IT'S HARLI WHITE FROM 14th TO FIRST!
MAKES SIXTH VISIT TO VICTORY LANE!
John Lemon
OCRS Public Relations
Ardmore Oklahoma (August 17, 2013)- That amazing woman just keeps impressing everyone that watches her and this time around, she captured victory from the 14th staring position. By winning the Oil Capital Racing Series 25-lap feature tonight, Lindsay Oklahoma’s Harli White scored her sixth OCRS victory for the season and swept the two scheduled events at Southern Oklahoma Speedway in Ardmore thus continuing her charge towards the series championship.
“I was running third in my heat and I thought the white flag was the checkered flag and I let off (the throttle) on the back straightaway and let two cars get by me and I wound up finishing fifth and that caused me to start 14th (for the A Feature)” said White. “Turns one and two is a lot more trickier than turns three and four. You have time it just right so you don’t miss the cushion if you want to run high. I was surprised I was able to get a good run on Kyle (Clark) when he was running the bottom.”
The main had a rough start when Newcastle’s Dillon Ake, who started on the pole, spun in front of the entire field. As cars scrambled to try to avoid disaster, Shayla Waddell was the most unfortunate one in the pack as she slammed into the black number 101 car therefore putting them both out early. Both drivers were OK. James Fabian and Dan Schnackenberg spun together a few feet behind Ake and Waddell trying to keep from being a part of a bigger pile up. They each would restart.
With Ake gone, that moved Kyle Clark to the pole to join fellow front row starter Mickey Walker. Clark got the jump to lead the first lap and while working lap two, another yellow fell as Jeff Garnett spun in turn two. One more lap went down when “The Craw Daddy”, Arkansas Tim Crawley, had his John James owned sprinter belch a motor and rolled to a stop in turn four thus bringing out yellow number three. The restart would see Clark lead with Danny Smith, David Stephenson, Walker, Gary Owens, White, Johnny Kent and Jamie Passmore all in line.
White made a big run on Owens and Walker on the restart in turns three and four to nab the fourth spot but Walker would get back around White before they could get back to the flagstand. Shortly after, Stephenson, who was running strong early, found a path to get by Smith for second while White continued her pursuit of Walker. White would finally work her way around Walker on the eighth lap to move into the fourth spot. Smith would maneuver past Stephenson a couple of laps later to regain the second spot. Another lap later, White took third from Stephenson and set sail for the front-runners.
The yellow would fly on lap twelve when Perry Pickard spun to a stop in turn one. Also stopping in turn two was Chance Morton who would restart while Pickard would go pitside. Problems befell four-time OCRS champion Passmore as he stopped in turn four on the restart with a magneto failure. He would head to the pits and be credited with a 14th place finish.
On the next restart, Clark and Smith would find out why White is known as the ‘Lindsay Flash’ as the young lady got a huge run down the back-straight and literally flashed by the teammates going into turn three to gain the lead. The boys never knew what hit them as they were left to fight who would be second. “I seen them both go for the top and I knew here is my opportunity,” explained White. “Kyle had been running the bottom the whole race and I figured if he moved up, I could get a run on both of them on the bottom and slide them both and I’m glad it stuck.”
Fabian spun in turn two a lap later. The restart saw White at the helm with Clark, Smith, Stephenson, Walker, Owens Kent, Sheldon Barksdale (up from 16th), and Alex DeCamp in order. White would lead the field back to green in her Jerry Tucker Roustabout / Terraco Soil Farming / Crash Enterprises / All Star Café / Boyd Engines / Maxim while Clark in his getcngnow.com / DSO Engines / ART would fight Smith’s Same Day Auto Repair / DSO Engines / XXX chassis for the runner-up position. Smith would take the spot from Clark in a single circuit while Owens was flexing some muscle on the high side in his Glen Owens Sand and Gravel / Fields Pecan Pies / Owens Engines / Eagle.
Clark would get loose for a bit causing Stephenson to check-up and that momentum loss was all Owens needed to take the third position. Next tour around the 3/8 mile over then saw Owens make Clark his next victim and then it was Smith in Owens’ crossfire. Barksdale was continuing his rear-of-the-field charge as he was now up to sixth. Working the 21st lap, Owens worked the high side of turns one and two to perfection and swept by Smith as the duo sped down the backstretch. “I was working the top line and it seemed as we got enough people (drivers) to dust it off and we stayed patient,” stated the runner-up. “We reeled them in and got to pass some of them. I wish we could have gotten up front a little faster. The car was really tight at first.”
From Smith: “Kyle was running tough and I had to change my line to try and get around to get him then he saw me and he changed his line like he is supposed to and that’s what allowed Harli to get to both of us. We didn’t have a good enough car at the end and that’s where it counts. Our car may have looked good, but it wasn’t good at all. We missed it (set up) tonight.”
White would take the checkers with Owens, Smith, Clark and Barksdale rounding out the top five. DeCamp, Stephenson, Kent, Walker and Chance Morton would round out the top ten. White would also earn the AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories ‘Hard Charger’ award for her thirteen-position improvement.
The next event for the OCRS warriors will be next Saturday night on the big banks of the Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina Oklahoma. OCRS will be joined on the program by the USMTS modifieds in what will be an excellent show.
For more information on the OCRS sprint car series including updates, stories, photos, complete 2013-point standings and future schedules, log onto: www.ocrsracing.com
You can also checkout our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/oil.series
OCRS Race Results
Southern Oklahoma Speedway / Ardmore Oklahoma
Date of race: August 17, 2013
Car count: 21
(Pos-Car-Driver-Start)
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories Heat
- 5$- Danny Smith [1]. 2) 33- Gary Owens [2], 3) 55- Johnny Kent [3], 4) 84- Alex DeCamp [6], 5) 88s- Shayla Waddell [7], 6) 78- Perry Pickard [5], 7) 94- Dan Schnackenberg [4]
Bob Hurley Auto Family Heat
- 4j- Jamie Passmore [4], 2) 4- Tim Crawley [7], 3) 22- David Stevenson [6]. 4) 8m- Kade Morton [3], 5) 17w- Harli White [5], 6) 8j- James Fabian [1], 7) 98- Jeff Garnett [2]
Drive Shafts Inc. Heat
- 101- Dillon Ake [4], 2) 9$- Kyle Clark [5], 3) 7m- Chance Morton [1], 4) 2- Mickey Walker [7], 5) 11- Michael Tyre [2], 6) 25- Chuck Bellefeuille [3]. 7) 20- Sheldon Barksdale [6]
OCRS A Feature (25-Laps)
- 17w- Harli White [14], 2) 33- Gary Owens [9], 3) 5$- Danny Smith [11], 4) 9$- Kyle Clark [3], 5) 20- Sheldon Barksdale [16], 6) 84- Alex DeCamp [7], 7) 22- David Stephenson [5], 55- Johnny Kent [6], 9) 2- Mickey Walker [2], 10) 7m- Chance Morton [4], 11) 8m- Kade Morton [13], 12) 8j- James Fabian [17], 13) 94- Dan Schnackenberg [19], 14) 4j- Jamie Passmore [10], 15) 78- Perry Pickard [20}, 16) 98- Jeff Garnett [18], 17) 4- Tim Crawley [12], 18) 11- Michael Tyre [15], 19) 101- Dillon Ake [1], 20) 88s- Shayla Waddell [8], DNS: 25- Chuck Bellefeuille
AmeriFlex Hose and Accessories 'Hard Charger': Harli White +13
Dyno Services of Oklahoma 'Hard Luck' award: Michael Tyre
Pictured:
Harli White with sponsors, friends and fans / Mike Howard Photo
Alex DeCamp gets a wee bit sideways / Mike Spivey Photo
Tim Crawley made his OCRS debut / Mike Spivey Photo
- John Lemon on Aug 19, 2013
- Article Date: 8/19/2013 by John Lemon