By John Rittenoure
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (August 26, 2016) – The past month has been a little frustrating for Zach Chappell. Engine problems resulted in some disappointing finishes and it eventually cost him the Ameri-Flex / OCRS points lead.
But those problems might be in the past now. Chappell drove his Ameri-Flex Hose & Accessories / EW Equipment World / DSO Racing Engines / Maxim sprinter into the lead near the halfway point and pulled away to win his second Ameri-Flex / OCRS feature of the season Friday during the Harold Leep Classic presented by Suchy Transmissions at Outlaw Motor Speedway. In the process, Chappell earned over $2300 for his efforts.
“I can’t thank David Stephenson enough for this DSO engine. It is a rocket ship,” Chappell said following his victory. “He helped us all last week to iron out the problems. We did a little fine tuning in the shop and it just came to life.
“It is just parts failure. But finally we are on the right track.”
The past month hit rock bottom for Chappell when he blew and engine and fell to third in the standings on July 31 at Lawton Speedway.
“We hurt a motor and sent it to the shop then blew a motor at Lawton,” Chappell said. “Every since that we have been trying to get out of this hole we are in.”
Sheldon Barksdale set the early pace in the 25-lapper with Andrew Deal and Robert Sellers giving chase for the first four laps. Sellers passed Deal for second on a lap five restart and Chappell charged into third on lap six. On lap 10 Chappell got around Sellers for second. After a lap 12 restart Chappell challenged Barksdale and took away the lead.
Chappell led the remaining laps pulling away from the field.
“We started seventh and you start that far back it is hard to pass these guys,” Chappell said. “They don’t give you an inch.”
“The longer we went, the car just got better and better and we got to pull away from everybody.”
Sellers fell back to third when Alex Sewell passed him on lap 14. Sewell finished second ahead of Sellers. Danny Smith climbed to fourth and Deal held on for fifth.
The finish tightened up the Ameri-Flex / OCRS points race and resulted in a new leader. Whit Gastineau suffered engine problems and was only able to finish seventh. That allowed Sellers to move on top of the standings by just six points dropping Gastineau to second. Chappell is third just 31 back of Sellers.
Ameri-Flex / OCRS Official Results
Outlaw Motor Speedway, Muskogee, Okla.
Friday, August 26, 2016
Car count: 28
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
Drive Shafts, Inc. Heat (8 laps)
1, 4X-Robert Sellers[3]. 2, P78-Perry Pickard[1]. 3, 5-Cameron Hagin[2]. 4, 87F-Brian McClelland[5]. 5, 4-Shane Sellers[6]. 6, 53-Brett Wilson[4]. DNS: 88-Chris Jensen[7].
A1 Machine Shop Heat (8 laps)
1, 7F-Andrew Deal[1]. 2, 1-Sean McClelland[2]. 3, 4J-Jamie Passmore[5]. 4, 79-Tim Kent[3]. 5, 30-Joseph Miller[4]. 6, 22-David Stephenson[7]. 7, 5X-Matt Sherrell[6].
Car and Fleet Parts Heat (8 laps)
1, 8-Alex Sewell[2]. 2, 50Z-Zach Chappell[4]. 3, 8M-Kade Morton[6]. 4, 2W-Whit Gastineau[5]. 5, 88S-Shayla Waddell[7]. 6, 22T-Frank Taft[1]. 7, 9$-Kyle Clark[3].
Ameri-Flex Hose & Accessories Heat (8 laps)
1, 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[5]. 2, 55-Johnny Kent[4]. 3, 5$-Danny Smith[7]. 4, 94F-Morgan Fletcher[2]. 5, 78-Steve Smith[6]. 6, 36-Jonathan Beason[1]. 7, 7M-Chance Morton[3]. (DQ).
Wesmar Racing Engines B Feature (12 laps, top 8 transfer)
1, 87F-Brian McClelland[1]. 2, 88S-Shayla Waddell[2]. 3, 2W-Whit Gastineau[3]. 4, 4-Shane Sellers[6]. 5, 5X-Matt Sherrell[12]. 6, 53-Brett Wilson[10]. 7, 7M-Chance Morton[16]. 8, 79-Tim Kent[4]. 9, 94F-Morgan Fletcher[5]. 10, 22-David Stephenson[9]. 11, 9$-Kyle Clark[13]. 12, 30-Joseph Miller[7]. 13, 36-Jonathan Beason[14]. 14, 22T-Frank Taft[11]. 15, 88-Chris Jensen[15]. DNS: 78-Steve Smith[8].
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories A Feature (25 laps)
1, 50Z-Zach Chappell[7]. 2, 8-Alex Sewell[5]. 3, 4X-Robert Sellers[4]. 4, 5$-Danny Smith[6]. 5, 7F-Andrew Deal[3]. 6, 55-Johnny Kent[8]. 7, 2W-Whit Gastineau[15]. 8, 5X-Matt Sherrell[17]. 9, 4J-Jamie Passmore[11]. 10, 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[1]. 11, 53-Brett Wilson[18]. 12, 88S-Shayla Waddell[14]. 13, 8M-Kade Morton[2]. 14, 87F-Brian McClelland[13]. 15, 4-Shane Sellers[16]. 16, 5-Cameron Hagin[12]. 17, 1-Sean McClelland[10]. 18, 79-Tim Kent[20]. 19, 7M-Chance Morton[19]. 20, P78-Perry Pickard[9].
Lap Leaders: Sheldon Barksdale 1-11; Zach Chappell 12-25.
Contingency Awards:
Drive Shaft Inc. Heat: Robert Sellers
A1 Machine Heat: Andrew Deal
Car and Fleet Parts Heat: Alex Sewell
Ameri-Flex Hose & Accessories Heat: Sheldon Barksdale
D&E Supply Hard Luck Recipient: Chance Morton
Action Auto Collision Hard Charger Recipient: Matt Sherrell +9
Wesmar Power Parts Recipient: Brian McClelland
M&W Aluminum Products Recipient: Morgan Fletcher
Rod End Supply Recipients: Andrew Deal, Jamie Passmore, Shane Sellers