By John Rittenoure
Lawton, Okla. (June 17, 2017) – Lawton Speedway is quickly becoming one of Alex Sewell’s favorite race tracks.
On April 15 Sewell won the Ameri-Flex Hose and Accessories OCRS season opener at the Lawton quarter-mile. Saturday Sewell took up where he left off leading all 30 laps to win for the second time this season.
“We have been coming here for a long time and we are finally getting it figured out,” said Sewell. “It was kind of surprising because the race track was pretty much identical to when we won here last time. That helps a lot.”
Sewell also gave credit to his dad and crew for having the Action Auto Collision sprinter ready to race.
“The guys just have the eight car rolling where ever we go,” Sewell said of his race car. “I can always count on them to have a good car.”
After a lap one restart Sewell shot from his fourth place starting position and passed pole sitter Shayla Waddell for the front spot. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma pilot raced unchallenged despite facing lapped traffic during the race.
“When I had clean air I was able to run the top and rip the lip all the way around,” Sewell said. “When it came to lapped cars my car was so good I could go to the bottom and still pass them. Anywhere I had to go I could go.”
However Sewell knew he could not relax in the 30-lapper.
“There is really some stiff competition out here so anytime you can come out here and win with these guys you know you are doing something good,” he said.
Sewell was chased by fifth starting Zach Chappell who was unable to get close enough to challenge for the lead.
“He was pretty quick up there,” Chappell said of Sewell. “When he got out front with no lap cars in front he was checked out. There was no catching him.”
Chappell was hoping for lapped traffic to give him the opportunity to catch Sewell, however with only three yellow flags in the race that did not play out in his favor.
“I felt like we were a little quicker in traffic because we were reeling him in real hard,” Chappell said. “But then again he is the leader and he does not know how close everybody is so he could have taken his time picking and choosing spots.
“I thought it would have been more of a race had lap traffic played more of a part. But we will take a second.”
Shane Sellers worked his way to a third place finish to maintain his Ameri-Flex / OCRS Series points lead, Joe Bob Lee finished fourth and Casey Wills was fifth.
With 17 laps down in the race Sheldon Barksdale took a hard ride off of turn four to bring out the red flag. Fortunately Barksdale was not injured. As a result of the crash Barksdale became the recipient of the M&W Aluminum Hard Luck award.
Noah Gass advanced from 20th to 13th in the feature and was the recipient the Amsoil Hard Charger award.
Ameri-Flex / OCRS Results
Lawton Speedway
June 17, 2017
Car count: 21
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
Drive Shafts, Inc. Heat (8 laps)
1, 8-Alex Sewell[5]. 2, 94F-Morgan Fletcher[4]. 3, 2-Mickey Walker[1]. 4, 50Z-Zach Chappell[7]. 5, 911-Mike Baker[2]. 6, 24-T.J. Herrell[3]. 7, 11-Nick Bates
A1 Machine Shop Heat (8 laps)
1, 5L-Joe Bob Lee[2]. 2, 76S-Shayla Waddell[3]. 3, 31-Casey Wills[5]. 4, B52-Brayden Voigt[4]. 5, 10K-Kyle Ezell[7]. 6, 8J-James Fabian[6]. 7, 25-Noah Gass[1].
Car and Fleet Parts Heat 3 (8 laps)
1, 4-Shane Sellers[3]. 2, 18J-Brandon Jennings[2].
3, 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[4]. 4, 55-Johnny Kent[7]. 5, 30-Joseph Miller[5]. 6, 14-Shawn Bloomquist[6]. 7, 4X-Robert Sellers[1].
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories A Feature (30 laps)
1, 8-Alex Sewell[4]. 2, 50Z-Zach Chappell[5]. 3, 4-Shane Sellers[8]. 4, 5L-Joe Bob Lee[7]. 5, 31-Casey Wills[9]. 6, 2-Mickey Walker[11]. 7, 18J-Brandon Jennings[3]. 8, 55-Johnny Kent[6]. 9, 10K-Kyle Ezell[12]. 10, 24-T.J. Herrell[16].11, 76S-Shayla Waddell[1]. 12, 14-Shawn Bloomquist[18]. 13, 25-Noah Gass[20]. 14, 94F-Morgan Fletcher[2]. 15, 911-Mike Baker[14]. 16, 8J-James Fabian[17]. 17, 11-Nick Bates[19]. 18, B52-Brayden Voigt[13]. 19, 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[10]. 20, 30-Joseph Miller[15]. DNS: 4X-Robert Sellers[21].
Lap Leaders: Alex Sewell 1-30.
Contingency Awards:
Drive Shaft Inc. Heat: Alex Sewell
A-1 Machine Shop Heat: Joe Bob Lee
Car & Fleet Parts Heat: Shane Sellers
Wesmar Racing Engines Recipient: TJ Herrell
Amsoil Hard Charger: Noah Gass
M&W Aluminum Hard Luck: Sheldon Barksdale
Rod End Supply Recipients: Shayla Waddell, Shawn Bloomquist, Noah Gass
Pictured: Alex Sewell & crew in victory lane
Photo Credit: Mike Howard
About the Ameri-Flex / OCRS Series –
Established in 2002, the Tulsa OK based Ameri-Flex / OCRS series sanctions dirt track sprint car racing in the southern region of the central plains. Fan appeal and quality race teams, combined with our solid core of supporting sponsors are the nucleus of the series. Thrilling competition providing the ultimate quality family entertainment is the essence of what the Ameri-Flex / OCRS series is all about.
Website: www.ocrsracing.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/oil.series