John Rittenoure
ELDON, Mo. (July 22, 2022) – Whit Gastineau led a AmeriFlex / OCRS IMCA Sprint Car 1-2-3-4 finish on Friday during the opening night of OCRS vs. POWRi LOS 305’s at Lake Ozark Speedway.
It was the first ever meeting of the two sanctioning bodies and Gastineau was the class of the field picking up his 32nd OCRS career victory after a sterling duel with veteran Danny Smith in the early going.
The meeting was part of the 2nd annual lake Ozark Speedway Beach Brawl that included All Star Circuit of Champions sprints and POWRi non-wing sprinters. Round two gets underway on Saturday.
Gastineau drove off the pole in his Statewide Service Center sprinter to lead the opening lap over outside front row starter Smith. But Smith used the high groove to take away the lead on lap 2. Over the next 3 laps the two swapped slid jobs with Smith holding a slight lead each time they crossed the start-finish line.
On lap 6 Gastineau finally wrestled the lead away from Smith, but his lead was far from safe. Terry Easum charged around Smith for second on lap 7 and by lap 15 pulled within striking distance of Gastineau. However, Gastineau did not give up his position and Easum finished second just 0.886 seconds behind. Johnny Kent moved around Smith on lap 15 and followed Easum to a third place finish. Smith hung on to fourth with POWRi racer Mike Trent coming from 10th to finish 5th.
AmeriFlex / OCRS drivers picked up victories in all three heat races. Gastineau won the opening heat, Smith the second heat, and Easum captured the third.
Rees Moran charged from 20th to 8th earning him the D&G Contracting Hard Charger award.
AmeriFlex / OCRS IMCA Sprint Cars
Lake Ozark Speedway – Eldon, Missouri.
July 22, 2022
AmeriFlex Hose Accessories A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 2-Whit Gastineau[1]; 2. 88-Terry Easum[3]; 3. 55-Johnny Kent[5]; 4. 5$-Danny Smith[2]; 5. 14C-Mike Trent[10]; 6. 15-Jack Potter[7]; 7. 55P-Kenny Potter[4]; 8. 22M-Rees Moran[20]; 9. 26B-Matt Fox[6]; 10. 1P-Curtis Evans[18]; 11. 79-Gage Montgomery[15]; 12. 63-Randy Martin[16]; 13. 31-Casey Wills[12]; 14. 122-Lane Warner[9]; 15. 90-Dan Wohnoutka[13]; 16. 74-Natalie Doney[17]; 17. 18-Randy Corpening[11]; 18. 08E-Elizabeth Phillips[21]; 19. 61A-Doug Fry[14]; 20. 7K-Rob Rimel[19]; 21. 5M-Blake Edwards[8]
Schure Built Suspension Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Whit Gastineau[3]; 2. 15-Jack Potter[2]; 3. 14C-Mike Trent[1]; 4. 31-Casey Wills[4]; 5. 79-Gage Montgomery[5]; 6. 63-Randy Martin[7]; 7. 22M-Rees Moran[6]
Lightning Wings Powder Coating Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5$-Danny Smith[3]; 2. 55P-Kenny Potter[4]; 3. 55-Johnny Kent[5]; 4. 61A-Doug Fry[1]; 5. 90-Dan Wohnoutka[6]; 6. 74-Natalie Doney[2]; 7. 1P-Curtis Evans[7]
Smith Titanium Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Terry Easum[2]; 2. 26B-Matt Fox[3]; 3. 5M-Blake Edwards[4]; 4. 122-Lane Warner[5]; 5. 18-Randy Corpening[7]; 6. 7K-Rob Rimel[1]; 7. 08E-Elizabeth Phillips[6]
Lap Leaders: Whit Gastineau 1, 6-20; Danny Smith 2-5.
Margin of victory: 0.886.
D&G Contracting Hard Charger: Rees Moran +12.
Top 10 Standings: Blake Edwards 1489; 2. Rees Moran 1371; 3. Terry Easum 1363; 4. Sheldon Barksdale 1116; 5. Whit Gastineau 1039; 6. Joe Bob Lee 901; 7. Elizabeth Phillips 876; 8. Johnny Kent 783; 9. Steven Shebester 770; 10. Freed Matox 715.