Merchant masters I-30 Speedway

Merchant masters I-30 Speedway!

Little Rock, Arkansas (April 2, 2005) – Kenny Merchant arrived at I-30 Speedway with a car so new that he didn’t have time to letter the car and so his new MasterSbilt Keith Craft powered Ford Taurus was simply identified with a taped on 1x. But while the car may have been new, the end results were common for Merchant who has dominated the O’Reilly SUPR Late Models at I-30 Speedway, winning for the fifth time in the last seven races dating back to 2003.

Kenny Merchant felt he had a good car right from the beginning of the night but he was reluctant to show his hand early, opting for a runner-up finish in his heat race and then rolling around in the top five before making a decisive charge to the front at the just before the midpoint of the race. Once out front, Merchant was able to pull clear of the field to take the impressive victory.

The 40-lap feature race started with B&K Underground Top Qualifier Ronny Adams jumping to the early lead with David Ashley and Bill Frye battling for second. Ashley would take the lead on lap five with Frye following in second. Frye was running the top with Ashley on the bottom and this would prove to be decisive as the pair battle for the lead when the pair raced off of turn two on lap 10. Allen Tippen was trying to exit the track on the backstretch after damaging his right front following contact with a ute tire. Unfortunately for Bill Frye, Tippen had not cleared the track and Frye was forced into a snap spin to keep from driving right through nearly stalled car. Frye was unable to avoid contact and was finished for the night.

The Frye Tippen accident almost ended Merchant’s night as well as Merchant was just behind Frye and was fortunate to take only a glancing blow in the impact and kept running to maintain his position.

Ashley continued in the lead on the restart with Adams moving into second and Merchant in third. Merchant moved back by Adams on lap 15 and then used a lap 17 restart following a Keith Craft spin to launch his attack. Merchant stormed by Ashley on the high side and left the competition battling for second, and a good battle it was with Trey Beene and Lee Davis challenging Ashley and Adams and then local favorite Terry Henson used the middle line to mount a late race charge that would see him rise from sixth to second in just six laps. One final caution waved on lap 34 and just when it appeared Henson would be able to chase down Merchant to battle for the lead, his engine appeared to drop a valve and while it didn’t keep Henson from losing any track position, it did prevent Henson from making a challenge on Merchant. Henson’s charge from 14^th to second earned him the Creel Brothers Hard Charger award.

Ronny Adams was able to secure third ahead of Trey Beene and Ashley with Jeff Chanler, Rusty Cummings, Lee Davis, Jason Ingalls and Jody Prince rounding out the top ten.

29 O’Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand with Bill Frye, Ronny Adams, Trey Beene and David Ashley opening the night by claiming the heat wins while Rusty Cummings claimed the last chance race.

Official Results:

1. Kenny Merchant

2. Terry Henson

3. Ronny Adams

4. Trey Beene

5. David Ashley

6. Jeff Chanler

7. Rusty Cummings

8. Lee Davis

9. Jason Ingalls

10. Jody Prince

11. Bubba Mullins

12. Ray Moore

13. Keith Craft

14. Patrick Daniel

15. Robbie Stuart

16. Doug Ingalls

17. Eric Conner

18. Tim Crawley

19. Dwaine Hottinger

20. Jon Mitchell

21. Bill Frye

22. Allen Tippen

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