TULSA, Okla. — Friday night’s Ortco, Inc. United Sprint League presented by Same Day Auto Repair at Tulsa Speedway almost seemed like two different feature races.
Ryker Pace was in command for the first 10 laps then after a lengthy yellow flag delay Johnny Kent came out of nowhere to take the lead and pull away for the win.
The two-time defending champion seemed to get faster as the race wore on and lengthened his lead to a full straightaway before the checkered waved.
“The track changed a lot from start to finish and were probably a little free at the end of it,” Kent said of his charge from eighth starting position. “The car was great. It seemed the longer we went the better it got.
“We were a little snug there early on and knew we would have to be a little snug to move around starting that deep.”
The long delay on lap 10 allowed the track to change and played into Kent’s hands.
“Those guys just kept working the bottom in (turns) 1 and 2,” Kent said of the inside groove. “On lap 10 before the oil let down Cameron (Hagin) went in on the bottom and I was able get above him and pulled through really good on exit then the caution came out and they put us back behind him. He went right back to it and we were able to pull away there.”
Kent feels like he now has solved some early season engine issues with the victory.
“We have had a ton of motor issues this year,” he said. “It is not hurting them, but just getting it right. We finally got it figured out this week.”
After leading the first 10 laps Pace found himself in a battle with Cameron Hagin for second after the restart. On lap 29 finally got by dropping Pace to third at the finish. Ty Hulsey and Tyler LaPointe rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 55-Johnny Kent[8]; 2. 6T-Cameron Hagin[3]; 3. 8R-Ryker Pace[1]; 4. 24H-Ty Hulsey[6]; 5. 45-Tyler LaPointe[13]; 6. 50-Cody Whitworth[7]; 7. 6-Tanner Conn[5]; 8. 19F-Joshua Tyre[15]; 9. 6K-Brylee Kilmer[4]; 10. 1-Cody Lincoln[18]; 11. (DNF) 24C-Craig Carroll[11]; 12. (DNF) 79-Tim Kent[2]; 13. (DNF) 5B-Brock Cottrell[17]; 14. (DNF) 69-Greg York[10]; 15. (DNF) 21-Jeremy Wickham[14]; 16. (DNF) 18J-Cody Jarvis[9]; 17. (DNF) 78S-Daniel Shaffer[12]; 18. (DNF) 98-Ryan Padgett[16]
