John Lemon
OCRS Public Relations
Tulsa Oklahoma (April 30, 2013) – Come this Saturday night at the Brill Motor Speedway in Meeker Oklahoma, due to weather related issues, it will have been three long weeks since the dirt slingin’ warriors of the Oil Capital Racing Series will have conducted open wheel warfare on the ovals in the Plains. By nature, racecar drivers are adrenalin junkies that must release their anxiety on a regular basis at racetracks throughout the region. Now, keep those wound up pilots cooped up for three plus weeks at a time and you will find their need to release such tension at an all-time high. However, this isn’t good for their war chariots, as they will surely take a beating once their dashboard switch is flipped.
It was just a month ago that Harli White made the open wheel headlines by defeating a field of 37 other challengers for the opening night confetti toss. It was in a different environment however as the OCRS opener went topless for the first time in half a decade. The venue however was the same as the ‘Lindsay Flash’ took to Mark and Debbie Brill’s track like a duck does to water. After another win and then a fourth in the three OCRS events to date, the charming, popular and talented young star still sits atop the throne. On Saturday night, Miss White will no longer just be that cute petite gal strolling the pits amongst her peers anymore. Quite the contrary, she has now become a marked racer that her competitors will look to defeat at the first possible opportunity. …….. “Game On”.
Brodix / Pm-Pro Rookie of the Year candidate Kade Morton is the other driver to have scored a feature win thus leaving long time experienced drivers and other first time hopefuls to keep searching for the path to victory lane. Morton’s victory sprung the young driver from Coweta into a tie for sixth place in the chase for the 2013 OCRS championship with veteran Brian McClelland. Moore’s Whit Gastineau sits a strong second to White just 36 markers back (276-240). Jeremy Allen holds down the third spot in the early going as he is just 19 points back of Gastineau. Then you have a logjam as Johnny ‘Hotrod’ Kent and Danny ‘Caretaker’ Smith are just three and one markers respectively ahead of the Morton / McClelland duo. Rounding out the top 10 is four time and defending OCRS champion Jamie Passmore with Alex Sewell and Fred Mattox next in line. Saturday night will see the pits at the Brill Motor Speedway packed with the best Champ Sprint teams in the land as they vie for a portion of the over $200,000 in cash prizes being offered on the 2013 tour.
What: Oil Capital Racing Series Sprint Cars
Where: Brill Motor Speedway / Meeker Oklahoma
When: Saturday Night / May 4, 2013
Time: Gates open 4:30p / Hot Laps 7p / Race time 7:30p / (OCRS drivers meeting @ 6:30p)
Website: www.brillmotorspeedway.com
Address for GPS users: 343250 E. 1000 Road, Meeker, OK 74855
Get Well Kipper: Kip Hughes was seen strolling the pits at the World of Outlaw show in Salina last weekend. The Kipper was injured in a flip at Thunderbird Speedway on April 12th. Hughes suffered fractures of the T3 and T4 vertebrae. Although strapped to a body brace, Hughes was doing well as he was in great spirits and is anxious to race again. Hurry back Kipper.
Youth Movement: Harli White and Kade Morton are both 18 years of age with White just turning such on the 24th of April. As seen from top flight racing series like NASCAR on down, today’s racing youth’s are not just faster, but their skills are of a very high quality as well. The future looks quite bright with these young wheel turners within our sport.
Season Beginning Winners: With White and Morton having won feature events before any former feature winners this season, it marks the first time in OCRS history that the first two feature winners to start a season were winners who had not won in previous seasons. In 2009, there were three new winners out of the first four events. Danny Smith, who had been a previous feature winner, won the second night out. He was surrounded by first time OCRS victors: Evan Sewell (who won the season opener), Frank Dittman (Harold Leep Jr Memorial winner) and Broken Arrow’s Jonathan Beason (2009 OCRS Rookie of the Year pilot).
Strength In Numbers: Like the New York Stock Market, numbers fluctuate up and down in racing regardless if you’re a traveling series or a local weekly track. After the first three events for OCRS, the early numbers indicate that 2013 will be an upswing year. In 2012, there were 78 different drivers that competed in at least one OCRS event. That’s was down from 93 in 2011 and 98 in 2010. Going into round number four at BMS, there have already been 49 drivers take a green. Stock is up!
Quietly Sneaking Around: After three races, Jeremy Allen is quietly sneaking around the top of the points chart. His 221 points makes him the only the third driver over the 200 mark behind White and Gastineau. Allen won his first ever OCRS race in the season finale last year and steady consistency has the Four Generations Roofing team is a good spot in the early going. Allen is a talented racer just looking to bag that next victory.
The early season unwanted vacation break is over and the teams are ready to get back to work this Saturday night. The cars have been silenced for way to long. Its time people………….
~~~ CAN YOU HEAR THE THUNDER? ~~~
www.ocrsracing.com
Pictured:
Michael Bookout (007) and Brian McClelland (87F) in action
Mike Howard Photo
Kyle Clark (9$) hustles the Same Day Auto Repair sprinter
Phil Pace Photo
- John Lemon on Apr 30, 2013
- Article Date: 4/30/2013 by John Lemon