Tulsa race report

TULSA, OK (August 18, 2001) - It has been an up and down season for eight-time NCRA defending champion Gary Wright. Through the first five events of the O'Reilly NCRA verses the All Stars Thunder Through the Plains series Wright has failed to find the winners circle. But the Texan got untracked Saturday picking up the series final at Tulsa Speedway.

Wright has been the most successful driver during the past six years of the Thunder Through the Plains series winning 7 out of 30 events. This year however flat tires, a crash and motor problems plagued him. Saturday Wright was not to be denied as he led all 30 laps to win his 72nd career NCRA victory and wrap up a record ninth championship.

Wright jumped off the front row into the lead on the start only to see the race immediately go yellow for Darren Stewart who was stopped in turn two. On the restart Wright resumed command chased by Kenny Jacobs and Danny Smith. The three ran that way till the yellow flag waved again on lap 6 for All Stars point leader Chad Kemenah who tangled with another car on the backstretch and bounced out of control into the infield.

When the race resumed Wright, Jacobs, Smith, 13-time Tulsa Speedway champion Donnie Crawford and Dean Jacobs held down the top five spots. The five threaded their way through lapped traffic untill another yellow waved at the half-way mark for Jerry Stone who pulled into the infield near the track. A lap later Travis Rilat brought out a yellow as he stopped on the track.

After the restart Crawford passed Smith for third and went after Jacobs. On lap 20 Brooke Tatnell lost a left rear tire in turn four forcing the final yellow flag. Wright again pulled away on the restart leaving Jacobs holding second just ahead of Crawford. Smith and D. Jacobs held on to fourth and fifth at the finish.

Wright had to do battle with Kemenah in the B main to earn his way into the A feature. Wright started on the outside front row and led the first 13 laps over Kemenah. Kemenah pulled alongside of Wright with one lap remaining and pulled ahead on the final circuit of the 3/8's mile oval for the win.

NCRA President C. Ray Hall was extremely pleased with how the week of racing has gone with both sanctioning bodies and can't wait to do it again next year. It was his idea several years ago and has grown every year.

TIME TRIALS - 1, Rob Chaney, 13.253 (NTR). 2, Dean Jacobs, 14.510. 3, Chad Kemenah, 14.540. 4, Danny Smith, 14.674. 5, Kenny Jacobs, 14.772. 6, Gary Wright, 14.790. 7, Donnie Crawford, 14.802. 8, Greg Wilson, 14.806. 9, Jason Johnson, 14.890. 10, Kelly Kinser, 14.918. 11, Wayne Johnson, 14.983. 12, Jerrod Hull, 15.012. 13, Mike Peters, 15.036. 14, Rodney Duncan, 15.189. 15, Brooke Tatnell, 15.210. 16, Jonathan Allard, 15.307. 17, Nick Smith, 15.318. 18, Zach Chappell, 15.433. 19, Danny Smith (Tulsa), 15.464. 20, Travis Rilat, 15.466. 21, Mike Wagner, 15.529. 22, Darren Stewart, 15.601. 23, Barry Ruble, 15.805. 24, Leon Bacon, 15.855. 25, Jerry Stone, 16.014. 26, Foster Landon, 16.104. 27, Robert Sellers, 16.153. 28, Dan Oswalt, 16.169. 29, Earnest Jennings, 16.185. 30, Jerrod Wilson, 16.393. 31, Brett Thompson, 16.534. 32, Bubba Hunt, 16.549. 33, Josh Revelle, 16.773. 34, Joe Bustillos, 17.043. 35, Troy Norris, 17.346. 36, Matt Saint, 17.917. 37, Kevin Brewer, 17.921. 38, Sean Walden, No Time. 39, Kenneth Walker, No Time.

KT Equipment Rental HEAT 1 (10 laps) - 1, Jason Johnson. 2, Mike Wagner. 3, Kenny Jacobs. 4, Rob Chaney. 5, Mike Peters. 6, Jerry Stone. 7, Earnest Jennings. 8, Kevin Brewer. 9, Josh Revelle. 10, Nick Smith.

JB Racing Products HEAT 2 (10 laps) - 1, Darren Stewart. 2, Zach Chappell. 3, Dean Jacobs. 4, Kelly Kinser. 5, Rodney Duncan. 6, Gary Wright. 7, Jerrod Wilson. 8, Sean Walden. 9, Foster Landon. 10, Joe Bustillos.

Crown Battery HEAT 3 (10 laps) - 1, Brooke Tatnell. 2, Donnie Crawford. 3, Wayne Johnson. 4, Troy Norris. 5, Barry Ruble. 6, Robert Sellers. 7, Chad Kemenah. 8, Brett Thompson. 9, Danny Smith.

Engler Tool and Machine HEAT 4 (10 laps) - 1, Travis Rilat. 2, Jonathan Allard. 3, Greg Wilson. 4, Danny Smith (Tulsa). 5, Jerrod Hull. 6, Leon Bacon. 7, Matt Saint. 8, Dan Oswalt. 9, Bubba Hunt.

Haulmark DASH (4 laps) - 1, Rob Chaney. 2, Dean Jacobs. 3, Danny Smith. 4, Greg Wilson. 5, Kenny Jacobs. 6, Jason Johnson.

B FEATURE (15 laps) - 1, Chad Kemenah. 2, Gary Wright. 3, Robert Sellers. 4, Jerry Stone. 5, Jerrod Wilson. 6, Leon Bacon. 7, Sean Walden. 8, Dan Oswalt. 9, Joe Bustillos. 10, Bubba Hunt. 11, Earnest Jennings. 12, Matt Saint. 13, Kevin Brewer. 14, Foster Landon. 15, Josh Revelle. 16, Danny Smith (Tulsa).

A FEATURE (30 laps) - 1. Gary Wright. 2, Kenny Jacobs. 3, Donnie Crawford. 4, Danny Smith. 5, Dean Jacobs. 6, Wayne Johnson. 7, Kelly Kinser. 8, Greg Wilson. 9, Jerrod Hull. 10, Darren Stewart. 11, Jonathan Allard. 12, Mike Wagner. 13, Rodney Duncan. 14, Mike Peters. 15, Chad Kemenah. 16, Zach Chappell. 17, Travis Rilat. 18, Jason Johnson. 19, Barry Ruble. 20, Troy Norris. 21, Robert Sellers. 22, Brooke Tatnell. 23, Jerrod Wilson. 24, Jerry Stone. 25, Rob Chaney.

All Star Sprint Points: 1. Chad Kemenah, 2688; 2. Kenny Jacobs, 2658; 3. Danny Smith, 2565; 4. Dean Jacobs, 2549; 5. Travis Rilat, 2484; 6. Greg Wilson, 2468; 7. Jason Johnson, 2464; 8. Rodney Duncan, 2372; 9. Jerrod Hull, 2296; 10. Mike Wagner, 2144.

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