Whiseant rolls to SUPR late model triumph at I-30 Speedway

By Mark Clark and Steve Molnar

LITTLE ROCK, AR (May 1, 1999) - Duke Whiseant claimed his first Southern United Professional Racing (SUPR) Late Model feature as he started his A-1 Auto Salvage GRT from the pole and never looked back at I-30 Speedway, Saturday.

Whiseant described the win as exciting.

"I seen the rolling flags (indicating two laps to go) and I say 'Oh I hope I can stay down on the bottom'," said Whiseant, who credited a new chassis setup for the strong runs this weekend. "We’ve been working on a new setup and finally got it to where it worked pretty good. (Larry Shaw) helped me all this week get my car ready - he went in and changed a lot of the setup on it,"

At the start, Whiseant quickly pulled out to a sizeable lead on the field. By the time the race’s only caution waved on lap 11, Whiseant had already caught lapped traffic. Once back under green, he maintained a solid lead over Eddie Taylor and Wade Cleveland, who battled for second. The caution waved for Eddie Provence who had lost his power steering and then had contact with Ronnie Adams. Adams continued unabated while Provence parked his car for the night.

Whiseant wasn’t the only driver grinning in the pits as second place finisher Taylor finally shook off the bad luck he’s had this year to date.

"That’s the best I’ve finished this year...we’ve been struggling."

Equally happy to get in a good run was third place Wade Cleveland. Cleveland has been suffering through a series of engine failures this year and was quick to point out the help he received from Keith Craft.

"He came over last night and said 'I know you’re having trouble.' Why don’t you bring it to the shop and let me look over the car and see if I can help you figure out what’s wrong with the car," Cleveland added. "I hope Godzilla’s off my back. It became from a little monkey to Godzilla, it’s been tough."

Whiseant, of Texarkana, Ar., earned the GRT Top Qualifier when he claimed the first heat race of the night. Thirty-three SUPR late models were on hand for the second of two nights of racing at I-30 Speedway. Other heat winners were Cleveland, Randy Cook, Taylor and Dennis Duncan while last chance winners were Craft and Jay Blair. Leading SUPR rookie contender, Dave Siegert, claimed the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger Award for passing eight cars in the feature.

The supporting classes for the SUPR late model show were very exciting with Randy Weaver getting his second win over Jason Smotherman and Kenny Loux. Heat winners were Smotherman and Mike Bolding.

In the IMCA modified class there were enough cautions for a whole night in this one race. Several drivers rose to the top of the 25-lap event. It was veteran driver Buddy Pfifer who worked his way through the pack, laying claim to the top spot. David Baser, in his Bradford Marine-sponsored GRT modified, was pressing hard on Pfifer, first trying high and then low, looking for Pfifer to slip up. Both Pifer and Baser ran a clean race, each giving one another plenty of room.

The biggest gain on the night was by Alexander, Arkansas' Charlie Armstrong who started on the last row and worked his way to the third spot. At the line it was Pfifer, Baser, Armstrong, Arlin Stewart and Scooter Scruggs. Heat winners were Jeremy Kester, Shawn Blees, Baser and Jimmy Dixon. The "B" feature winner was Armstrong.


Official results:
1. Duke Whiseant
2. Eddie Taylor
3. Wade Cleveland
4. Randy Cook
5. Dennis Duncan
6. Ronnie Adams
7. Larry Ritter
8. Rusty Cummings
9. Marlon Wild
10. Bubba Mullins
11. David Ashley
12. Tommy Surrett
13. Dave Siegert
14. Jay Blair
15. Ricky Ingalls
16. Steve Latson
17. Jon Mitchell
18. Eric Courville
19. Keith Craft
20. Lee Davis
21. Rob Litton
22. Eddie Provence