Lonnie Wheatley, MEEKER, Okla. (March 11, 2023) – Third place with just a couple of laps to go?
No problem for Tanner Conn in Saturday’s season-opening 30-lap Oil Capital Racing Series feature event that headlined Red Dirt Raceway’s “Sixth Annual Spring Nationals”.
Conn battled past Danny Smith for second on the 28th round and then surprised race-long leader Steven Shebester in the final corner to snare his fifth career OCRS feature win.
The Oklahoma City shoe sat third on the race’s final restart with five laps to go behind Shebester and Smith after working his way past Danny Wood. And then heroics ensued from the driver of the Seabass Racing/Kramer Farms No. 78 Sprint Car.
“I really thought we were just gonna run one-two-three-four the way we had been,” Conn commented afterward.
After starting fourth, Conn had his work cut out for him as he trailed pole starter Shebester, Smith and Wood in the early going after Shebester outdueled Danny Smith on the opening lap to take early command.
Shebester kept Smith at bay as he weathered a pair of cautions along the way and two red flags after 12 and 17 laps for flips by Wisconsin’s Owen Carlson in turn four and then Nebraska’s Joey Danley in turn two.
Conn made his way past Wood for third by the time a final caution flew for Landon Thompson’s turn four spin with a handful of laps remaining and then pounced on Smith for second when the Same Day Auto driver slipped exiting turn two after a challenge for the point.
Conn wasted little time closing in on Shebester to set up what proved to be the race-winning move in turn four with the checkered flag in sight.
Shebester settled for runner-up honors after leading the way for 29 ¾ laps with Smith rounding out the podium in third. Wood crossed the stripe in fourth with Johnny Kent rallying from 14th to round out the top five. Whit Gastineau was sixth with Terry Easum, Minnestoa’s Trevor Serbus, Joe Wood, Jr., and Gage Montgomery completing the top ten.
Wood, Conn, Gastineau, Alex Sewell and Carlson topped heat race action for the 38-car field with Joe Bob Lee and Danley winning the “B” Mains.
Oil Capital Racing Series Season Opener
Red Dirt Raceway “Sixth Annual Spring Nationals” – Meeker Okla.
March 11, 2023, Results:
AmeriFlex Hose Accessories A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 78-Tanner Conn[4]; 2. 16S-Steven Shebester[1]; 3. 5$-Danny Smith[2]; 4. 55W-Danny Wood[3]; 5. 55-Johnny Kent[14]; 6. 2-Whit Gastineau[8]; 7. 88-Terry Easum[13]; 8. 10-Trevor Serbus[6]; 9. 03-Joe Wood Jr[12]; 10. 79-Gage Montgomery[18]; 11. 22M-Rees Moran[19]; 12. 938-Bradley Fezard[7]; 13. 22C-Alex DeCamp[11]; 14. 7-Shane Sundquist[20]; 15. 5-Joe Bob Lee[15]; 16. (DNF) 7T-Landon Thompson[17]; 17. (DNF) 8-Alex Sewell[5]; 18. (DNF) 14-Joey Danley[16]; 19. (DNF) 07-Owen Carlson[9]; 20. (DNF) 50Z-Zach Chappell[10]
Smileys Racing Products B-Main 1 (12 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Bob Lee[2]; 2. 7T-Landon Thompson[3]; 3. 22M-Rees Moran[1]; 4. 31-Casey Wills[6]; 5. 18-Dillon Laden[4]; 6. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[8]; 7. 8R-Ryker Pace[12]; 8. 37-Bryce Norris[5]; 9. 22RL-Gage Laney[9]; 10. 30X-Larry Bratti[10]; 11. 12M-Mitchell Barros[11]; 12. 1T-Joshua Tyre[7]
Smileys Racing Products B-Main 2 (12 Laps): 1. 14-Joey Danley[2]; 2. 79-Gage Montgomery[1]; 3. 7-Shane Sundquist[3]; 4. 21-Brandon Jennings[4]; 5. 16-Conner Thomas[7]; 6. 9-Emilio Hoover[9]; 7. 30-Matt Johnson[10]; 8. 4S-Jeremy Snow[6]; 9. 38-Jimmy Forrester[8]; 10. 26M-Fred Mattox[5]; 11. 2L-Brandon Leland[11]; 12. 51-Ryan Dean[12]
Schure Built Suspensions Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 55W-Danny Wood[3]; 2. 938-Bradley Fezard[4]; 3. 79-Gage Montgomery[2]; 4. 88-Terry Easum[6]; 5. 4S-Jeremy Snow[1]; 6. 16-Conner Thomas[5]; 7. 22RL-Gage Laney[7]; 8. 2L-Brandon Leland[8]
Lightning Wings Powder Coating Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 78-Tanner Conn[2]; 2. 16S-Steven Shebester[6]; 3. 5$-Danny Smith[8]; 4. 18-Dillon Laden[4]; 5. 1T-Joshua Tyre[1]; 6. 31-Casey Wills[7]; 7. 30-Matt Johnson[3]; 8. 51-Ryan Dean[5]
Smith Titanium Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Whit Gastineau[1]; 2. 50Z-Zach Chappell[2]; 3. 03-Joe Wood Jr[4]; 4. 14-Joey Danley[5]; 5. 21-Brandon Jennings[6]; 6. 37-Bryce Norris[8]; 7. 12M-Mitchell Barros[3]; 8. 8R-Ryker Pace[7]
Dyno Services of Oklahoma Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Alex Sewell[1]; 2. 10-Trevor Serbus[4]; 3. 5-Joe Bob Lee[2]; 4. 7T-Landon Thompson[5]; 5. 7-Shane Sundquist[7]; 6. 38-Jimmy Forrester[3]; 7. 30X-Larry Bratti[6]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 07-Owen Carlson[1]; 2. 22C-Alex DeCamp[2]; 3. 22M-Rees Moran[3]; 4. 55-Johnny Kent[6]; 5. 26M-Fred Mattox[4]; 6. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[5]; 7. 9-Emilio Hoover[7]