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Baton Rouge, Louisiana (March 29, 2002) –
Rodney Wing benefited from Ronny Adams' misfortune making the final pass
for the lead with just two laps to go to earn his first O'Reilly SUPR
victory of the year. Wing was
running a solid second when Adams suddenly sputtered following the final
caution on lap 34. Wing
caught Adams and passed him on lap 46 only to push in turn 3 allowing
Adams back by. Wing made the
pass stick on lap 49 and took the win.
Adams held on for second with Ryan Plaisance third following
another Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charge, this time from 22nd to 3rd. The win catapulted Wing; driver of the
B&K Underground/Boland Performance/Styling Signs and Decals Keith
Craft powered Chevrolet Monte Carlo Rocket into an increasingly strong
position in the 2002 O'Reilly SUPR Late Model Championship as he now leads
James Ward by 101 points. But
it was Adams misfortune that allowed Wing to take the victory.
Adams held a solid lead when the final caution waved on lap 34 when
Kennith Crowe made contact with the front stretch wall.
When the field restarted, Adams’ motor began to show signs of
internal damage. At one point
Adams even waved his hand out of the car as if he were intending to exit
the track, “the motor lost a cylinder.
It was getting hot, the oil temperature was down but the water
temperature was running about 230 but it kept puking water and I almost
pulled off. But I said as
long as its got water in it I’m okay.
But it just got where it wouldn’t go down the straightaway.” But still holding the race lead and just enough indication that the
motor hadn’t suffered major damage, Adams stayed out and tried his best
to fend off Wing. And Adams
was having success in doing so in the C. Wrights Machine Tool/R.L.
Neally Engines GRT Pontiac Grand Prix
but as the motor dropped down to 7 cylinders, Wing was able to storm by
Adams on lap 46. Wing’s
momentum carried him high through turn 3 and Adams snuck back by for the
lead. Wing tucked behind
Adams and this time he made the pass stick on lap 49. Wing felt he had a good car that got faster
as the race wore on but he didn’t know if he could have caught Adams if
he didn’t have motor trouble. “It
was pretty consistent the whole race and it may have speeded up a little
bit at the end now that I hear he dropped a cylinder I don’t know.
The track was getting better for the tires I had on”. The feature race featured five lead changes
amongst four drivers as B&K Underground Top Qualifier Curt Lipsey led
the first two laps before David Ashley took over for the next four laps.
Ronny Adams then snagged the top spot on lap seven and held the
spot until the 46th lap. Wing
and Adams would swap the lead two more times before the checkers waved. And while the top spot saw its share of
passes, no one was passing more cars than Ryan Plaisance.
Plaisance used a point provisional starting spot and rallied from
22nd to 3rd in a car that Plaisance was just about
ready to give up on as he commented prior to the feature that it might be
time to get a new car. He’ll
give the car another chance in two weeks as the crew made numerous changes
to the car prior to the feature with positive results.
“We changed a bunch of stuff before the feature and things really
seemed to good along the bottom. I
couldn’t race anywhere else on the racetrack but the very bottom and I
still don’t if it was 100% but I had a little moisture there on the
bottom and it was good tonight.” 36 O’Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. David Ashley, Ronny Adams, Kenny Merchant, Bill Avant, K. I.
Davis and Marlon Wild claimed heat wins with Scott Slay and Keith Craft
topping the last chance races. Official
Results:
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