. 9, 5$-Danny Smith[17]. 10, 5K-Koby Barksdale[20]. 11, 16-Nigel Calvert[14]. 12, 22-David Stephenson[16]. 13, 26M-Fred Mattox[7]. 14, 88S-Shayla Waddell[5]. 15, 5-Cameron Hagin[3]. 16, 8M-Kade Morton[18]. 17, 77-Brian Bishop[2]. 18, 94X-Morgan Fletcher[1]. 19, 007-Michael Bookout[4]. 20, 31-Casey Wills[19].
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories Hard Charger: Mickey Walker +10
D&E Supply Hard Luck Recipient: Jeff Garnett