Adams Scored the Hat Trick Claiming His Third Victory in a Row

Baton Rouge, Louisiana (March 26, 1999) – Ronny Adams scored the hat trick when he claimed his third victory in a row to start out the Southern United Professional Racing (SUPR) season.  Adams started on the
pole for the feature at Baton Rouge Raceway and led all 40 laps to claim the victory over fellow front row starter Jeff Chanler.  The combination of a strong car and a good starting position made it very difficult for the rest of the field to compete with the Adams’ A-1 Auto Salvage GRT. Adams got the jump on the start and Chanler fell right in line to hold second and the two would stay in that order throughout.  David Ashley worked by Randy Cook to grab third but was unable to mount a successful challenge to the front two runners.  Larry Ritter in his first night out with SUPR finished fourth just ahead of Eric Courville.

Adams is happy for the fast start but he knows that such success can be fleeting so he’s happy “make hay while the sun’s shining”.   Adams was awarded the pole for the feature through a unique new draw process implemented by SUPR.  Track officials selected a group of young fans from the crowd and they raced on tricycles for the right to represent the top six drivers in a final shot out for the pole.  Adams was the lucky winner as his young racer claimed the win.

Jeff Chanler, who ran a new Barry Wright at the season opener at Lone Star, made a switch back to his older Barry Wright chassis, this time with a spec motor.  The switch was made because Chanler is still sorting out his new car and it proved to be a wise decision.  Chanler could run with Adams but was never able to mount a successful passing attempt.

The best race on the track was the battle for 9th between Jay Blair and Randy Blanchard.  The pair swapped the position no less than 4 times before Blair was able to finally pull away from Blanchard.  Blair held the position to the checker flag while Rob Litton also got by Blanchard for 10th.

With 33 SUPR Late Models on hand, Randy Cook was the GRT Top Qualifier as he was the only heat winner that didn’t start on the pole.   Cook had a strong run in third before losing a few positions in lapped traffic before finishing 6th.  Eddie Taylor, who started on the rear due to a broken fuel pump belt that hastened a quick trip to the pits for replacement, passed five cars en route to the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger award.  Heat winners were Jeff Chanler, Larry Ritter, Ronny Adams, Randy Cook and Eric Courville with Chris Cassano and Sam Patrick claiming the Last Chance wins.

Official results:
1. Ronny Adams
2. Jeff Chanler
3. David Ashley
4. Larry Ritter
5. Eric Courville
6. Randy Cook
7. Kenny Merchant
8. Donald Watson
9. Jay Blair
10. Rob Litton
11. Randy Blanchard
12. Ryan Plaisance
13. Duke Whiseant
14. Dwight Falcon
15. Dave Siegert
16. Chris Cassano
17. Marlon Wild
18. Eddie Taylor
19. Wade Cleveland
20. Sam Patrick
21. Lonnie Covington
22. Jon Mitchell
23. Tracy Gibbens