8/20/2011
Derrik Ortega
Lawton Oklahoma
We made the 500 mile trip to Lawton Oklahoma, for an ASCS Sooner Region race. 36 cars signed in making 5 heat races, all with some very stiff competition. Pulling the #8 pill put us on the pole for heat #3. After a couple false starts, a couple incidents the race finally went from green to checkered and Derrik led every lap. The heat race win put him 8th in passing points after the heat races. The top 8 redraw left us starting 3rd for the A feature. After watching the B-mains we made our set up decisions and geared up to run the top side.
While breaking from the 3 wide parade lap a couple cars got together sending one flipping down the back stretch, and bringing out the red flag before the race even started. Once we got lined up and the green flag dropped. Derrik made his way into 2nd coming off turn 2 down the back stretch. The first two laps he traded slide jobs with Sean McClelland for the 2nd spot. Five laps in contact with Danny Wood caused him to fall all the way back to 7th. Being flustered caused more mistakes, and more lost positions. Derrik made some really good laps running in 10th or 11th place but made one final mistake getting over the cushion and making contact with the 03 car of Joe Wood Jr. breaking the front end and bringing an early end to the night.
Overall it was a good night of racing, and a great experience, It was nice being halfway competitive with some really great cars after almost a year out of the car. We will spend some time regrouping, but look forward to hitting the track again later this year. Special thanks to Amber, Manny, Annette, Mac Daddy, Kelly Denison, and Bud Goodwin for their hard work to make this race possible.