Wall stirs $5,000 victory at Pike's Jambalaya 100
Story courtesy DirtonDirt.com

By Bryan Wimberley

MAGNOLIA, Miss. (Nov. 14) Polesitter Chris Wall of Holden, La., led all every lap of Pike County Speedway's Jambalaya 100 for a victory worth $5,000. The season finale on the O'Reilly Southern United Professional Racing tour saw fourth-place finisher Kenny Merchant of West Monroe, La., crowned as the SUPR champion for the third time and second year in a row.

Wall's No. 71 was dominant all night long and he took the checkered flags five seconds ahead of runner-up Robbie Stuart of DeRidder, La. Stuart had a time of his own holding onto the second spot, as Wall drove away from the field after almost every restart. David Ashley of Zachary, La., Merchant and Anthony Burroughs of Muscle Shoals, Ala., rounded out the top five finishers in a race slowed by nine cautions.

After surviving an early battle with Merchant and a couple of scrapes with lapped cars, Wall powered his way to victory just as predicted. During driver introductions, as Wall was introduced, he was asked if he'd ever won the Jambalaya 100. "No, not until tonight!" he replied to oohs and aahs from the crowd.

Strong throughout the race, Wall sensed midway through the race that his car was good enough to back up his prediction.

"Around about lap 50, my crew told me we had a really good car you know and you keep doing what we've been doing," Wall said. "After that, I was counting them down every lap!"

At the opening green, Wall led the field out of turn two with the fourth-starting Merchant passing Stuart and Kyle Cummings of Sibley, La., to take the second spot by the completion of the initial lap. Merchant quickly gained two positions and started to bear down on Wall.

Two laps later, Merchant looked inside of Wall exiting turn four, only to be nipped at the line by less than a nose for the lead. The blistering pace set by the Wall-Merchant battle brought the frontrunners into lapped traffic by the seventh circuit. Still feeling heat from Merchant, Wall brushed the lapped car of William Fletcher, but managed to hold onto first.

The night's first caution flew on lap 14 for Marlon Wild's slowed car in turn three, but also saw Kenny Merchant come into the pits with a flat right rear. After changing tires, Merchant restarted 17th.

Stuart inherited second after Merchant's troubles but had his hands full with Ashley. Following a lap-24 caution, Stuart and Ashley exchanged paint for the runner-up spot exiting turn two while Merchant was working his way back into the top 10.

Coming up on the halfway point, the attrition rate was starting to mount as 16 total cars were on the track. Just as the group was slowed for the mandatory fuel stop, Wall had built a three-second lead on the second-running Stuart with Ray Moore, Ashley and Jon Mitchell also in the mix. Merchant was back up to sixth at halfway.

Restarting the second half the race, the longest green-flag run of the night 14 laps helped Wall stretch his lead back to 2.5 seconds.

By lap 75 Wall was more than five seconds ahead, but that was erased for a three-car tangle among Mitchell, Moore and Kevin Sitton. Mitchell and Moore both suffered right-rear sheetmetal damage, but both continued after the eighth caution with Mitchell maintaining his spot and Moore and Sitton on the rear.

Wall cruised the rest of the way while Merchant and Burroughs dropped Mitchell out of the top five in the late stages.

Notes: Wall's MasterSbilt Race Car is powered by Wall 2 Wall Performance Engines and sponsored by Gator Trax Boats, C&M Gator Farm, X-Treme Graphics and GVS Racing. ... The victory was the ninth of Wall's SUPR career and third of '09. ... His last SUPR victory at Pike County came on April 25, 2009. ... The checkered flag fell on the 72-minute race at 11:19 p.m. Besides nine cautions, the race was also stopped at lap-50 for a five-minute refueling session to insure cars could go the distance. ... A dozen cars finished on the lead lap with 14 cars running at the end.

Jambalaya 100: (1) Chris Wall, (2) Robbie Stuart, (3) David Ashley, (4) Kenny Merchant, (5) Anthony Burroughs, (6) Jon Mitchell, (7) Kyle Cummings, (8) Allen Tippen, (9) Kevin Sitton, (10) Ray Moore, (11) Kyle Beard, (12) Rodney Wing, (13) Mickey Trosclair, (14) Patrik Michel, (15) Corie Herberger, (16) Gary Christian, (17) Douglas Begnaud, (18) Donald Watson, (19) James Ward, (20) Rob Litton, (21) Marlon Wild, (22) William Fletcher, (23) Kevin Watts, (24) Bill Hasselle. Fast qualifier (among 30 cars): Wall, 16.190 seconds. Heat race winners: Wall, Stuart, Cummings, Merchant. Consolation winner: Mitchell.
 

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Corporate sponsors of O’Reilly SUPR include: AFCO, Barber Specialties  Inc., Bert Transmission, Brodix, BSB Manufacturing, Dura-Lite Racing Wheels, GRT Race Cars, Hinchman Uniforms, Hoosier Tire Southwest, J&J Motorsports, Keith Craft Inc., Larry Shaw Race Cars, Lile's Custom Home's, Master Vac, O'Reilly Auto Parts, PBM Performance Products, Peterson Aluminum, Trick Wild, Triple A Diesel Service and Wall 2 Wall Performance. (Story courtesy DirtonDirt.com)=