Mattox Ends OCRS Drought In Tulsa
Fred Mattox on Victory Street with family. (Richard Bale’s photo)
TULSA, Oklahoma – It’s been a long time since Fred Mattox visited the winner’s circle with the Oil Capital Racing Series. In fact, the last time was in 2014.
But the drought ended Saturday at Tulsa Speedway when Mattox clinched his second AmeriFlex Pants & Accessories OCRS Sprint Car win of his career on a cold night with temperatures in the mid-30s and fans wrapped in thick blankets.
“I think the last one was at Caney (Valley Speedway). It’s been a long time,” Mattox recalled of his last OCRS win. “We’ve had a lot of 2-barrel, ASCS and NCRA wins since then. It’s good to be back in the seat of an OCRS car.”
Mattox moved up from third to second on lap 11, chasing early leader Terry Easum. On lap 16, lap traffic came into play for the leaders. Mattox tried to move in Easum and there was contact. Easum turned to the infield and the yellow flag came out.
Mattox restarted the race in the lead while Easum was placed at the back.
“From my point of view the leader left the ground open and tried to go around a lapped car,” said Mattox of his attempt to overtake Easum. “Tulsa isn’t the best place to drive around in cars. You have to get under them as you come out of the corner and pull them to the other end.
“I feel like he (Easum) got in the back of the lapped car (Elizabeth Phillips) and flipped her in front of me. I contacted her and I feel sorry for her. I know their situation and will make it right this week.”
Mattox recalled another unfortunate incident involving Easum that resulted in a suspension.
“With that in mind, this isn’t the first time he and I have had issues,” Mattox said. “I was suspended for the same deal a long time ago. (This time) In (turns) three and four we were wheel to wheel behind the lapped car, it left the bottom open and I filled it in.”
At the restart, Johnny Kent took second place but couldn’t catch Mattox and finished 0.525 seconds behind him. Lane Goodman moved up from 4th to 3rd, Ryker Pace was fourth and 2021 champion Joe Bob Lee rounded out the top five.
Easum was not happy with the incident that saw him off the lead 15 laps into the race.
“It was just a couple of cars lapped and it was pretty single track and there are some people who have been racing for 20 years and they want to drive like it’s the first night,” Easum said. “It’s just part of it. He came under us and was half on the gas when he hit me.”
The end:
Feature (25 rounds): 1. 26M-Fred Mattox[2]; 2. 55-Johnny Kent[5]; 3. 29-lane Goodman[4]; 4. 8R Ryker Tempo[3]; 5. 5-Joe Bob Lee[7]; 6. 31- Casey Wills[11]; 7. 55W Danny Wood[16]; 8. 22M-Rees Moran[19]; 9. 38-Jimmy Forrester[6]; 10. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale[20]; 11. 7T-Landon Thompson[10]; 12. 88-Terry Easum[1]; 13. 22T-Frank Taft[17]; 14. 39 Kimberly tires[13]; 15. (DNF) 938-Bradley Fezard[9]; 16. (DNF) 55M- Corey McGehee[15]; 17. (DNF) 22C-Alex DeCamp[12]; 18. (DNF) 50Z-Zach Chappell[8]; 19. (DNF) 08E-Elizabeth Phillips[14]; 20. (DNF) 22RL-Gage Laney[18]