Blair returns to victory lane at the Longhorn Rumble

Blair returns to victory lane at the Longhorn Rumble

Baytown, Texas -- September 28th. The "Angie Assassin" Jay Blair put an explanation point on his return to dirt tracks Saturday night. After a short stint of asphalt racing earlier this season, Blair scored his first win by leading 49 of the 50 laps around a big, fast and exciting Houston Raceway Park three-eighths mile dirt oval and collected $3000 for his efforts. The two-time SUPR champion grabbed the lead from the 1999 champion
and current runner-up in the standings David Ashley on lap two with his Creel Brothers/Nature Gardens/All Star Racing Graphics/Klarr Racing Engines GRT. Blair checked out for the first half of the feature but then Ashley was able to run him back down in lapped traffic.

Blair and Ashley established a torrid pace as the race stayed green from lap four through lap forty-two. They lapped all but the sixth place car who was Ronny Adams at the time. While the pair passed much of the field using inside or outside -- wherever they caught them -- Adams proved to be just strong enough on the inside to hold off an outside pass and being the last car on the lead lap, he was not about to let the leaders by. Ashley caught Blair and then as the trio worked through other lapped cars, he pulled along side of Blair's #2X several times.

"I was worried when I saw David along side of me. The car was great and I like the track. We didn't change a thing all night. I just got caught behind a lapped car. I really want to thank Ricky Klarr of Klarr Racing Engines in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Ricky's started doing my motors and he's been putting some good ones under me. I need to thank my whole crew - Wayne Hughes, Matt Hillhouse, Jason Hayes and Roy Schwegman as well. Roy was the only one who got to travel with me here but they all have been a huge help."

Blair also stated his intentions to race for the 2003 SUPR Late Model Championship. If successful, Blair would tie Doug Ingalls for the most SUPR championships at three each. Jay started inside row two and directly behind Longview, Texas racer Clint Baker in the Baker Brothers Warrior powered by a Ray Ingalls Engine. Baker continues to be impressive in his first full season of Late Model racing as he advanced four places in winning his heat race and earned the B&K Underground Top Qualifier Award. Ashley started outside row one beside Baker.

Ashley got a big jump on Baker on the first start with Blair quickly moving to the inside of Clint's #88 but a pair of spins by Bill Gordon and Phil Cooper off turn two brought the field around for another try. One of two local drivers in the SUPR feature Brian Millican also suffered damage to his Rocket in the mishap and would become a DNF after 15 laps. Baker got a better start the second time which led to a three-wide battle for the lead with Blair moving to the inside of the front row cars. Blair and Ashley crossed the line in a near dead heat at the end of lap one but Blair three-wheeled through turn one to assume the lead and set sail. Only a lap four yellow caused when sixth-running Marlon Wild went up in smoke temporarily slowed Blair's early charge.

Another impressive rookie Late Model driver -- Chris Henigan of Marshall, Texas who was making his first SUPR race in just his eighth start in a Late Model -- spun on the restart to keep the yellow flying. Henigan easily won one of the two last chance qualifiers to make the feature. He would complete 42 laps for a 14th place finish. SUPR's leading rookie of the year candidate James Ward won the other last chance qualifier in spite of throwing a belt off the Ray McCullough racing #79 for the second time on the night. Ward had made several early passes but would have to leave under the
lap four caution because of the same fan belt problem. The field would see nothing but green lights for the next 38 laps and only Ashley would see Blair's #2X eventually get larger instead of smaller.

As Blair checked out on Ashley, Ashley checked out on third place Baker. Robbie Starnes -- the other hometown driver in the field with the Flynn Racing GRT -- and Rob Litton ran in the top five. SUPR point leader Rodney Wing started eighth and slid back to tenth but then found a high line he preferred and began to rally back. On lap eight, Wing went around the outside of Odie Green and Adams for sixth place and left those two to swap seventh around in one of several good mid-pack side-by-side duels. Starnes engaged Baker in a good battle for third and took the spot on lap ten.

Sixteenth starting Jon Mitchell and Kenneth Crowe who had started 22nd with a provisional were having a great battle for eighth when Blair closed before lap twenty was completed. As Blair worked to put the pair a lap down, Ashley gained ground. By half way, Blair had disposed of Mitchell and Crowe but Ashley was now in striking distance. Starnes pulled into the infield on lap 22 and was done for the night. Baker, Litton and Wing were now third, fourth and fifth. Green was next to go a lap down to Blair on lap 29.

Blair intended Adams to be next but the cagey veteran had other ideas and intended to stay on the lead lap. The most intense racing of the night came between lap 32 and the lap 42 caution. Adams held his inside line and let the leaders have the outside lane. Cars that were going two laps down were running the high line as well and served as picks for Adams and added to Blair's task of trying to keep the lead from Ashley. On lap 33, Ashley cleared Green and got along side of Blair but pushed. On the next lap, Ashley took the lead going into turn three but Blair took it back in four. Also on lap 34, Litton passed Baker for third.

The lead duo then got a scare when Kevin Migura got loose in front of them coming off turn four on the next lap. Blair cleared quicker than Ashley did and opened up some breathing room. Mitchell passed Ashley back and was looking for Green's seventh place in a battle of lapped cars. Ashley had other problems now though as his nose was damaged in the fray and part of it was getting run over by his left front tire and it slowed his pace. He was no longer a match for Blair.

Finally, the field got a breather and Adams got the break he was looking for on lap 42 when Baker came to a stop with a right front brake caliper locked up. A quick trip to the pits for Baker allowed him to open a brake line valve and continue in sixth place as the last car on the lead lap. The caution was a killer for a somewhat crippled Ashley who now hand to fend off Litton, Wing and Adams on the restart with 8 laps remaining. One lap after going back green, Litton got into the back of a slower than expected Ashley
who spun on the frontstretch but kept it going. Crowe and Gordon were not so fortunate as they spun to a halt behind the leaders for a caution. The lap was completed prior to the caution waving and Ashley was now in fourth as Litton and Wing passed him while he spun.

Blair had the cushion of Green and Mitchell racing for position between him and Litton for the restart. It wasn't like he needed it. Jay cruised the final seven laps for the win. Within three laps after going back green, Adams and Baker sent Ashley back to sixth and would battle for fourth right down to the wire. The best fight for position in the closing laps was the one for seventh right behind the leader. Mitchell ran high and Green low.

At the finish, Blair led Litton, Wing, Adams and Baker. Wing has a good but not insurmountable point lead over Ashley with just three races left on the schedule: The Louisiana State Championships at Baton Rouge Raceway on October 18th and 19th (2 features) and the Jambalaya 100 at Pike County Speedway on November 8th and 9th. Ashley led the second five with Mitchell winning the battle over Green for seventh. Curt Lipsey came home ninth while Kenneth Crowe earned the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger award for gaining ten spots and finished tenth.

The five heat races for the field of 35 cars were won by Ashley, Baker, Starnes and Litton and Wild. Tommy Surrett had a hard crash into the turn three wall in hot laps that totaled his Rocket Chassis. Surrett used a provisional in Michael Coleman's #5A to start the feature but never completed a lap before retiring. Coleman lost a transfer spot right at the finish to Davin Bates after a good side-by-side battle over the final two
laps of their last chance qualifier.

Official Results:
1. Jay Blair
2. Rob Litton
3. Rodney Wing
4. Ronny Adams
5. Clint Baker
6. David Ashley
7. Jon Mitchell
8. Odie Green
9. Curt Lipsey
10. Kenneth Crowe
11. Bill Gordon
12. Phil Cooper
13. Chris Wall
14. Chris Henigan
15. Kevin Migura
16. Robbie Starnes
17. Davin Bates
18. Ryan Plaisance
19. Brian Millican
20. James Ward
21. Marlon Wild

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