Easum Ends Drought with Victory at Thunderbird Speedway

Terry Easum whis his family and crew in victory lane Friday at Thunderbird Speedway with the Oil Capital Racing Series. (Richard Bales photo)

From John Rittenoure

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (September 23, 2022) – it has been 5 months since Terry Easum last won an AmeriFlex / OCRS IMCA Sprint Car feature. But the drought came to an end Friday at Thunderbird Speedway.

Easum took the initial lead in his Premier Self Storage sprinter and pulled away from the field on the Thunderbird half-mile to record his second victory of the season.

The finish was a complete turnaround from his 19th place finish when the OCRS last visited Thunderbird on March 25.

“It has been half a season, but we have been racing the ASCS car a lot more and it has helping in this,” Easum said of his dominating run. “It definitely feels good to get one here. This place has been tough for us.”

Easum was chased for most of the race by Sheldon Barksdale and Blake Edwards. But with two laps remaining the race for second shifted with Johnny Kent driving into second. Kent came from 7th starting making him the D&G Contracting Hard Charger. Edwards held on to third and Barksdale dropped to fourth. Zach Chappell rounded out the top five.

While the field battled for second Easum was running his own race. His only concern was lapped traffic.

“The car was really good,” he said. “It would drive through the slick or the rubber. Dodging some of the lap cars was tough.”

AmeriFlex Oil Capital Racing Series
Thunderbird Speedway
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Friday, September 23, 2022

Schure Built Suspensions Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 88-Terry Easum[6]
2. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[3]
3. 26M-Fred Mattox[4]
4. 55-Johnny Kent[5]
5. 50Z-Zach Chappell[7]
6. 82-Keith Bolton[1]
7. 08E-Elizabeth Phillips
8. 11K-Tyler Knight[8]
9. 12M-Mitchell Barros[2]
DNS: 38-James Fabian

Lightning Wings Powder Coating Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 2-Whit Gastineau[2]
2. 22M-Rees Moran[1]
3. 17E-Blake Edwards[5]
4. 10-Jordan Knight[6]
5. 4X-Heath Nestrick[3]
6. 5-Joe Bob Lee[7]
7. P78-Perry Pickard[4]
8. 9-Emilio Hoover[8]
9. 24-Cody Hays[9]

AmeriFlex Hose Accessories A-Main (20 Laps)
1. 88-Terry Easum[1]
2. 55-Johnny Kent[7]
3. 17E-Blake Edwards[2]
4. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[3]
5. 50Z-Zach Chappell[8]
6. 5-Joe Bob Lee[9]
7. 10-Jordan Knight[4]
8. 26M-Fred Mattox[6]
9. 4X-Heath Nestrick[10]
10. 08E-Elizabeth Phillips[11]
11. P78-Perry Pickard[13]
12. 82-Keith Bolton[12]
13. 11K-Tyler Knight[14]
14. 12M-Mitchell Barros[18]
15. 22M-Rees Moran[5]
16. 9-Emilio Hoover[15]
17. 24-Cody Hays[17]
18. 2-Whit Gastineau[16]
19. 38-James Fabian[19]