by Jim Cribbs

Photos by Jeremy Tyndall

Kid’s Bike Race Night, Orange County Speedway, July 8 & 9

Thanks to the weather, Kid’s Bike Race Night on Saturday became a two-day affair, concluding Sunday afternoon. Only the Grand American Modifieds  (and the kids on bicycles) completed their scheduled racing, thus did not return on Sunday. The remaining divisions, minus a few drivers on day 2, competed both days.

The Late Model Stock two-day 75 lap race was a heartbreaker for more than one driver.  But for Terry Dease it was a welcome, but somewhat surprising, second consecutive win.  Camden Gullie, who had the lead in front of Dease with four laps remaining, appeared to be headed to his first ever OCS win.  His car suddenly got sideways out of turn four, letting Dease out front for good, and leaving a disappointed Gullie with a second place finish.  Daniel Moss settled for third.  Another victim of hard luck, but hard racing, Chuck Lawson took the fourth place spot, almost forty laps in arrears.  The cars of Chris Denny, Saturday’s pole winner, (94.937 mph, 14.220 sec) and newcomer Brad Kurth were unable to return on Sunday but were credited with a fifth and sixth place finish respectively, with only twelve laps completed.

When the rain put a stop to Late Model Stock competition, Lawson held the lead, having stolen it from Denny at the start of the race.  Kurth was in second after a daring pass by Denny while Dease held the fourth place spot.  When the green flag fell for the Sunday restart, it was Lawson, Dease, Moss and Gullie first through fourth in that order.  After more than 20 laps of intense side by side racing between Lawson and Dease, not to mention Moss and Gullie, Lawson’s luck turned on him.  Coming out of turn four, determined to keep Dease behind him, Lawson slammed up against the front stretch wall, putting him out of the race thirty-six laps in.  The rest, as they say, is history.

In the first of twin 20 lap races for the Limited Sportsman drivers, Boo Boo Dalton, truly the class of the field, ran uncontested green to checkered to take the win.  Daryl Carver, winner of three consecutive races, was the top qualifier but his repeated success relegated him to a 6th place start per race officials. Carver still worked his way back to third at the finish with the car of Gary Young Jr sandwiched between those two for second.  Brent Evans took the fourth spot and Richard Hayden ended up fifth.

On day 2, race 2 for Limiteds, Dalton was required to draw his starting position, having won race 1. That unlucky pick landed him way back in sixth for the green flag.  Not a problem for the 2016 Limited division champ.  Lining up first through fifth were the cars of Hayden, Evans, Carver, Austin Purnell and Corey Purnell.  Tracey Chambers started behind Dalton in seventh.  A dizzy second lap saw Chambers lose control and spin her car out of turn four while Hayden and Carver did their own pirouette out of one, bringing out the caution.  By that time, Dalton had worked his way to second and, at the restart, proceeded to dominate the race for his second consecutive win.  Evans collected second, followed by Carver in third and Hayden in fourth. Chambers took a hard-fought fifth place finish from Corey Purnell.  Austin Purnell finished behind those two in seventh.

Pure Stock cars competed in twin 15 lappers with pole-sitter Danny Winstead leading from start to finish for the win in the first one.  Despite missing the last few races, Chase Sandefur qualified second and finished there.  Bobby Clayton, after taking the green in fifth, took the third finishing spot while Brandon Watson piloted his machine to fourth, right where he qualified.  Trevor Winstead, son of 2016 division winner Danny, occupied fifth at the checkered.  Finishing sixth through ninth in the mainly single file event were the cars of Jamie Kerr, Taylor Tolar, Lonnie Glosson and Thomas Penny in that order.

Per track rules, the winner of race one was required to draw for starting position in race two, placing Danny Winstead in the fourth place spot at the green flag. Inverted from the first race, Brandon Watson started out front, Clayton beside him and Sandefur beside Danny in the second row.  At the start, something broke in Clayton’s right front suspension, putting him out of the race and bringing out the caution.  On the next restart, the car of Glosson inexplicably slammed the inside turn one wall, ending his day and bringing out another caution.  On the ensuing restart, recently married Sandefur held the top spot with Watson to his outside.  Trevor lined up beside his dad Danny in row two.  At the checkered, it was Watson taking the win, Sandefur finishing second once again and Trevor beating dad for third.  Danny, apparently having used up his car a little the night before, held on for a fourth-place finish.  Jared Gillis, absent from race one, took fifth, followed by the cars of Kerr, Penny, Glosson and Clayton, sixth through ninth.

No surprise, John Comstock was the fastest qualifier as usual for the Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks 20 lap race.  However, he did not finish there. Outnumbered by the rest of the field, who all happened to have the last name Martin, Comstock had to settle for third at the checkered.  Jeffrey Martin outdueled second place finisher Kiser Martin for the win.  Another Martin, Wesley came home in fourth with family members Dalton and Scott occupying fifth and sixth respectively. Comstock’s finish was the result of a missed shift on the restart and a bump from the truck of Wesley Martin. That sent Comstock’s truck for a spin down the front stretch half way through the race.

Quality Collision Solutions of Graham Grand American Modified division planned to run 35 laps but it was not to be.  A big pile-up on lap 15 resulted in only two cars out of seven running at the end of the shortened 18 lap race.  Todd Massey took the photo finish win from points leader Richard Thomas.  Remarkably, Massey was able to restart his car after being involved in the turn two crash that appeared to leave only the car of Thomas on track and ready to finish the race.  Finishing third through fifth three laps down, victims of the turn two crash, were Dillon Harville, winner of the last race, John Barilka and Michael Roney. One lap behind the crash victims, and apparently the cause of the crash after a radiator hose blew, was OCS first-timer, Eddie Gibson.  Another OCS newbie, Rich Kilmarchuk, completed five laps and finished seventh.

Kenneth Smith grabbed his second consecutive win in the Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman race.

Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock 75 laps

1) Terry Dease

2) Camden Gullie

3) Daniel Moss

4) Chuck Lawson

5) Chris Denny

6) Brad Kurth

Limited Sportsman 20 laps, Race 1

1)  Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton

2) Gary Young Jr.

3) Daryl Carver

4) Brent Evans

5) Richard Hayden

6) Gage Painter

7) Holden Kurth

8) Austin Purnell

9) Corey Purnell

10) Tracey Chambers

11) Jerry Hinesley

Limited Sportsman 20 laps, Race 2

1) Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton

2) Brent Evans Jr.

3) Daryl Carver

4) Richard Hayden

5) Tracey Chambers

6) Corey Purnell

7) Austin Purnell

Pure Stock 15 laps, Race 1

1) Danny Winstead

2) Chase Sandefur

3) Bobby Clayton

4) Brandon Watson

5) Trevor Winstead

6) Jamie Kerr

7) Taylor Tolar

8) Lonnie Glosson

9) Thomas Penny

Pure Stock 15 laps, Race 2

1) Brandon Watson

2) Chase Sandefur

3) Trevor Winstead

4) Danny Winstead

5) Jared Gillis

6) Jamie Kerr

7) Thomas Penny

8) Lonnie Glosson

9) Bobby Clayton

Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks 20 laps

1) Jeffrey Martin

2) Kiser Martin

3) John Comstock

4) Wesley Martin

6) Dalton Martin

7) Scott Martin

Quality Collision Solutions Grand American Modifieds 16 laps

1) Todd Massey

2) Richard Thomas

3) Dillon Harville

4) John Barilka

5) Michael Roney

Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman, 10 laps

1) Kenneth Smith

2) Jacob Clayton

3) Paul Blalock