|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| _ |
Kilgore, Texas (July 13, 2002) – David Ashley, fresh off the July 4th weekend that saw him record three top 3 finishes in as many nights, did what many racers would be hesitant to do. He loaded his hauler up and delivered his racecar back to Larry Shaw Race Cars to prepare it for delivery to its new owner and in its place was a brand new Larry Shaw, a different design than the car he was running. And while some observers questioned Ashley’s decision, it proved to be just what the doctor ordered as Ashley dominated the action at Lone Star Speedway for his first win on the big 3/8th mile oval and his 13th career O’Reilly SUPR Late Model victory. “A bunch of people thought I was crazy, I think I’m crazy sometimes but it’s like I told them, we hadn’t run good here. We knew we were in the show (based on provisional starting spots) so this is the place to run it. The black (rubbered up) setup we had on the other car just works on this one.” Tire management was another important element of Ashley’s success tonight. “I took care of the tires. I knew my tire was marginal. The first half I rode and when they said it was 16 to go my crew told me I had a little lead and I said well if it didn’t pop by now its not going to pop. I just really started driving the car a little harder driving it through on entry and babied it off the corner and they said we stretched out.” Ashley, from Zachary, Louisiana won his heat race and started alongside B&K Underground Top Qualifier Tommy Surrett. Ashley jumped to the lead in his Thornhill Wrecker/J&J Motorsports/Ace Pallets & Storage Wall 2 Wall Performance Engines powered Chevrolet Monte Carlo Larry Shaw but it was Clint Baker who forced the racing action early. Baker started 4th but quickly made it a three-wide battle for the lead as Ashley and Surrett raced on to the backstretch. Baker stayed on Ashley’s heals early and when they began to work through lapped traffic on lap 10, Baker kept looking underneath Ashley in an attempt to grab the lead. Baker’s challenge for the lead was dealt a tough blow when he slipped high in turn three and tagged the wall just hard enough to bend his spoiler and then moments later, a tussle with Sam Patrick damaged the front end aerodynamics on his car. “I was trying to work Ashley on the outside and set it up and he was right there and I couldn’t get on the gas and just slid up into the wall. When I hit Sam Patrick, when he come up we connected and the nose on these cars has some much effect it’s like fighting a wall of wind.” Still Baker was excited with his strong run tonight in his Baker Brothers Plumping/Goddard Performance/Baker Brothers Trucking Ray Ingalls powered Chevrolet Mote Carlo Warrior. “I was real satisfied with it. I could just left off the gas, let the car set and just flat foot it. I was just hocked up all around.” A scary moment occurred on lap 24 as Eric Conner of Kirby, Arkansas made hard contact with the turn one wall bring out a red flag. The emergency crews mobilized Conner as he complained of a sore neck from the impact of the crash. Fortunately for Conner, he only suffered from temporary discomfort and he did not require a visit to the hospital. The same could not be said for his car as it suffered moderate damage from the impact. The race was slowed only one more time when Jon Mitchell spun in turn two and collected Chris Wall on lap 26. Tommy Surrett of Little Rock, Arkansas ran in the top 3 all race long but felt a poor choice of tires kept him from challenging for the win. “The car was good. I didn’t need that caution I think I would have been better if we had gone green the whole way. (Under the red flag) Kenny said he pulled up and looked at the right rear and he said it was blistered then so I went the last 16 laps on a blistered tire.” Kenny Merchant, from West Monroe, Louisiana borrowed a motor from Tommy Surrett as his primer motor suffered a dropped valve last week at Sabine Speedway and he used it to battle Surrett for second in the late stages of the race. “I need to thank Tommy for letting me borrow a motor. We ran pretty good, started 6th and finished third and we didn’t tear anything up.” Merchant ran a Jay Dickens open motor from the Surrett stable in his J.D. Caver/Bayou Fabricators/USA Truck Stop Ford Mustang Warrior and he closed to within 95 points of Rodney Wing in the battle for the 2002 O’Reilly SUPR Late Model Championships. 28 O’Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. James Ward, Tommy Surrett from 7th starting spot, Clint Baker and David Ashley topped the heat races with Rob Litton claiming the Last Chance race. Jeff Chanler started 18th and finished 10th to claim the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger award.
Official Results: 1. David Ashley 2. Tommy Surrett 3. Kenny Merchant 4. Ronny Adams 5. Clint Baker 6. Jason Ingalls 7. Ryan Plaisance 8. Rodney Wing 9. Keith Craft 10. Jeff Chanler 11. Lee Davis 12. Kennith Crowe 13. Michael Coleman 14. Chris Wall 15. Rob Litton 16. Odie Green 17. Jon Mitchell 18. Eric Conner 19. Sam Patrick 20. Ricky Ingalls 21. James Ward 22. Doug Ingalls
© Baton Rouge Raceway, 1998-2002. All rights reserved. Designed and Developed by Internet Advantage Maintained by Weakside Productions |
_ |
|
|
