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Doyline, Louisiana (July 20, 2002) – Jon Mitchell claimed his first O’Reilly SUPR Late Model victory of the 2002 season as he topped the 20-car field at Champion Park Speedway. On a night when the Champion Park racing surface outfoxed many of the competitors, Mitchell was able to get his car set up properly for the tricky conditions and overcame an early race slip to take the win. “I thought we kind of missed the setup there at the start but the car came to me a little bit. I got back by Ricky (Ingalls) there and then worked on Rodney (Wing) and got back by him. We changed our line a little bit and it made the car get better. I was trying to keep my momentum getting in. We changed our brake pads, went with some U.S. Brake Pads and they helped there getting in the turn.” Mitchell snagged the B&K Underground Top Qualifier Award but slipped to 3rd on the start as Rodney Wing and Ricky Ingalls grabbed the top two spots with Wing leading the field after one. Wing looked strong early but Mitchell was able to get his J&J Motorsports/Pannell Motorsports/A-1 Graphics Kenneth’s High Performance powered Chevrolet Monte Carlo GRT back up front, moving by Ricky Ingalls on lap 7 to grab second and then grabbing the lead for good on lap 11. The win also helped move Mitchell back inside the top 5 in the chase for the 2002 O’Reilly SUPR Late Model Championship. “We’ve had some bad luck here the last month or two. We really needed that.” Ricky Ingalls stayed near the front all night long but just couldn’t muster enough out of his Cloud Motorsports/Amsoil PTS powered Chevrolet Monte Carlo GRT to take the lead. “It was better than it has been. I was just fortunate enough to get qualified halfway decent. I’m still lacking on the setup a little bit, Jon had his hocked up a lot better. He was killing me off the corners. I got by him early, I went with softer tires than most of the guys and I think that got me in a position where I got but Jonathan had a better ca. He deserved to win it, I’m glad for him.” Hometown favorite Jody Prince recorded his strongest finish of the season as he grabbed third place on lap 22 and held it to the finish, challenging Ricky for second during the late stages of the event. “I really thought it would get blacker a little bit sooner. You know I thought we’d be good at the end just couldn’t get around Ricky there. I was doing all I could do and he was doing what he had to do to keep it on the bottom.” James Ward recorded a solid 4th place finish to maintain his lead in the battle for Late Model America/B&K Underground/Ashley Brothers Rookie of the Year battle. He was followed by Ryan Plaisance who did a nice job of recovering from an early spin to finish 5th. Kenny Merchant edged closer to Rodney Wing in the battle for the 2002 O’Reilly SUPR Late Model Championship with a late charge to finish 6th just ahead of Kennith Crowe, another victim of an early spin. Rodney Wing finished 8th and added 12 points to his lead over David Ashley in the point standings. Odie Green and David Ashley rounded out the top 10. Bill Gordon started 19th and finished 11th, earning the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger award for his efforts. 27 O’Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. Heat winners were James Ward, Jon Mitchell, Rodney Wing and Ricky Ingalls. Odie Green won the last chance race. Feature: 1. Jon Mitchell 2. Ricky Ingalls 3. Jody Prince 4. James Ward 5. Ryan Plaisance 6. Kenny Merchant 7. Kennith Crowe 8. Rodney Wing 9. Odie Green 10. David Ashley 11. Bill Gordon 12. Rusty Cummings 13. Gil Larry 14. Allen Tippen 15. Trey Beene 16. Sam Patrick 17. Jeff Chanler 18. Tommy Surrett 19. Rob Litton 20. Keith Craft
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