By John Rittenoure
Barksdale led start-to-finish and picked up his second straight and fifth overall Ameri-Flex Hose and Accessories / OCRS sprint car main event.
“I like every racetrack out there. But coming here, I did not know what to expect,” explained Barksdale of his first trip to Humboldt. “I ran hot laps and got the feel for it pretty quick.”
The re-draw after the heat races put Barksdale on the pole and set the stage for his 30-lap run.
“We have had good luck this year on the re-draws and that kind of setup the night for us,” he said.
However it was far from easy. Whit Gastineau gave chase from the start and challenged Barksdale on several occasions, but to no avail.
“Whit kind of showed us his nose in (turn) four one time and I knew to move down a little bit and catch that rubber coming off of four,” Barksdale said.
“I had a couple of lapped cars in front of me and Whit would get inside of me going into the corners. I was trying to be conservative. I did not want to overdrive the car and it paid off.”
Gastineau felt like he let a possible victory slip away.
“I was probably just being too nice,” smiled Gastineau. “If I was going to get him I should have done it earlier. He was doing a good job.
“It was a good track. The car was good. I probably had the first place car and the second place driver.”
Barksdale never made a mistake despite a tricky turn four.
“It is kind of tricky out of four and you have to kind of feather the throttle,” explained Barksdale. “That wall comes at you pretty quick.”
The race for third turned into a battle. Former champion Jamie Passmore held down the show position till lap four when Alex Sewell took over. Sewell held the spot till the only yellow flag of the race waved on lap 29. On the restart defending champion Robert Sellers, who had moved around Passmore for third on lap 26, got past Sewell for the final lap and a third place finish. Sewell settled for fourth and Passmore rounded out the top five.
Ameri-Flex / OCRS Official Results
Humboldt Speedway, Humboldt, Kans.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Car count: 18
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
Drive Shafts, Inc. Heat (8 laps)
1, 4X-Robert Sellers[2]. 2, 9$-Kyle Clark[1]. 3, 8-Alex Sewell[5]. 4, 79-Tim Kent[4]. 5, 15D-Andrew Deal[3]. 6, 20-Beau Gastineau[6]. (DNS).
A1 Machine Shop Heat (8 laps)
1, 69-Jamie Passmore[2]. 2, 88S-Shayla Waddell[3]. 3, 10X-Darien Roberts[5]. 4, P78-Perry Pickard[1]. 5, 31-Casey Wills[6]. 6, 88-Terry Easum[4].
Car and Fleet Parts Heat (8 laps)
1, 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[1]. 2, 2W-Whit Gastineau[3]. 3, 4-Shane Sellers[2]. 4, 55-Johnny Kent[4]. 5, 50Z-Zach Chappell[6]. 6, 5-Cameron Hagin[5].
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories A Feature (30 laps)
1, 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[1]. 2, 2W-Whit Gastineau[2]. 3, 4X-Robert Sellers[5]. 4, 8-Alex Sewell[6]. 5, 69-Jamie Passmore[4]. 6, 9$-Kyle Clark[8]. 7, 4-Shane Sellers[9]. 8, 50Z-Zach Chappell[14]. 9, 55-Johnny Kent[12]. 10, 88S-Shayla Waddell[3]. 11, 5-Cameron Hagin[17]. 12, 31-Casey Wills[13]. 13, 79-Tim Kent[10]. 14, 10X-Darien Roberts[7]. 15, P78-Perry Pickard[11]. 16, 15D-Andrew Deal[15]. 17, 88-Terry Easum[16]. 18, 20-Beau Gastineau[18].
Lap Leaders: Sheldon Barksdale 1-30.
Contingency Awards:
Drive Shaft Inc. Heat: Robert Sellers
A1 Machine Shop Heat: Jamie Passmore
Car and Fleet Parts Heat: Sheldon Barksdale
D&E Supply Hard Luck Recipient: Terry Easum
Action Auto Collision Hard Charger Recipient: Zach Chappell +6
WESMAR Power Parts Recipient: Cameron Hagin
M&W Aluminum Products Recipient: Casey Wills
Rod End Supply Recipients: Jamie Passmore, Johnny Kent, Perry Pickard
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