|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| _ |
McComb, Mississippi (November 8, 2003) – Last year Kenny Merchant was leading the Jambalaya 100 until lap 67 when he tangled with a lapped car ending his night and tonight lapped traffic almost cost him the 7th Annual Jambalaya 100 again, almost. Instead Merchant claimed the victory, his 9th O’Reilly SUPR victory of the season, and capped off his Championship season with his 28th career victory, once again moving past Ronny Adams into sole possession of 2nd place on the all-time SUPR victory list. Merchant was in control of the race in his J.D. Caver/Bayou Fabricators/J&J Motorsports Keith powered Ford Taurus Warrior when Wing mounted his final charge. “We were just sitting there riding and then we got into heavy lapped traffic and they were like really racing them last two laps. That’s all I needed was to get taken out with two laps to go. I was watching (crew chief) Davis (Taylor) 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and that’s all I need was to be taken out or spinning with two laps to go. Wing got there and it was one of them deals. I mean he made a good run because it was around the corner there when I actually seen him and I think he had to push because whenever I seen him I jumped up on the throttle and I was far enough around that I was able to go but to me it looked like he was already going when I seen him. I really thought I was passed and we drove back by.” Kenny Merchant chased down Mike Boland and took the lead on lap 73 en route to his 9th O’Reilly SUPR Late Model victory as Merchant topped the 7th Annual Jambalaya 100 at Pike County Speedway. Merchant victory was not without challenge however as Rodney Wing joined Merchant in moving by Boland and then Wing mounted his own challenge for the lead and it nearly paid off as Wing drew even with Merchant as they raced into turn one on the final lap but just as the were side-by-side Merchant found a line through lapped traffic that allowed him to hold off Wing’s challenge. Merchant started fourth and swapped third with Wing before breaking clear and he began to pursue Boland and pole sitter Garrett Durrett. Merchant moved by Durrett on lap 6 and then began to chase down Boland who had already begun to build a sizeable lead. Merchant pursued Boland up through the 50-lap fuel stop before closing in and taking the lead on lap 73.
Rodney Wing ran fourth until lap 40 when he moved by Durrett to grab third and then moved to second on lap 74. Wing was fighting a poorly handling vehicle but still was able to take advantage of lapped traffic to make his final charge. Early in the race his right side sheet metal mounts broke loss and logged under his right rear causing it to blister prematurely then the right rear started to vibrate heavily. “We had some problems along the way, we’re lucky we finished. The left rear wheel was busted out pretty bad; the lug nuts were busting out of it, the lug nuts worked loose some kind of way, it was shaking like heck.” Despite all these problems, Wing fought to the very end and nearly pulled off the pass into turn one.
For Mike Boland, it was also a case of what if. Boland, piloting a car out of the B&K Underground stable of Billy McDonald, felt tires did him in. “We were on the wrong tire, I knew it from going out there but nobody had a 46 right rear. Nobody had one left, the (parts) truck didn’t have one left and we didn’t have one so that’s all I could was to try to get the lead and take care of it. That’s what I was trying to do take care of the tires. At lap 50 they said it was a little over half gone so I knew if we had a long green I’d be in trouble and that’s what happened. The right rear slicked off and the left rear picked up and we got a little loser getting in. We were lucky to finish the race.” Jon Mitchell passed 6 cars to move to fifth place at the checkers while Rob Litton earned the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger award for passing 13 cars in the feature to finish 6th with David Ashley, Chris Wall, Sam Patrick and James Ward rounded out the top 10. 32 of the 42 non-qualifiers returned to battle in four last chance races with the top 2 in each advancing to the feature. Kennith Crowe led all 12 laps to top the first last chance race with Stormy Derryberry taking the second spot in the show when David Glass and Chad Poston wrecked in turn two on the final lap as the battled for the transfer spot. Donald
Watson used the outside pole to shot to the lead and then led all 12 laps
to take the win with Tony Lawson holding off Davin Bates to take the
second transfer spot. Ronny Curt Lipsey, the 2003 Magnolia State Champion with the highest average finish during the Magnolia State Challenge at Pike County Speedway earned a spot in the feature along with O’Reilly SUPR provisionals for Doug Ingalls and Jody Prince while Marlon Wild was granted a track provisional to secure the 24-car starting field. Official Results: 1. Kenny Merchant 2. Rodney Wing 3. Mike Boland 4. Garrett Durrett 5. Jon Mitchell 6. Rob Litton 7. David Ashley 8. Chris Wall 9. Sam Patrick 10. James Ward 11. Ryan Plaisance 12. Jay Blair 13. Jody Prince 14. Keith Miller 15. Seavy Clemmons 16. Donald Watson 17. Stormy Derryberry 18. Curt Lipsey 19. Kennith Crowe 20.
Ronny 21. Tony Lawson 22. Doug Ingalls 23. Marlon Wild 24. Lester Bernidas
Click here to view Heat Race Results
About | News | Tracks | Results
| Points | Schedule | Photo Gallery | © Baton Rouge Raceway, 1998-2003. All rights reserved. Designed and Developed by Internet Advantage Maintained by Weakside Productions |
_ |
|
|
