Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (May 20, 2022) – The Old Orange Taxi Cab never looked better. But, then again, every Sprint Car has a special shine to it when it lands in victory lane.
Sand Springs, Oklahoma’s Danny Smith emerged from a hard-fought battle with stepson Kyle Clark to top Friday night’s 30-lap Oil Capital Racing Series Sprint Car feature event at The New Tulsa Speedway.
Foiled by several cautions along the way that denied potential passes for the lead, Smith finally battled past the younger Clark on the 26th round and then checked out to take the win aboard the Same Day Auto Repair/Tire Pros No. 5$ machine.
“It’s the beauty of running second, I could search around and look for different angles to get a shot at him,” Smith explained in victory lane. “He was out front and he couldn’t do that.”
While Clark outgunned pole starter Alex Sewell for the point at the drop of the green flag, third-starter Smith diced with Sewell before finally taking command of second by the time a caution flew at the midway point.
From that point, Smith was on attack-mode, sliding with Clark several times before finally taking command.
“I kind of roughed him up there one time in three and four, so I’m not quite sure where I’m going to be able to eat dinner tonight,” Smith explained.
Clark settled for runner-up honors with Sewell rounding out the podium as Joe Bob Lee and Fred Mattox rounded out the top five. David Stephenson was sixth with 14th-starter Steven Shebester, Johnny Kent, 18th-starter Terry Easum and 17th-starter Austin Shores completing the top ten.
The opening ten rounds were interrupted by a pair of red flags including a tumble by Sheldon Barksdale in turn four after five laps and then another by fouth-running Elizabeth Philiips in the same corner four laps later. All drivers walked away.
Sewell, Clark, Lee and Dean Drake, Jr., topped heat-race action for the 27-car field with Rees Moran winning the “B” Main.
OCRS Sprint Cars
New Tulsa Speedway – Tulsa, OK
Friday, May 20, 2022
OCRS Sprint Cars:
AmeriFlex Hose Accessories A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 5$-Danny Smith[3]; 2. 9$-Kyle Clark[2]; 3. 8-Alex Sewell[1]; 4. 5-Joe Bob Lee[6]; 5. 26M-Fred Mattox[9]; 6. 22-David Stephenson[8]; 7. 16S-Steven Shebester[14]; 8. 55-Johnny Kent[7]; 9. 88-Terry Easum[18]; 10. 8X-Austin Shores[17]; 11. 38-Jimmy Forrester[20]; 12. 8R-Ryker Pace[12]; 13. 17E-Blake Edwards[10]; 14. 22M-Rees Moran[15]; 15. 22C-Charlie Crumpton[19]; 16. 08E-Elizabeth Phillips[4]; 17. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[11]; 18. 50Z-Zach Chappell[13]; 19. 7F-Noah Harris[16]; 20. (BF) 77-Dean Drake Jr[5]
Hoosier Racing Tire B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 22M-Rees Moran[6]; 2. 7F-Noah Harris[2]; 3. 8X-Austin Shores[1]; 4. 88-Terry Easum[4]; 5. 22C-Charlie Crumpton[3]; 6. 38-Jimmy Forrester[5]; 7. 22T-Frank Taft[10]; 8. 31K-Ross Moore[8]; 9. 22Z-Zach Campbell[12]; 10. 45-Jason Cole[9]; 11. 12M-Mitchell Barros[13]; 12. 2-Whit Gastineau[11]; 13. 29L-Lane Goodman[7]
Schure Built Suspensions Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Alex Sewell[2]; 2. 17E-Blake Edwards[1]; 3. 08E-Elizabeth Phillips[7]; 4. 8X-Austin Shores[3]; 5. 7F-Noah Harris[6]; 6. 45-Jason Cole[4]; 7. 2-Whit Gastineau[5]
Lightning Wings Powder Coating Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9$-Kyle Clark[1]; 2. 55-Johnny Kent[2]; 3. 8R-Ryker Pace[3]; 4. 22-David Stephenson[7]; 5. 38-Jimmy Forrester[4]; 6. 31K-Ross Moore[5]; 7. 22T-Frank Taft[6]
Smith Titanium Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Bob Lee[1]; 2. 26M-Fred Mattox[2]; 3. 50Z-Zach Chappell[3]; 4. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[6]; 5. 22M-Rees Moran[4]; 6. 12M-Mitchell Barros[7]; 7. 22Z-Zach Campbell[5]
Car Fleet Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Dean Drake Jr[1]; 2. 5$-Danny Smith[4]; 3. 16S-Steven Shebester[3]; 4. 22C-Charlie Crumpton[2]; 5. 88-Terry Easum[5]; 6. 29L-Lane Goodman[6]