ARCA OK Tire Sportsman Series Race #1 - Motoplex Speedway

By Kendall Thomas

Motoplex Speedway was the setting for the ARCA OK Tire Sportsman Series race. Under a rain threatening and cloudy sky, twenty one ARCA sportsman cars prepared for the first race of the season. Dan Ursel and crew showing their true grit by thrashing all night to get the Lordco car back to the track after a Friday night practice incident. Saturday morning had everyone tuning and testing to get the most from their machines. Qualifying left fifteen cars grouped within less than four tenths of a second, the tightest field in recent ARCA OK Tire history. Loudoun, Stephenson, Hemrich, Berriau and Seibert set the bar early with a series of eighteen eights. Young gun Ian Graham set a first lap time in the eights, but a near perfect second lap broke Stephenson’s track record from the last race and reset the record to 18.605.

The heat races tight as usual had Trevor Adelman bring the field to the green in the B heat. Bob Mear grabbed the lead on the start and held it until lap five when a persistent Lee Thomas tucked tight to the bottom slipped by. Thomas Held the lead and brought the 22 of Chris Babcock, 99 of Cornett-Ching, and 96 car of Don Nickel with him to the chequered.

The A heat packed tight with the top group would bring back shades of the 2010 season opener. Olson brought the group to the green and broke the transmission at the line; the cars zigzagged to miss him and carried on. On the back stretch the 14 of Brandon Carlson and the 41 of Dave Willison bump, cutting Willison’s tire sending him spinning. Williams on the high side nearly avoided the 41, but caught the rear end, catapulting him into the air and hitting the turn three wall head on. The 5 car was heavily damaged, but Williams walked away unharmed. A tough start to the 2011 season for the Turtle Wax team. On the restart, Matt Stephenson never looked back and took the chequered flag. Berriau took second and the 14 of Carlson finished third.

The feature event started with Darren Swaan and Dave Olson bringing the field to green. Swaan jumped to the lead lap one with Olson putting the pressure on. The two Quesnel racers battled nose to tail when the 71 of Olson made contact with Swaan resulting in a hard wreck out of turn two, ending the night for Swaan, second fast car of Hemrich and the 58 of Bob Kuhn. The resulting caution allowed the 81 of Darrell Midgley to fix a pesky oil leak and return to the race. Olson penalized to the back put Champion Matt Stephenson at the point. Rookie of the year Ryley Seibert second, Willison third and Loudoun fourth. A restart and Stephenson holds onto the lead, the 99 of Cornett-Ching gets squeezed to the fence cutting a tire and showering sparks as she goes to the pits for service. Through the action, Loudoun passed the 09 of Seibert and moved into second bringing Graham with him. The restart had the top three, battling for the lead. Using a slower car as a pick, Ian Graham gets Loudoun on the high side. The top three, Stephenson, Graham, and Loudoun are nose to tail and put down a series of very fast laps. The battle heats up when Graham makes a bold move to the high side and challenges Stephenson for the lead. For ten laps Graham and Stephenson race cleanly side by side. Graham made the pass and took the lead. Local WCSS hot shoes Loudoun and Stephenson race hard, continuing the epic battle. For lap after lap Loudoun pressures Stephenson. With a strong run down the front stretch Loudoun tries the bottom. The two collide spinning the 1 of Stephenson and the 12 car moved to the back. Lying in wait are Berriau and Seibert, both putting together a solid run. Another yellow for a spin in turn two tightens the field. The 71 of Olson, after working through the field shows on the scoreboard in the fifth spot, the 41 of Willison number four. The last dash to the finish has Graham stretching out a lead, with Berriau and Seibert chasing hard. Oslon sits fourth. Steve Lengert in stealth mode in number five. Stephenson driving his heart out, races back to sixth place. Willison seventh, the patient Chris Babcock enjoys an eighth place finish. Lee Thomas solid in ninth. A great run for the hard working team of Trevor Adelman in tenth. Hard racing Brandon Carlson eleven. Lordco sponsored Dan Ursel twelve, WCSS regular Don Nickel thirteen and hard charging young gun Sarah Cornett-Ching fourteenth. Thanks to all of the hard working ARCA OK Tire Series Teams for racing their hearts out. Also many thanks to visiting cars, Darrell Midgley, Brandon Carlson, Bob Kuhn, and Dave Hemrich.