By John Rittenoure
CANEY, Kans. (July 4, 2015) – It was a night of surprise and disappointment during the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Oil Capital Racing Series July 4th ‘Dirty 30’ main even at the Caney Valley Speedway.
In a spine tingling finish Shane Sellers edged race-long leader Michael Tyre by half-a-wheel at the checkered flag for the win. It was one of the closest OCRS finishes in recent memory.
“They don’t get much closer then that,” Sellers said of his first victory of the season. “The last couple of laps I was really gaining on him. When I saw the white flag I thought I better go for it or stick with second. I got some good runs on the last lap and was fortunate enough.”
The official margin of victory was .032 seconds.
Sellers drove his Courtney Farms, Checkered Flag Trucking sponsored sprinter around Brent Bates for second on lap five but it was not until after a lap 16 restart that he was able to close in on Tyre.
“The last couple of laps I really hit my marks good and really gained some ground on him,” Sellers said. “That really helped me set up for the pass. I went around him on the high side.”
It was a surprising outcome after fighting the car for much of the race.
“I was too loose all race long and was lucky to finally make some type of track work for me,” said Sellers. “I was fighting the car the whole race.
“I have had some bad luck (this year) so it was good to turn it around.”
Except for two laps midway through the 25-lapper Tyre led from the start and was only inches away from what would have been his first OCRS career victory when Sellers roared by at the start-finish line in a move that surprised Tyre.
“I had no clue that anyone was behind me until I crossed the line,” Tyre said. “This is my first race without mufflers and it was so much louder I could not hear anyone coming. I just never felt a challenge from anyone all race long and I think I just felt complacent.”
The bottom of the track was where Tyre was finding success but in the final laps that line was going away.
“The bottom in 3 and 4 (turns 3 and 4) slowed down so much I was having to scruff off so much speed to hold it down there just to get my left rear in anything to find bite,” Tyre explained.
The first clue that the high side might be the place to run can on lap 15 when Fred Mattox used the cushion to charge toward the front from his outside third row starting position and passed Tyre for the lead just before the yellow flag waved. Mattox led for another lap after the restart before his engine let go dumping a trail of Oil entering turn one.
“When Fred (Mattox) showed up I thought about going to the top,” Tyre recalled. “On the next restart I got him back on the bottom, so I just decided to hold my line. I figured second was better then falling back.”
Tyre restarted in the lead and stayed committed to the low line.
“I have to thank Shock Doc,” Tyre said of his sponsor. “He gave me an awesome shock package.”
Tyre is also sponsored by Alan Keith Engines, Fode Trucking, Danny’s Complete Paint and Body, Katie’s Grocery Getter and Apex Media Designs.
“I want to thank my dad, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law and all the support I get,” Tyre said. “We are a low budget team and to run with these guys is great.
“This is my favorite track. I love this place. The car was working good and I like it when I can drive out on the bottom. I like to get up on the steering wheel.”
If the race had gone much longer Alex DeCamp might have had something to say about the finish. DeCamp started 11th and charged his way into third on lap 22. DeCamp finished just .824 seconds behind the leader. Casey Wills and Kyle Clark finished fourth and fifth. Michael Bookout came from 21st starting position to finish sixth earning him the Action Auto Collision Hard Charger award.
Shayla Waddell earned the most passing points of the night after advancing from seventh to second place in the Shock Doc second heat. Waddell would have started on the pole in her PM-PRO, Clark Enterprises, McDowell Motorsports, ANW Custom Designs, TS Construction, Maxima Racing Oils, Red Rock Distributing, Two-six Racing sponsored number 88s. But the top eight must redraw and Waddell started third.
Waddell was running as high as fourth in the early going before contact from another car caused her to spin 15 laps into the race. Waddell restarted and raced to a ninth place finish.
Race Results
AmeriFlex / Oil Capital Racing Series
Caney Valley Speedway – Caney, Kansas
Saturday July 4, 2015
Car count: 22
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
Boyd Racing Engines Heat (8 laps)
1, 26M-Fred Mattox[2]. 2, 31-Casey Wills[3]. 3, 50Z-Zach Chappell[5]. 4, 7F-Andrew Deal[8]. 5, 53-Brett Wilson[4]. 6, 2W-Whit Gastineau[7]. 7, 23A-Travis Ashwood[6]. 8, 94-Dan Schnackenberg[1].
Shock Doc Heat (8 laps)
1, 17-Brent Bates[2]. 2, 88S-Shayla Waddell[7]. 3, 5$-Danny Smith[5]. 4, 5-Cameron Hagin[1]. 5, 9$-Kyle Clark[6]. 6, 30-Joseph Miller[3]. 7, 13-Len Larkin[4].
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat (8 laps)
1, 4X-Robert Sellers[2]. 2, 11-Michael Tyre[1]. 3, 84-Alex DeCamp[4]. 4, 4-Shane Sellers[7]. 5, 11J-Joshua Tyre[5]. 6, 87F-Brian McClelland[3]. 7, 007-Michael Bookout[6].
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories A Feature (25 laps)
1, 4-Shane Sellers[5]. 2, 11-Michael Tyre[1]. 3, 84-Alex DeCamp[11]. 4, 31-Casey Wills[8]. 5, 9$-Kyle Clark[13]. 6, 007-Michael Bookout[21]. 7, 5-Cameron Hagin[12]. 8, 11J-Joshua Tyre[15]. 9, 88S-Shayla Waddell[3]. 10, 30-Joseph Miller[17]. 11, 2W-Whit Gastineau[16]. 12, 26M-Fred Mattox[6]. 13, 5$-Danny Smith[10]. 14, 7F-Andrew Deal[4]. 15, 23A-Travis Ashwood[19]. 16, 53-Brett Wilson[14]. 17, 17-Brent Bates[2]. 18, 87F-Brian McClelland[18]. 19, 50Z-Zach Chappell[9]. 20, 94-Dan Schnackenberg[22]. 21, 13-Len Larkin[20]. 22, 4X-Robert Sellers[7].
Lap Leaders: Michael Tyre 1-14, Fred Mattox 15-16, Michael Tyre 17-24, Shane Sellers 25.
Contingency Award Recipients:
Boyd’s Racing Engines Heat: Fred Mattox.
Shock Doc Heat: Brent Bates.
Drive Shafts Inc Heat: Robert Sellers.
D&E Supply Hard Luck Recipient: Len Larkin.
Action Auto Collision Hard Charger Recipient: Michael Bookout.
Wesmar Power Parts Recipient: Whit Gastineau.
M&W Aluminum Products Recipient: Fred Mattox
Lightning Wings Recipient: Joseph Miller
Rod End Supply Recipients: Kyle Clark, Shayla Waddell, Travis Ashwood