Henderson makes late charge to claim SUPR Sprints opener

Henderson makes late charge to claim SUPR Sprints opener!

Photo courtesy Sue DuRoy

Baton Rouge , Louisiana ( April 10, 2004 ) – Harold Henderson made a late race charge pay off as he claimed the season opener for the O’Reilly SUPR Sprint Cars at Baton Rouge Raceway. In the process, Henderson hauled the biggest payout in the history of the O’Reilly SUPR Sprint Car Series back to Amite , Louisiana , collecting the $1800 first place take.

Henderson started the feature on the inside of row two and settled into fourth in the early going behind race leader Shane Morgan, Butch David and Kelly Angelette. The race was slowed on lap four when Herman Carrier slowed in turn one with a flat left front tire and he was collected by defending O’Reilly SUPR Sprint Car Champion Michael Herrington, who tried to squeeze by on the outside of Carrier. Both cars were finished for the night.

By lap six Henderson had moved by Angelette for third while David assumed the point from Morgan. David built up a large lead while Henderson worked to reel in Morgan in the battle for second, a task he accomplished on lap 13. Henderson then began to work on David’s lead.

The field bunched up one more time on lap 16 as the caution waved for Humble, Texas competitor Kent Lewis Jr. who lost a motor and suffered a brief flash fire as the oil from his motor hit the red hot headers. Lewis was battling Lane Whittington for sixth when his motor expired. As the race went back green, Henderson utilized lapped traffic to his advantage and closed in on David making the pass for the lead on lap 23 of the 25 lap feature, racing around the outside groove through turns one and two to complete the pass.

Henderson noted that tonight was his first night out in his new car and he was assisted by former SUPR Sprint Car feature winner Michael Dupuy. In victory lane, Henderson repeated Dupuy’s fence climbing celebration to the delight of the large Baton Rouge Raceway crowd.

Butch David retained second place and acknowledged that he had spent most of his energies building up a big lead and that working through lapped traffic just proved to be too big a challenge tonight and that Henderson was able to run him down because he was worn out late in the race.

Shane Morgan closed back in on David and made it a three-way battle for the lead but he was unable to climb back to the front. Terry Vidrine started seventh and battled his way forward to finish fourth ahead of Lane Whittington, who made the charge of the night, climbing from 23^rd to fifth at the checkers. Kelly Angelette held on to sixth despite losing his front spoiler early in the 25-lapfeature. David Kountz, Mark Roth, Kent Lewis Sr. and Billy Gunter rounded out the top 10.

In heat race action, Butch David started seventh in the first heat race and charged to the victory, earning the pole for the feature in the process. Shane Morgan won the second heat race from the third starting spot while Harold Henderson claimed the third heat race from the pole.

23 O’Reilly SUPR Sprint Cars were on hand and all cars took the green flag in the feature.

Official Results:

1. Harold Henderson, Amite , Louisiana - $1,800

2. Butch David, Gesimar , Louisiana - $1,000

3. Shane Morgan, Gulfport , Mississippi - $700

4. Terry Vidrine, Slaughter, Louisiana - $600

5. Lane Whittington, Denham Springs , Louisiana -$525

6. Kelly Angelette, Thibodaux , Louisiana - $450

7. David Kountz, Mobile , Alabama - $375

8. Mark Roth, Jefferson , Louisiana - $340

9. Kent Lewis, Sr., Willis , Texas - $300

10. Billy Gunter, Florence , Mississippi - $300

11. Rick Holt, Shreveport , Louisiana - $300

12. Chris Buhler, Denham Springs , Louisiana - $300

13. Rhett Butler, Harahan , Louisiana - $300

14. Jerry Aguillard, Youngsville , Louisiana - $300

15. Adam Moneyhun, Amite , Louisiana - $300

16. Cary Farmer, Zachary , Louisiana - $300

17. Kent Lewis, Jr., Humble, Texas - $300

18. Cassidy Lejune, Abbeville , Louisiana - $300

19. Wesley Young, Laurel , Mississippi - $300

20. Michael Herrington, Prairieville , Louisiana - $300

21. Herman Carrier, Amite , Louisiana - $300

22. Steve Murphy, Ferriday , Louisiana - $300

23. Neil McCarl, Haughton , Louisiana - $300

Designed and Developed by Internet Advantage

Maintained by Weakside Productions