John Rittenoure
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (October 27, 2023) – After a fourth place finish in his heat race, it did not look like Whit Gastineau was in his usual winning form at Thunderbird Speedway.
But that was not the case in the A-Feature. Gastineau passed early leader Johnny Kent on lap 8 and raced to his 35th career AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories OCRS Sprint Car victory and second of the season Friday night.
A small adjustment to the chassis after the heat race was all Gastineau needed to find the extra speed to win.
“We are always good here,” Gastineau said. “We needed to tighten the car up, but still were not all that good. The first 15 laps were really good then towards the end I was probably a little complacent.”
“I need to thank Jim Elison, my dad, my brothers, Statewide Services, K & F Collision.”
Gastineau likes the larger half-mile tracks and has won his share of races at Thunderbird, but Kent was able to close the gap some late in the race as Gastineau was trying not to over drive his race car.
“They told me to pick up the pace a little,” Gastineau said. “I was just trying not to mess up. I have led here and won quite a few times and I have hit the wall a couple of times also. I was just trying to not screw up.”
Kent was setting the pace after starting on the pole, but a lap 7 restart erased the lead he had over Gastineau.
“The one early on definitely did not help us,” Kent said. “Whit is always fast at this place. We made some ground up on him just before that caution came out and I felt that caution put a little damper on us.”
Kent came into the night just 23 points ahead of Danny Wood in the points race and was able to stretch the advantage to 34 with his second place finish. Wood finished fourth behind third place Blake Edwards.
“It we can just keep going like we are I think we will be alright,” Kent said. “It was a good points night.”
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories OCRS Sprint Car Results
Thunderbird Speedway – Muskogee, Oklahoma
October 27, 2023
Ameriflex Hose and Accessories A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 2-Whit Gastineau[4]; 2. 55-Johnny Kent[1]; 3. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[3]; 4. 17E-Blake Edwards[6]; 5. 55W-Danny Wood[7]; 6. 5-Joe Bob Lee[11]; 7. 50Z-Zach Chappell[9]; 8. 9-Emilio Hoover[8]; 9. 12M-Mitchell Barros[13]; 10. 38-Joshua Tyre[14]; 11. 23L-Tyler LaPointe[12]; 12. 26M-Fred Mattox[5]; 13. 22RL-Gage Laney[10]; 14. 8R-Ryker Pace[2]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26M-Fred Mattox[1]; 2. 8R-Ryker Pace[2]; 3. 9-Emilio Hoover[4]; 4. 2-Whit Gastineau[5]; 5. 50Z-Zach Chappell[7]; 6. 5-Joe Bob Lee[6]; 7. 38-Joshua Tyre[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[2]; 2. 55-Johnny Kent[3]; 3. 17E-Blake Edwards[1]; 4. 55W-Danny Wood[5]; 5. 22RL-Gage Laney[6]; 6. 23L-Tyler LaPointe[4]; 7. 12M-Mitchell Barros[7]
Lap Leaders: Johnny Kent 1-7, Whit Gastineau 8-25
Margin of Victory: 0.351
D&G Contracting Hard Charger: Joe Bob Lee +5
2023 Winners: 03/11 – Tanner Conn, Red Dirt Raceway; 03/18 – Fred Mattox, Tulsa Speedway; 04/01 – Zach Blurton, Enid Speedway; 04/15 – Zach Blurton, Longdale Speedway; 05/26 – Sean McClelland, Arrowhead Speedway; 05/27 – Alex Sewell, Salina Highbanks Speedway; 06/10 – Alex Sewell, Lawton Speedway; 06/15 – Rees Moran, Lucas Oil Speedway; 06/16 – Whit Gastineau, I-70 Motorsports Park; 06/17 – Rees Moran, Lake Ozark Speedway; 06/23 – Rees Moran, Red Dirt Raceway; 07/15 – Kyle Clark, Creek County Speedway; 07/29 – Zach Chappell, Caney Valley Speedway; 08/19 – Johnny Kent, Elk City Raceway Park; 08/20 – Danny Smith, Lawton Speedway; 09/09 – Alex Sewell, Caney Valley Speedway; 09/30 – Danny Wood, Salina Highbanks Speedway; 10/07 – Blake Edwards, Caney Valley Speedway; 10/14 – Joe Wood, Jr., Red Dirt Raceway; 10/27 – Whit Gastineau, Thunderbird Speedway.
Top 10 Standings: 1. Johnny Kent, 2034; 2. Danny Wood, 2000; 3. Joe Bob Lee, 1916; 4. Sheldon Barksdale, 1911; 5. Zach Chappell, 1783; 6. Joshua Tyre, 1537; 7. Fred Mattox, 1473; 8. Rees Moran 1265; 9. Emilio Hoover, 1220; 10. Mitchell Barros, 1172.