Essary Outruns Passmore at Outlaw

By John Rittenoure

OKTAHA, Okla. (Aug. 29, 2008) - Mike Goodman watched his engine go up in smoke and Rafe Essary took advantage to win his first OCRS sprint main event of the season Friday at Outlaw Motor Speedway.

Goodman was cruising out front and only four laps from what would have been his fifth victory of the season when the engine in his number 22 sprinter went up in a cloud of smoke on the backstretch of lap 17. The yellow waved to get Goodman off the track and Essary inherited the lead for the restart. Essary led points leader Jamie Passmore over the remaining four laps for the win. Shane Pace was third, Matt Sherrell fourth and Zach Beeler rounded out the top five.

Essary drove off the pole as the 20-lapper got underway to lead the first three laps with Goodman running second. After a yellow for Burt Davis, Goodman roared past Essary on the restart and set the pace. Danny Smith passed Essary for second on lap six and Passmore passed Essary for third on lap seven. Smith came to a stop on lap 11 to bring out another yellow and that allowed Passmore to move into second. But two laps before Goodman blew his engine Essary wheeled back into second dropping Passmore to third.

OCRS Sprints

HEAT 1 - 1, Mike Goodman. 2, Rafe Essary. 3, Jamie McDonald. 4, Zach Beeler. 5, Dean Drake, Jr.

HEAT 2 - 1, Matt Sherrell. 2, Danny Smith. 3, Kenneth Walker. 4, Tim Kent. Ron Paris, Jr.

HEAT 3 - 1, Jamie Passmore. 2, Shane Pace. 3, Evan Sewell. 4, Burt Davis. 5, Brian Roberts..

A FEATURE - 1, Rafe Essary. 2, Jamie Passmore. 3, Shane Pace. 3, Matt Sherrell. 5, Zach Beeler. 6, Ron Paris, Jr. 7, Danny Smith. 8, Mike Goodman. 9, Kenneth Walker. 10, Dean Drake, Jr. 11, Evan Sewell. 12, Brian Roberts. 13, Jamie McDonald. 14, Burt Davis. DNS: Tim Kent.