Kayla Peting SUSQUEHANNA, PA…..The Open Racing Challenge Series held its debut on Friday night with nine cars showing up to put their talent and cars to the test at The Penn Can Speedway. The ORCS feature would be a thirty-lap event where anything goes for the cars and setup, however the only two rules are the car must weigh 3,000 pounds and run-on DOT tires. The race would start with Kevin MacDonald starting on the pole with Thunder Mountain regular Steven Deinhardt to his outside. Deinhardt would take the early lead leaving Mike Morse and MacDonald to battle for second. Before the battle for second could heat up, the first caution of the feature came on lap 1 with Penn Can regular Sheldon Whitman spinning between turns 3 and 4. The ORCS series is all about being a different type of series and one way is the way restarts are done. With a Delaware Double File Restart, Deinhardt would be in the front row alone and the field would fire when he did. As the race continued, the battle for second quickly heated up again between Morse and MacDonald with Morse taking over to try and hunt down Deinhardt. Shawn Boynton would look to the inside of MacDonald for third but would be unable to hold on the spot. Boynton and MacDonald would swap some paint causing Boynton to spin on lap 4.
Deinhardt would once again lead the field in a Delaware Double File restart, however it would not last exceedingly long as Brett Spoor, Alecia Towner and MacDonald all got together resulting in a yellow flag. Deinhardt would pull off another restart while Morse would take second and attempt to hunt down Denhardt’s 160 machine. Boynton would battle with Walt Henry for the third position and would claim it with Whitman right on his tail. Whitman would step up and take away third from Boynton as he slowed and brought out a yellow for a flat right rear tire. Deinhardt would lead the field one last time on a restart, as he took off like a bullet leaving the rest of the field to duke it out for positions. MacDonald will work his way through the field and end up passing Whitman for third while Deinhardt catches the end of the field and passes Henry, and Towner. Spoor’s night would end as he pulled to the infield as would Whitman’s as he would head pit side. Deinhardt would take the checkered flag followed by Morse, Boynton, and MacDonald.
Feature winner Steven Deinhardt is now 2 for 2 in O.R.C.S. competition after picking up the first annual Unruly Race at the Thunder Mountain Speedway last fall. The Street Stock regular loves the idea of a no-holds barred series and has used a large side panel modification on his feature winning cars in the series. The panels and missing roof give the car a better aero package and hold the car to the ground through the turns reasons the O.R.C.S. ace. The driver nicknamed “Dollar Sign” had to fight through traffic in the race’s closing circuits while dealing with a broken shock mount that enhanced the surface’s character late in the program. Steven is also a fan of the Delaware Double style restarts used in the series. Deinhardt plans to run the series whenever it doesn’t conflict with his points chase at Thunder Mountain this season and is creative with his setups to counter running on the DOT tires.
O.R.C.S. Awakening
WINNER – 160 STEVEN DEINHARDT
2.) 21- Mike Morse 3.) J12-Shawn Boynton 4.) 27M-Kevin MacDonald 5.) 171-Walt Henry 6.) 2-Dick Shaddock 7.) 4MK-Sheldon Whitman 8.) 23S-Brett Spoor 9.) 77X-Alecia Towner
