Ronny Adams conquers the 2nd Annual Longhorn Rumble at Houston Raceway Park

Ronny Adams conquers the 2nd Annual Longhorn Rumble at Houston Raceway Park

Baytown, Texas (September 6, 2003) – Ronny Adams would not be denied as he overcame adversity at every corner to take the 2^nd Annual Longhorn Rumble at Houston Raceway Park with a stirring charge to the front, catching and passing Marlon Wild with a lap to go. The victory allowed Adams to break a three-way logjam for second place in all time O’Reilly SUPR Late Model victories as Adams now only trails Doug Ingalls with 27 victories to Ingalls’ 37.

Adams has been on the short end of some tough breaks recently including a tangle with David Ashley at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on July 4^th that cost him a potential victory but Adams arrived this weekend with a new Larry Shaw race car and was fast from the start. But while his Friday night racing at Baton Rouge Raceway ended early with a part failure, Saturday night Adams made it clear he was one of the cars to beat. An early tangle in his heat race sent Adams to the rear but he was able to work his way back to second in the short 10-lap heat race. That effort earned Adams the B&K Underground Top Qualifier award and the pole for the feature but it was defending race champion Jay Blair who shot to the early lead.

Blair held the lead for the first 21 laps with Adams a steady second until lap 19 when contact two laps earlier between Adams and Wild led to Adams left rear tire to go flat as a result of the impact. The contact occurred as Wild tried to challenge Adams for second as they raced through three and four. From this point forward the race would only be slowed by one final caution on lap 32 but it was key break as it allowed Adams, who had already worked his way back to sixth a chance to get a clear shot at the lead battle. And the race just continued to intensify as the battle for the lead had become a mutli-car battle. Wild took the lead from Blair on lap 22 and he was soon joined by David Ashley, Kenny Merchant, Blair, Donnie Barnhart and Jon Mitchell in jockeying for position on the fast, slick HRP oval. As the race reached 5 to go, the battle was set with Wild leading over Ashley, Merchant, Adams and Barnhart. Adams took third on lap 46 and then second on lap 47 before catching Wild coming off of turn four with one to go to take the win in the C. Wrights Machine Tool/Wilhelm Sales/All Pro Bumper to Bumper Larry Shaw Race Car powered by a Neely and Associates power plant.

Ashley finished third just ahead of Kenny Merchant who hung on with a wounded motor to finish fourth ahead of Donnie Barnhart and his v-6. Doug Ingalls, Jay Blair, Jon Mitchell, Phillip Cooper and Curt Lipsey rounded out the top 10.

22 O’Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. Marlon Wild, Trey Beene and Donnie Barnhart shared the heat race victories. Hometown favorite Robbie Starnes had a rough night, making hard contact with the front stretch after tire hopping with Phillip Cooper as they raced for position in the first heat race. Starnes and his crew worked all night to get the chassis straightened out only to see contact with the back stretch wall in the feature after contact with James Ward. To the credit of his crew, the weld held but a lower control arm snapped and Starnes’ night was finished. Ryan Plaisance also made hard contact with the front stretch wall while battling for position in the feature with Chris Wall.

Official Results:

1. Ronny Adams

2. Marlon Wild

3. David Ashley

4. Kenny Merchant

5. Donnie Barnhart

6. Doug Ingalls

7. Jay Blair

8. Jon Mitchell

9. Phillip Cooper

10. Curt Lipsey

11. Trey Beene

12. Donald Watson

13. Kevin Migura

14. Danny Mahan

15. James Ward

16. Phil Dixon

17. Chris Wall

18. Richard Mills

19. Ryan Plaisance

20. Robbie Starnes

21. Hunt Lobell

22. Jody Prince

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