John Lemon
Tulsa Okla. (December 8, 2015)- The 2015 Ameri-Flex / OCRS awards banquet was held last Saturday night in the Clarion Hotel at the Tulsa International Airport and Robert Sellers of Mustang Oklahoma was officially crowned as the newest champion of the Ameri-Flex Hose & Accessories / Oil Capital Racing Series. In addition to a cash award payout, Sellers collected the prized Harold Leep Championship Trophy to add to his impressive victory hardware collection he has earned over the span of his racing career. Sellers became the sixth champion in series history.
In addition to multiple awards presented during the festivities to the packed house, Zio’s Italian Kitchens catered the event while Peter Walterschied performed the “Magic by Pete” magic show. Numerous door prizes were given out and as always, Karaoke music ended the evening. The awards banquet was once again sponsored by Same Day Auto & Tire as they have for the past four years.
Joey Perry, a 15 year old fan making his first ever Ameri-Flex / OCRS function presented the top five drivers with self made artwork sketches of their racecars. In a surprise development, the series elected to hold an auction on one of Perry’s additional drawings that he brought to the banquet as a means to say thank-you for his contribution. The sketched drawing of a sprint car on a racetrack raked in a whopping $1200 to the young man! This became an absolute surprise to everyone, much less Mr. Perry, who was in utter disbelief over what transpired. Special thanks goes out to Mike and Karen Barros for their winning bid on the drawing.
Sellers won his first Ameri-Flex / OCRS championship in his first full season with the series after competing in only 15 events over the previous five years. His six main event wins led the series. Sellers drove the Donnie Coleman Racing / Checkered Flag Trucking / XXX Chassis with a Brand Racing Engines power plant under the hood. Sellers also received a well prepared scale model of his championship car from John Stewart of Retro Racing Model Cars in Oklahoma City.
Sellers gave high praise to the series as he spoke to the audience: “I don’t really want to talk about myself,” said the champion. “I just want to say this is a well ran series and I’m glad to be a part of it. If you look around the area, you will see there are some of the most competitive drivers in the OCRS series than anywhere. I’ve raced in a lot of places and this is one of the best ran organizations I have been with.”
Shane Sellers, son of Robert, took runner-up honors in what was also his first full season on tour making for a father / son sweep of the top two spots. Shane visited victory lane on two occasions also using Brand Racing Engines but with a Maxim chassis. Courtney Farms, Checkered Flag Trucking, Select Coatings, SES Enterprises & Outlaw Wings were backers for the number 4 car.
Brett Wilson made it a complete sweep of the top three for drivers running the full Ameri-Flex / OCRS schedule for the first time. In Wilson’s case, he was a rookie among his peers and thus he also earned the Brodix Rookie of the Year honors as well. Wilson’s number 53 sprinter is an Eagle chassis with Dyno Services of Oklahoma power. Sponsors are: Garnett Storage, Wilson Gang Artworks, DSO Racing Engines and Motorwear International Racing Uniforms.
Remaining Top 10 championships drivers honored where:
Cameron Hagin, Casey Wills, & Whit Gastineau (not present) for their tie for fourth place. Zach Chappell (seventh), Brent Bates (eighth), Shayla Waddell (ninth) and Michael Bookout (tenth). Joseph Miller and Perry Pickard were honored for their participation contribution of the series as well.
Corvan Robison of Ameri-Flex Hose & Accessories was presented with a special honor of recognition for his stout support of the OCRS series. Robison and his Ameri-Flex Hose & Accessories company announced they would return as series sponsor for both the 2016 & 2017 racing seasons. This past season was the first year Ameri-Flex became the title sponsor of the series.
Ameri-Flex also announced a very special event for 2016 titled the “Ameri-Flex Challenge” where qualifying teams will participate in a dash style race that will pay the winner $5000 to win!
Additional award recipients were:
Don Young Award (Best Looking Car): Cameron Hagin
Action Auto Collision Hardest Charger of the Year: Michael Bookout
Dena Dean Angel Award: John Lemon
Spirit Award: Shayla Waddell
Mechanic of the Year: Whit Gastineau
Sportsman of the Year: Robert Sellers
Most Improved Driver: Cameron Hagin
Newcomer of the Year: Zach Chappell
Perseverance Award: Casey Wills
Mike Spivey received recognition for his ongoing photography work for the series.
Special thanks to all of our banquet door prize contributors:
Larry and Linda Dean (Tulsa OK)
Racin’ Boys (Kansas City MO)
Speedway Grille (Muskogee OK)
Linda Mar #2 (Tulsa OK)
Thriller Productions (Marlow OK)
Mudslinger Video (Noble OK)
O’Reilly’s Auto Parts (Oklahoma Region)
Ike’s Chili (Tulsa OK)
Freeway Café (Tulsa OK)
Pole Position (Oklahoma City OK)
Xtreme Racing & Entertainment (Broken Arrow OK)
White River Fish Market (Tulsa OK)
It’s was a great time had by all and the Ameri-Flex / OCRS sprint car series is looking forward to gaining strength each and every year. We look forward to seeing everyone once again in 2016!