By John Rittenoure
PRYOR CREEK, Okla. (September 30, 2023) – Danny Wood has been trying all season to get a victory with the AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories OCRS Spriint Cars. He has come close with five top five finishes, one of which was a second place finish at I-70.
Saturday at Salina Highbanks Speedway Wood finally got the job done and it was worth the wait. Wood won the AmeriFlex Challenge VIII and pocketed $3,000 for the victory.
“This is the one you want to win,” Wood smiled while waiting for his car to pass post-race tech inspection.
Wood started outside second row and immediately shot into the lead. Two-time Challenge winner Alex Sewell gave chase for the first eight laps until his power steering went out. Pole sitter Sheldon Barksdale took over second and followed Wood to the checkered.
Wood felt his car was working as close to perfect as you could ask.
“It was really good all night,” Wood said. “ (We had) a fresh Meyers motor. It ran just perfect. The car was beautiful to drive.”
Running up high, Wood was able to keep his momentum up running near the wall.
“I don’t know if the guys thought it was rubber down there or the top was too far away, they all kind of dove to the bottom and I just went around the top,” Wood said of the low groove. “I am glad they did that. It was a guessing game and we gambled and it paid off.”
At the finish Zach Chappell was third just ahead of Fred Mattox in fourth and Bradley Fezard round out the top five.
The victory also moved Wood in the series points lead for the second time this season dropping Johnny Kent from the top spot. Only seven points separate the two.
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories OCRS Sprint Car Results
Salina Highbanks Speedway – Pryor Creek, Oklahoma
September 30, 2023
Ameriflex Hose and Accessories A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 55W-Danny Wood[4]; 2. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[1]; 3. 50Z-Zach Chappell[5]; 4. 26M-Fred Mattox[2]; 5. 938-Bradley Fezard[11]; 6. 5$-Danny Smith[8]; 7. 22RL-Gage Laney[3]; 8. 5-Joe Bob Lee[15]; 9. 17E-Blake Edwards[12]; 10. 88-Terry Easum[10]; 11. 55-Johnny Kent[19]; 12. 9-Emilio Hoover[14]; 13. 12M-Mitchell Barros[17]; 14. 38-Jimmy Forrester[7]; 15. 1T-Joshua Tyre[18]; 16. 22T-Frank Taft[20]; 17. (DNF) 22C-Alex DeCamp[13]; 18. (DNF) 69-Greg York[22]; 19. (DNF) 8-Alex Sewell[6]; 20. (DNF) 2L-Brandon Leland[16]; 21. (DNF) 22M-Rees Moran[21]; 22. (DNF) 8R-Ryker Pace[9]
Schure Built Suspensions Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Jimmy Forrester[2]; 2. 26M-Fred Mattox[4]; 3. 938-Bradley Fezard[1]; 4. 22RL-Gage Laney[6]; 5. 8R-Ryker Pace[8]; 6. 12M-Mitchell Barros[3]; 7. 22T-Frank Taft[5]; 8. 69-Greg York[7]
Lightning Wings Powder Coating Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55W-Danny Wood[1]; 2. 50Z-Zach Chappell[3]; 3. 8-Alex Sewell[6]; 4. 22C-Alex DeCamp[4]; 5. 17E-Blake Edwards[7]; 6. 1T-Joshua Tyre[2]; 7. 22M-Rees Moran[5]
Smith Titanium Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[6]; 2. 5$-Danny Smith[2]; 3. 88-Terry Easum[3]; 4. 9-Emilio Hoover[1]; 5. 5-Joe Bob Lee[5]; 6. 2L-Brandon Leland[4]; 7. 55-Johnny Kent[7]
Lap Leaders: Danny Wood 1-25
Margin of Victory: 0.501
D&G Contracting Hard Charger: Johnny Kent +8
2023 Winners
03/11 – Red Dirt Raceway, Tanner Conn
03/18 – Tulsa Speedway, Fred Mattox
04/01 – Enid Speedway, Zach Blurton
04/15 – Longdale Speedway, Zach Blurton
05/26 – Arrowhead Speedway, Sean McClelland
05/27 – Salina Highbanks Speedway, Alex Sewell
06/10 – Lawton Speedway, Alex Sewell
06/15 – Lucas Oil Speedway, Rees Moran
06/16 – I-70 Motorsports Park, Whit Gastineau
06/17 – Lake Ozark Speedway, Rees Moran
06/23 – Red Dirt Raceway, Rees Moran
07/15 – Creek County Speedway, Kyle Clark
07/29 – Caney Valley Speedway, Zach Chappell
08/19 – Elk City Motorsports Park, Johnny Kent
08/20 – Lawton Speedway, Danny Smith
09/09 – Caney Valley Speedway, Alex Sewell 9/30 – Salina Highbanks Speedway, Danny Wood
Top 10 Standings: 1. Danny Wood, 1705; 2. Johnny Kent, 1698; 3. Joe Bob Lee, 1653; 4. Sheldon Barksdale, 1602; 5. Zach Chappell, 1490; 6. Joshua Tyre, 1292; 7. Rees Moran 1214; 8. Fred Mattox, 1196; 9. Alex DeCamp, 1042; 10. Terry Easum, 1008.