By John Rittenoure (Photo by Maxx Ramsey) - ENID, Okla. (July 6, 2024) - A blown motor on Friday threatened to derail a weekend of racing with the APEX Healthcare Partners Sooner Late Model Series for Eli Ross. But Ross rebounded quickly and the end results was a second place finish Friday at Beaver County Raceway followed by a main event victory Saturday at Enid Speedway.
“Last night we blew a motor so we pulled out the backup car in the feature and worked my way up there,” Ross said of his finish at Beaver. “It has a little bigger motor and I felt pretty good in it. My dad said to just keep running it and see how far I could get.”
The backup car proved more than capable Saturday. Ross started outside front row and jumped into the early lead. Friday winner Kip Hughes stayed on Ross’ rear bumper and pulled alongside midway of the race. But Ross held his ground and pulled back in front and stayed there to win his second main event of the season.
“It was just one lane on the bottom and who ever gets down there first wins the race,” Ross said of the 3/8’s mile oval. “I kind of squeezed him down a little bit and that made the difference. He has a lot of laps around this place and is really good.”
The track started to dry up as the race wore on and.
“I did not expect it to rubber on the bottom as much and I rolled the middle kind of and hit the top a bit here and there,” Ross said.
Hughes settled for second followed by Jon Herring, Jr. in third, Troy Bynum was fourth and
Adam Popp finished fifth.
Sooner Late Model Series Results
Enid Speedway - Enid, Oklahoma
July 6, 2024
APEX Healthcare Partners A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 66-Eli Ross[2]; 2. 60-Kip Hughes[4]; 3. 96JR-Jon Herring Jr[5]; 4. 81-Troy Bynum[1]; 5. 10 4-Adam Popp[3]; 6. 31-Gary Lowe[9]; 7. 194-Scott Phillips[8]; 8. 27X-Ron Brown[13]; 9. 84-Gary Kilbourn[10]; 10. 88S-Richard Shepler[6]; 11. 27-Ryan Harris[15]; 12. 96-Jon Herring Sr[12]; 13. A2-Randy Wilson[14]; 14. 95-Jerry Derr[11]; 15. 55-Zach Nickell[7]; 16. (DNS) 9XX-Dakota Dellinger; 17. (DNS) 69K-Ken Taylor
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 66-Eli Ross[6]; 2. 60-Kip Hughes[5]; 3. 96JR-Jon Herring Jr[2]; 4. 55-Zach Nickell[8]; 5. 31-Gary Lowe[1]; 6. 95-Jerry Derr[7]; 7. 27X-Ron Brown[4]; 8. 27-Ryan Harris[9]; 9. 9XX-Dakota Dellinger[3]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 81-Troy Bynum[2]; 2. 10 4-Adam Popp[6]; 3. 88S-Richard Shepler[4]; 4. 194-Scott Phillips[7]; 5. 84-Gary Kilbourn[5]; 6. 96-Jon Herring Sr[8]; 7. A2-Randy Wilson[3]; 8. 69K-Ken Taylor[1]
Lap Leaders: 1-25 Eli Ross.
Margin of victory: 1.159.
2024 Winners: 4/6 - Kip Hughes, Enid Speedway; 4/13 - Jon Herring, Jr., Beaver County Raceway; 5/11 - Joe Godsey, Caney Valley Speedway; 5/17 - Kip Hughes, Longdale Speedway; 5/18 - Eli Ross, Oklahoma Sports Park; 5/26 - Geoff Aitken, Crawford County Speedway; 6/8 - Brandon Conkwright, 81 Speedway; 6/28 - Hudson O’Neal, Thunderbird Speedway; 6/29 - Brett Hansen, Salina Highbanks Speedway; 7/5 - Kip Hughes, Beaver County Raceway; 7/6 - Eli Ross, Enid Speedway.
2024 Top 10: 1. Zach Nichell, 3905; 2. Eli Ross, 3705; 3. Dakota Dillinger, 3565; 4. Dalon Helm, 3455; 5. Troy Bynum, 3285; 6. Kip Hughes, 2790; 7. Ron Brown, 2310; 8. Jon Herring, Jr., 2205; 9. Damian Patocka, 1885; 10. Steve Hewitt, Sr., 1845;
Sooner Late Model Series
The Sooner Late Model Series was formed in 2016 by Enid Speedway co-promoter Mark Brill. Brill felt there was not many opportunities for late model competitors to race in Oklahoma and the Sooner Late Model Series was formed. Now the series has grown beyond the borders of Oklahoma with events held in the neighboring states of Kansas, Texas and Arkansas.
APEX Healthcare Partners
Specializing in Multidisciplinary Care Across Specialties, at APEX Healthcare Partners, a team of skilled and experienced providers, therapists, and support staff work together to provide personalized and compassionate care for patients with spinal and neurological conditions in Oklahoma City and the surrounding areas.
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