Ocala Speedway’s racers and fans gathered on a humid Florida Friday night not only to enjoy the sport of stock car racing, but also to pay tribute to the innocent lives lost on September 11th, 2001. Ocala Speedway’s racers carried a huge flag to the center of the frontstretch while the crowd listened to a moving tribute featuring sound bites from that fateful day, plus our National Anthem. The tribute was followed by four divisions of racing, including the Late Models, the Tee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks, the Amsoil V8 Thunder Stocks, and the Gladiators, and the racing was followed by a visit to the tech man where three out of four divisions saw their results change after the racing had ended.
Mark Whitener has control of the points lead at Ocala Speedway and he wasted zero time in taking control of Friday’s feature race. After being chased down and beaten on the last lap on Saturday at the opposite end of the Ocala National Forest, “The Magic Man” was not going to allow history to repeat itself less than a week later. He quickly took control of the race from the man who beat him the previous weekend and never looked back, leaving everyone else to squabble over second place.
Whitener’s big lead was erased on lap 10 when a caution for debris bunched up the field, and Jackie Nosbisch got past John Kellum for the second spot. Kellum also failed to hold off Ivedent Lloyd who climbed to third place and began challenging Nosbisch for second. And in the final few laps laps Patrick Williams had also passed Kellum and was chasing down Nosbisch and Lloyd. Nobody could catch Mark Whitener as he scored an impressive victory, and Ivedent Lloyd managed to fight his way to the second finishing spot while Jack Nosbisch settled for third. Patrick Williams crossed the line in fourth place and John Kellum finished fifth.
TheTee Pee Tire Hobby Stocks were coming off of a very long hiatus as they lined up to race at Ocala Speedway on Friday, but the rust was shaken off early during heat racing and the feature race got off to an exciting start featuring a battle between Jody Wells and Trevor Gamble. Gamble won that battle and took control, but Daniel Miller Jr quickly disposed of Wells as well and locked onto the 64 car before a lap 3 caution slowed things down. Miller took advantage on the restart and gained control, and Gamble spent the remainder of the race making Miller work to stay in front.
Despite repeated challenges where Trevor Gamble got side by side with the 99 car, Daniel Miller was too much for him to overcome. Miller claimed the win while Gamble crossed the line behind him and Joe Boyd followed, but further review in tech resulted in Gamble and Boyd being penalized, so Dean Jarvis moved up to second place and Heath Walker was awarded third. Jody Wells was scored in the fourth spot and Tommy Ausburn was fifth.
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