10/18/2024 Longdale, Oklahoma (www.urssracing.com) - The United Rebel Sprint Series presented by RacinDirt.Com made the trip to Longdale, Oklahomas, Longdale Speedway for the opening night of the Winter Nationals.
Taylor Velasquez and Whit Gastineua led the field to the green and the 25-Lap Mel Hambelton Ford feature race was underway. From the start, Velasquez and the #21x got a good jump on the #2 of Whit Gastineau as the two would begin pacing themselves ahead of the 15-car field.
With wind conditions being a little choppy in the evening, the handling of the cars was definitely something everyone was watching. A consistent breeze coming out of turn 2 created some big moments for the drivers.
On lap 3 of the race, Taylor Velasquez lost a ton of momentum exiting turn 2 allowing the #2 of Whit Gastineua to close within .500 seconds to the race leader.
Lap after lap of continued pestering and finally on lap 16 Whit Gastineau took his Statewide Service Center #2 to the lead and never looked back. “We had to swap out the motors before the race which ultimately saved us a 10 hour drive to Kansas” said Gastineua after the race.
The racing action paused on lap 19 after and incident on track between the #8x of Charlee Chaffin and the #007 of Harley Manaceher. Both drivers were reported ok after the incident.
On the restart, Velasquez and Gastineua drag raced one another into turn one, but Gastineau had the preferred lane and the last 6 laps were a cake walk for the Moore, Oklahoma native.
The series will conclude its 2024 season Saturday night at Longdale Speedway with the crowning of the season champion as well.
CURRENT POINT STANDINGS (TOP 10):
Jeremy Huish (3072 points)
Steven Richardson (-506)
Taylor Velasquez (-1068)
Jake Martens (-1218)
Jon Freeman (-1247)
Ty Williams (-1270)
Charlee Chaffin (-1505)
Brian Herbert (-1670)
Justin Chaffin (-1692)
Conner Thomas (-1758)
FEATURE WINNERS (11):
Jeremy Huish - Ness City, Kansas - 6
Jake Martens - Fariview, Oklahoma - 4
Whit Gastineau - Moore, Oklahoma - 2
Steven Richardson - Liberal, Kansas - 2
Ty Williams - Arcadia, Oklahoma - 2
Monty Ferriera - Lincoln, Nebraska - 1
Koby Walters - Liberal, Kansas - 1
Jeremy Campbell - Wichita, Kansas - 1
Taylor Velasquez - Turpin, Oklahoma - 1
Kyle Jones - Kennedale, Texas - 1
Cole Vanderheiden - Papillion, Nebraska - 1
COVERAGE
All events will be streamed live on RacingDirt.Com To subscribe to RacingDirt and get access to all United Rebel Sprint Series events, archived races and content, click here: https://www.racindirt.tv/
About the series
The URSS has been driven by fair, fun, and competitive racing since its establishment in 2006. Excitement for family and friends from all across the Midwest. The United Rebel Sprint Car Series continues to expand and is always looking to bring in new opportunities. For more inclusive coverage, follow us on Facebook or MyRacePass.
(HAVING MORE FUN THAN THE LAW WILL ALLOW)
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:03:59.584 | Mel Hambelton
- 2-Whit Gastineau[4]; 2. 21X-Taylor Velasquez[1]; 3. 0-Steven Richardson[2]; 4. 17X-Jake Martens[3]; 5. 51-Jeremy Campbell[7]; 6. 20-Jeremy Huish[9]; 7. 78C-Chance Cody[6]; 8. 37-Jack Hall[5]; 9. 65-Kohl Ricke[15]; 10. 24B-Johnny Boos[8]; 11. 007-Harley Menacher[11]; 12. 64-Rayce Hacker[10]; 13. 29B-Duane Baker[13]; 14. (DNF) 8X-Charlee Chaffin[12]; 15. (DNF) 5-Sandy Rushing[14]
Heat 1 8 Laps | KansasLand Tire
- 0-Steven Richardson[1]; 2. 78C-Chance Cody[2]; 3. 37-Jack Hall[4]; 4. 24B-Johnny Boos[3]; 5. 007-Harley Menacher[5]; 6. 64-Rayce Hacker[8]; 7. 29B-Duane Baker[6]; 8. 65-Kohl Ricke[7]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:04:11.963 | KansasLand Tire
- 17X-Jake Martens[2]; 2. 2-Whit Gastineau[4]; 3. 21X-Taylor Velasquez[1]; 4. 20-Jeremy Huish[3]; 5. 51-Jeremy Campbell[7]; 6. 8X-Charlee Chaffin[6]; 7. 5-Sandy Rushing[5]
Hot Laps 2 3 Laps | 00:16:19.634 | Fast Five Solutions
- 2-Whit Gastineau[4]; 2. 21X-Taylor Velasquez[1]; 3. 20-Jeremy Huish[3]; 4. 78C-Chance Cody; 5. 0-Steven Richardson; 6. 17X-Jake Martens[2]; 7. 51-Jeremy Campbell[7]; 8. 37-Jack Hall; 9. 007-Harley Menacher; 10. 24B-Johnny Boos; 11. 65-Kohl Ricke; 12. 64-Rayce Hacker; 13. 29B-Duane Baker; 14. (DNF) 8X-Charlee Chaffin[6]; 15. (DNF) 5-Sandy Rushing[5]