ARDMORE, Okla. — Brock Zearfoss picked up his first Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory of the season Thursday as the Cometic Gasket Thunder Through The Plains presented by Hercules Tires tour visited Southern Oklahoma Speedway.
Starting outside the front row, Zearfoss took command for the first time on lap 15 and never looked back, zinging his preferred line around the topside of the speedway for a $5,000 top prize.
A bit of sweet redemption for the Jonestown, Pa.-based race team, Zearfoss was forced to overcome a mechanical malfunction during qualifying time trials at Devil’s Bowl Speedway before finishing eighth during main event action.
Just 24 hours later, Zearfoss was in victory lane.
“This just goes to show how badass my team is. They never stop digging. Even after getting banged up yesterday during qualifying, they had the spare car down before they even towed me off the track,” said the driver of the Brock Zearfoss Racing/Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill/Heavy Equipment, Loaders & Parts Inc./C&D Rigging Inc./BAPS Auto Paints & Supply/No. 3Z sprint car. “A lot of other teams helped us get ready for that heat race. It was nice to salvage the night for an eighth-place finish, but this feels a lot better.”
Before Zearfoss drove his way to the top spot on lap 15, the battle for the lead was perpetual, first held by polesitter and full-time All Star Skylar Gee for the first five circuits.
A caution flag on lap six would spell bad news for the Canadian hotshot, eventually losing command to Fresno, California’s Dominic Scelzi. The lap-six restart would also spell bad news for Zearfoss, who actually slipped back three spots by the time the frontrunners completed the sixth circuit. Zearfoss was racing in the second spot at the time of the caution.
A trio of upcoming caution periods, including a red flag scenario, would give Zearfoss a chance to recover his slip, ultimately battling back to second by lap 11. The ensuing restart after a lap 15 caution is when the ‘Jonestown Jet’ made his winning move, quickly scooting by Scelzi’s No. 41s to lead the circuit.
Despite another four-pack of caution flags, one of which resulting in an open red to allow teams the opportunity to add fuel, and one with just two circuits remaining, Zearfoss held strong and remained untouchable, quickly escaping to a near-straightaway lead as the white flag waved.
“I was pretty mad at myself early on when I lost those three spots. That red flag gave me some time to stew on things a little bit. I knew I was going to have to get up on the wheel,” Zearfoss continued. “I just can’t say enough about my team. Noisey, Tye, and everyone else involved in this deal; they put their heart and soul into this race team. I’m very blessed to be in the position that I’m in. Hopefully we put on a good show for everyone tonight.”
Danny Dietrich powered home second after starting eighth on the grid, followed by Dominic Scelzi, Cory Eliason and 11th-starting Justin Sanders.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [8]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [9]; 5. 16A-Justin Sanders [11]; 6. 70-Justin Peck [6]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [5]; 8. 11-Zeb Wise [12]; 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [19]; 11. 99-Skylar Gee [1]; 12. 1X-Jake Bubak [21]; 13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [14]; 14. 9-Kasey Kahne [10]; 15. 9$-Kyle Clark [23]; 16. 17W-Harli White [22]; 17. 23B-Brian Bell [15]; 18. 28-Scott Bogucki [13]; 19. 11X-John Carney [16]; 20. 52-Blake Hahn [17]; 21. 4-Danny Smith [20]; 22. 14-Tony Stewart [18]; 23. 17-Josh Baughman [7]; 24. 21P-Robbie Price [24] Lap Leaders: Skylar Gee (1-5), Dominic Scelzi (6-14), Brock Zearfoss (15-25)