Chris Wall takes home Late Model State title!

Chris Wall takes home Late Model State Title!

Baton Rouge, Louisiana (October 16, 2004) – Chris Wall chased down early race leader Jody Prince and took the lead following a terrific side-by-side duel that saw the pair dice through lapped traffic for several laps before Wall could secure the lead on lap on lap 13. Wall led from that point forward while Jody Prince would retire early from contact made during the lead battle. Wall would have to stave off the challenges from Ray Moore, then Rob Litton and finally a fast closing Kenny Merchant who started 13th, suffered an early flat, and then stormed through the field to claim second. Merchant had one last late caution that bunched the field but the Intimagator was able to pull away to the victory, his second O'Reilly SUPR Late Model victory on the season and of his career. And yet in a special season for Wall, this race ranks as special for Wall. “This is special to me, here, hometown crowd at Baton Rouge Raceway; it’s just a neat deal.” The victory also backs up one of Wall’s first major victories when he won the State Championship in a Super Stock.

At the start of the feature it was Jody Prince in a brand new MastersBilt that set the early pace. Prince earned the B&K Underground Top Qualifier award after taking the win in heat two from the third starting spot. Prince led outside second row starter Ray Moore early but the car on the move early was Chris Wall, who started fifth but was up to third by lap three. The race was then slowed by a series of yellow flags that slowed the momentum but once the racing settled down it was Jody Prince pulling to an early lead only to be chased down by Wall and the pair then began to dice through lapped traffic by lap ten and they continued to race side by side until lap 13 when the pair bounced tires in turn three and Jody suffered a broken left front and was soon out of the race.

Wall then set the pace up front with Moore still holding his own in second but the pace would quicken when Litton climbed to third on lap 16 after starting 16^th and then Kenny Merchant reached the top five on lap 24 after suffering a flat tire during the early batch of cautions. The racing was going on all over the Baton Rouge Raceway oval but Wall continued to control the pace up front building a sizeable lead over the field. Litton would grab second on lap 30 with Merchant then seizing second on lap 34. One last caution waved on lap 39 and Merchant appeared to be the fastest car on the track at that point, but faced with two lapped cars between him and Wall, the challenge for the lead never materialized and Wall cruised to the State Title.

Rob Litton held on to third behind Merchant with Ray Moore finishing fourth ahead of James Ward, who passed ten cars en route to fifth. Doug Ingalls was steady all night starting sixth and finishing in the same position. Garrett Durrett, who started in 22^nd after utilizing a SUPR point provisional to make the field after winning a preliminary race the night before, stormed by 15 cars to finish seventh and capture the Creel Brothers Hard Charger award. Bubba Mullins, Jay Blair and Robbie Stuart rounded out the top ten.

37 O’Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand with Chris Wall, Jody Prince, Doug Ingalls, Phillip Cooper and Ray Moore taking the heat wins while Robbie Stuart and Rodney Sheridan claimed the last chance races.

Official Results:

1. Chris Wall

2. Kenny Merchant

3. Rob Litton

4. Ray Moore

5. James Ward

6. Doug Ingalls

7. Garrett Durrett

8. Bubba Mullins

9. Jay Blair

10. Robbie Stuart

11. Adam Willis

12. Brian Deroche

13. Jason Polite

14. Danny Mahan

15. David Ashley

16. Rodney Sheridan

17. Kevin Watts

18. Phillip Cooper

19. Allen Tippen

20. Jody Prince

21. Scott Slay

22. Chad Guy

23. Bill Gordon

24. Wade Glass

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