KELLYVILLE, Okla. – Noah Harris was hoping to repeat his March 19 AmeriFlex/OCRS IMCA sprint car win at Creek County Speedway on Saturday night, but it was not to be.
Steven Shebester spoiled those hopes when he battled past Harris nine laps from the finish to win his second 30-lap A-Feature of the season.
Shebester, who won March 27 at Lawton Speedway, became the season’s second two-time winner. Alex Sewell has also logged two wins. But Saturday’s victory was far from an easy one.
Shebester closed on Harris, who had been leading from the start, on lap 14 and the two waged a side-by-side battle for the top spot. The two swapped lines several times with Harris continuing to hold a slim lead each time the two crossed the start-finish line.
“There was a lot of trading lines,” Shebester said of his battle with Harris. “He kind of got the line I was using on the bottom and surprised me. He passed me then we traded lines and I passed him back. It was pretty good racing.”
As the two came up on lapped traffic at the end of lap 21 Shebester finally pulled ahead and this time he stayed there.
“I just pushed a little bit harder, and if I hit my line right I could miss the ruts that was making us bicycling and get a good exit,” Shebester said. “We just got lucky on that one.
“When he took that bottom line I was kind of happy because I rather run the top anyway. He kind of gave me my shot right there. But it was hard to pass him even when he was using the bottom lane.
“It is a great win for the team and great momentum for tomorrow (at Thunderbird).”
It was a tough loss for Harris, who wanted a second win.
“I wanted to,” Harris said of his hope at victory. “I was nervous because Steven (Shebester) started behind me and he is so fast. I knew he was going to be the one to beat.
“I led a couple of laps and thought I might be ok, then he started showing me his nose and it got to me.
“I swapped lines with him when he started showing me his nose and it started taking rubber a little bit. I wanted to be down in the rubber when it took it. I did not want to be on the top and he out smarted me.”
Early in the race Alison Slaton was chasing Harris and Shebester, but contact with another car on lap eight sheared off her front right wheel and she came to a stop to bring out the yellow.
Fred Mattox shot into second on the restart, but gave up the spot back to Shebester after a three-lap battle.
Rees Moran finished in third at the checkered with Mattox falling to fourth. Danny Wood rounded out the top five and closed within nine points of point leader Casey Wills, who finished 11th.
The AmeriFlex/OCRS IMCA Sprint Car Series travels to Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee on Sunday to take on the historic half-mile.
The finish:
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 16S-Steven Shebester [3]; 2. 7F-Noah Harris [1]; 3. 22M-Rees Moran [2]; 4. 26M-Fred Mattox [5]; 5. 55W-Danny Wood [13]; 6. 5$-Danny Smith [10]; 7. 15-Jase Randolph [6]; 8. 35-Brett Wilson [7]; 9. 10P-Dylan Postier [12]; 10. 88-Terry Easum [18]; 11. 31-Casey Wills [8]; 12. 5-Joe Bob Lee [14]; 13. 50Z-Zach Chappell [9]; 14. 8-Austin Shores [16]; 15. 79-Tim Kent [17]; 16. 22-David Stephenson [20]; 17. 9$-Kyle Clark [11]; 18. 777-Bailey Hughes [19]; 19. 32G-Kolton Gariss [15]; 20. 6-Alison Slaton [4].