Kenny Merchant tops Baton Rouge SUPR's for 7th victory of the season

Kenny Merchant tops Baton Rouge SUPRs for 7th victory of the season

Baton Rouge , Louisiana ( September 5, 2003 ) – Kenny Merchant was Mr. Smooth as he raced to his 7^th O’Reilly SUPR Late Model victory at Baton Rouge Raceway. Heavy mid-week rains made the newly re-shaped Baton Rouge Raceway a handful for the drivers but Merchant used the bottom groove to his advantage as he held off several challengers including Jon Mitchell, who came closest to taking the top spot from Merchant before settling for second. The victory tied Merchant with Ronny Adams and Ronnie Poche for second place on the O’Reilly SUPR Late Model All Time Victory list with 26 wins.

Merchant inherited the pole when B&K Top Qualifier Ryan Plaisance spun in turn one on the original race start and was collected by Rob Litton who joined him in restarting on the rear. Merchant then took the point with a trio of challengers close at hand, Ronny Adams, Scott Slay and Mitchell. Slay dropped out on lap 16 and Adams was out by lap 20 leaving only Mitchell and then Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger for the second straight race Marlon Wild to challenge Merchant. Wild started 22^nd and he climbed to 3^rd on lap 19 but that’s were his charge would end as he could not get by Merchant and Mitchell.

In leading the race for all 40-laps, Merchant also extended his now nearly insurmountable point lead to 386 points over James Ward. Merchant is seeking his first O’Reilly SUPR Late Model Championship this season and he put a stranglehold on the lead from the early stages in his J.D. Caver/J&J Motorsports/Bayou Fabricators Keith Craft powered Ford Taurus Warrior.

Phillip Cooper continued his recent string of strong runs with a 4^th place finish just ahead of Donald Watson, who recorded one of his strongest finishes of the season. Trey Beene, James Ward, Wade Glass, Doug Ingalls and David Ashley rounded out the top 10 at the now wider oval at Baton Rouge Raceway.

32 O’Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. Kenny Merchant, Ronny Adams, Jon Mitchell and Scott Slay claimed the heat race victories with David Ashley and Keith Mancil topping the Last Chance races.

Official Results:

1. Kenny Merchant

2. Jon Mitchell

3. Marlon Wild

4. Phillip Cooper

5. Donald Watson

6. Trey Beene

7. James Ward

8. Wade Glass

9. Doug Ingalls

10. David Ashley

11. Chris Wall

12. Keith Mancil

13. Dennis Duncan

14. Ronny Adams

15. Kerry Vicknair

16. Ryan Plaisance

17. Scott Slay

18. Chris Hoyt

19. Bill Gordon

20. Rob Litton

21. Jody Prince

22. Curt Lipsey

Designed and Developed by Internet Advantage

Maintained by Weakside Productions