MEEKER, Okla. – One of the most loyal followers of the AmeriFlex/OCRS IMCA Sprint Car Series, Joe Bob Lee has spent the past four years traveling to each race on the schedule from his home in Cache, Okla., hoping to pick up a main event win.
Sunday it finally happened. Lee took over the lead just a few laps before the halfway point in the 30-lap A Feature of the Spring Nationals at Red Dirt Raceway and raced unchallenged to his first career AmeriFlex/OCRS IMCA Sprint Car victory.
“It is going on four years straight I have been running with the series, Lee said, thinking back to when he started running with OCRS. “It is finally good to get the monkey off my shoulders.”
Lee credited the work of his family, crew and sponsors for his success.
“We have had a lot of top 5 and top 10’s. A lot of good runs,” Lee recalled. “It all starts in the shop. I have good crew behind me and my family. I have good sponsors behind me with AmeriFlex, Lupe Construction, Davis Air Conditioning, Lawton Auto Parts and all the major players that make this happen.”
When the green flag dropped, Tanner Conn raced into the lead using the high groove while Lee committed to the low groove in the runner-up position. Lee stayed with his groove choice and caught Conn just a few laps before halfway and drove into the lead.
The car setup for the feature was aided by what Lee learned before the race.
“My nephew raced earlier in restrictors and we got looking at his tires,” Lee said. “We noticed they started taking rubber and that is what we set up for. It worked out for the good.
“I had to be patient and let the rubber come to us. Right as we went out they watered the track,” he added. “It was all in the rubber. You had to make sure you were in the rubber and the track was a little spotty. We had to hit our marks and stay in the groove. I knew I had to hit my marks and I would be ok. There were a lot of heavy hitters here.”
The win was a complete turnaround from Saturday, where Lee ran 12th in the second B main.
“Last night we struggled and did not make the show,” Lee said. “We ran the B. I had some trouble there. Tonight was a 180 degree flip.”
Lee also had to get use to driving with a bigger win on top of the car after the OCRS dropped the smaller 3×5 wing at the end of last season.
“It was the overall balance of the car,” Lee said of driving with the bigger wing. “Getting used to the big wings with the horsepower we got and getting everything balanced in.”
Conn continued chasing Lee until lap 20 when Conn came to a stop on the track to bring out a yellow flag. On the restart Terry Easum moved into second until the red waved for Andrew Deal, who got upside down in turn two.
Another yellow waved on the restart for Austin Saunders who spun in turn three. The next restart was not good for Easum, who gave up second to Jason Martin of Lincoln, Neb., on lap 23.
Martin was not able to close on Lee and finished second. Whit Gastineau came from ninth starting spot to finish third, dropping Easum to fourth. Casey Wills finished fifth.
Tyler Drueke of Eagle, Neb., was the hard charger of the night after coming from 18th to finish seventh, just behind sixth place and Saturday winner Johnny Kent.
The finish:
1. 5-Joe Bob Lee [3]; 2. 5X-Jason Martin [10]; 3. 2C-Whit Gastineau [9]; 4. 88-Terry Easum [5]; 5. 31-Casey Wills [6]; 6. 55-Johnny Kent [4]; 7. 12-Tyler Drueke [18]; 8. 55W-Danny Wood [15]; 9. 79-Tim Kent [17]; 10. 08X-Joshua Tyre [19]; 11. 82-Austin Saunders [14]; 12. 50Z-Zach Chappell [7]; 13. 6-Alison Slaton [2]; 14. 22M-Rees Moran [20]; 15. 78-Tanner Conn [1]; 16. 15D-Andrew Deal [8]; 17. 13-Ty Hanten [16]; 18. 32K-Chris Kelly [11]; 19. 11-Zach Blurton [12]; 20. 21-Brandon Jennings [13].
Time of race: 26:50.336