Special to the Phoenix

OKTAHA – Multiple feature wins do not always translate into the top spot in the championship point races at Outlaw Motor Speedway – two drivers at the three-eighths mile oval will attest to that.

Tahlequah’s Jason Ward and Chelsea’s Joe Duvall lead their respective divisions as the racing season nears its halfway point. Racing tonight starts at 8 p.m.

Ward rests atop the pack in the Pure Stock division despite having only one feature victory to his credit in 10 races. He’ll try for his second in a row in races Friday that start at 9 p.m. Rain canceled last week’s program – scheduled on Monday.

Ward has a 101-point lead over Brandi Levassuer – 839-728 – despite the fact the Chouteau teenager leads the division in feature wins with four. James Gillean, with three checkered flags, is fifth with 693. Muskogee drivers Mike Bantaa and Darrien Austin (one win) are third and fourth with 717 and 714 points respectively.

Being consistent is the reason Ward leads the field. He’s finished in the top five in each race this season. Bantaa has also been a consistent finisher and a couple of weeks ago just missed winning a feature, finishing second after leading the race with two laps remaining.

Greg Skaggs leads the Modified division in wins with four, but he’s well off the pace in points, holding the seventh position with 449.

With one feature verdict, Duvall is the leader with 667, just 17 more than William Gould, who has two.

Without checkered flags, Dena Wilson is third (552), Joe Wright is fourth (525) and Okay’s Andy Morris is fifth (508).

Charles Randolph, from Muskogee, Brandon Watts, from Fort Gibson, and Terry Phillips have the other Modified wins with one each. None of them are in the top 10 in points.

Drivers in two other divisions have used multiple feature victories to catapult them into first place in their respective divisions.

Dale Richardson is the track leader in checkered flags with six and he leads the Hobby Stock chase. The Muskogee veteran has a 49-point lead over Justin Shoemaker, 771-722. Brookin Stephens is third at 703. Stephens has two feature wins while Shoemaker and Muskogee’s Kerney Weaver have one each. Weaver is fourth in points with 655.

Jake Kelley – four wins – is in front of the Economy Modified division with 881 points. Muskogee Dennis Slader (two wins) is second with 832.

Patrick Goodnight rests in third with 763, followed by co-track owner Danny Womack, who has 708. Womack has won two features, and Goodnight, Gould and Clay Julian have one each.