Ashley fights off Tippen, Christian for I-30 win

By Bryan Wimberley
DirtOnDirt.com correspondent

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (June 18) Earning his first series victory in nearly two years and his first-ever series victory at I-30 Speedway, polesitter David Ashley of Zachary, La., edged Allen Tippen by three-car lengths in Friday's opener of a weekend doubleheader on the O'Reilly Southern United Professional Racing tour.

Ashley led the entire 25-lapper to collect $1,250 for his 38th career series win, but first since August 31, 2008 at Champion Park Speedway in Minden, Louisiana. Tippen of Minden, was second with Gary Christian of Broken Bow, Okla., in third. Series points leader Rob Litton of Alexandria, stretched his lead by 23 points with a fourth-place finish and Jody Prince of Sibley, La., was fifth.

"I never really knew Allen was there, I was concentrating so hard on hitting my marks, on how I was driving the car, on how I was braking," Ashley said. "I was making a lot of mistakes out there, but once again when you are up front, you kind of have the catbird's seat of what is going on. My car rotated around the bottom real good when I drove it correctly, I felt like there was no one that could pull underneath us unless I made a huge mistake. I guarded the bottom pretty hard, but the car was really good there around the hub, so I was tickled as could be with it. I have still got a lot to learn as a driver as far as rebuilding myself, but tonight was one step in the right direction."

Ashley raced to an early lead at the drop of the green with Christian, Tippen and Litton following close behind. Tippen took second from Christian on the fourth lap, two circuits before the race's lone yellow appeared for Kyle Beard of Trumann, Ark., who lost control on the frontstretch.

On the restart, Ashley bolted out to a seven-car length lead on Tippen, who chased Ashley in the low groove. Christian tried the high side on lap 14, but his gamble didn't pay off as much as he had hoped, as the top three cars began to reach the rear of the field three laps later.

"I never saw Gary up top, but typically when a racetrack slows down on the bottom, you are stuck in third or whatever, then you are going to look for a faster way around the track," Ashley added.

After Ashley got a little breathing room amid traffic, Tippen was just a few lengths back on lap 23 as the top three distanced themselves from Litton in fourth. But Ashley kept his pursuers at bay in the final laps, as no one had an answer for the 3-time SUPR series champion on this night.

"Well, first of all there is so many people that I have to thank! I want to start out with my best friend in the world, Jimmy Nolan, who has picked me up I don't know how many times and has dusted my off. Mr. Donald Watson intervened this week and got us pointed in the right direction. Financially we have struggled, Billy (McDonald) has had a tough time with the economy -I'm not making excuses, it is just easier when you don't have to worry about the dollar. We have been through a lot in the last year as far as family and everything else. We have persevered through all of it and we are going to continue to do so. I am not going to stay down, because I am a positive person and my crew is positive. So to come here tonight and run something that we have never run in our lives, with a lot of experimenting going on and lot of unknowns & uncertainty -is incredible," Ashley stated after the victory. He added, "I am having to change my driving style as a driver, it has been incredibly difficult, somehow God looked down and shined on us tonight and we put it all together for 25 laps. Starting up front didn't hurt anything, we ran decent in our heat race, but we were a little too tight early -here we are though! I am just tickled to death to put a race together and come out running decent."

Winds of change has came for Ashley at this point in his career and he has realized that in his climb to get back on top.

"I have had to learn this multiple times, Dale McDowell got on to me one time and made me re-think what I was doing as a driver. I learned a lot from that, so it CAN be done, but is it easy? -No, it is not! It is kind of like a golf swing, once you learn to do it correctly, that is the only way you know, therefore it is hard to go back and make yourself do something that is different. This is a totally different deal for me, takes a lot of concentration on your part to mentally block out other racers and work with yourself and the racetrack. I have a long way to go and I know it -I am not going to lie. One of my mentors and heroes until the day I lay in the dirt, is Donald Watson. I have watched him make an about-face with his driving style and he has come to me with the attitude to help me, to work with me to do certain things and we are now trying it. God bless him, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him. He really got me into this, supported & stood behind me and I needed it. I love him like he was my dad, I don't forget where I came from or my friends. I try to give that back in return. Also have to thank Ronnie Rogers for this Wall 2 Wall and David Burkhalter for his labor on this engine too. I just want to give the glory to the ones surrounding it, it is so much more about just winning a race to me," Ashley expressed.

"My main change tonight wasn't so much as a set up change or anything of that sorts, but mostly changes as a driver. Communicating with Jimmy was key, I am pretty much giving Jimmy the reins and tell him what I want, to let him do whatever he feels deems necessary for the track conditions. We still have a lot of unknowns yet with what we are working on experimenting with, so it is a big learning curve for us, but I feel tonight was a big boost and hopefully we can carried it over to Saturday night's race. I feel like now we have something to work with to try to get us back competitive. I am not saying it will work everywhere and we may fall on our face tomorrow (Saturday at I-30), but I am also telling you we will not stay down! We are not quitters, we are not losers -we are winners! Winners continue to work hard, hopefully Billy gets back on his feet strong and we can continue to run decent -it will make it financially easier for us to race."

Notes: Ashley's GRT Race Car is powered by Wall 2 Wall Performance Engines and sponsored by B&K Underground Directional Boring, J&J Motorsports, Serco, Hawk Performance, X-Treme Graphics and Ohlins Shocks.
Ashley won the SUPR series points title in 1999, 2005 and 2006.
The win was Ashley's 38th victory in the series, which ranks third all-time behind Kenny Merchant (55) and Doug Ingalls (41).
Ashley's win at Hammer Hill is his first ever in the (51) total trips that SUPR has visited the 1/4-mile track outside of Little Rock.
Allen Tippen has posted three straight top fives and his second consecutive runner-up finish in his new MasterSbilt by Mars Race Car.
Kyle Cummings of Sibley, La., was the hard charger of the race, going from 13th-to-eighth.
Wesley Crutchfield of Sheridan, Ark., lost an engine in hot laps, scratching him from the feature lineup.
Jason Botsford of Pearcy, Ark., made contact with the frontstretch wall near the flagstand in his heat race, causing damage that ended his night.
Paul Joyner of Laird Hill, Tex., pulled off the track with a flat tire, early in the main event -he did not return.
Dewaine Hottinger of Russellville, Ark., raced his #65 car that was driver by NASCAR star Jusin Allgaier in The Prelude To The Dream event held on June 9th. Hottinger was collected in a heat race accident and received right side damage -his crew repaired for the feature and Hottinger finished 17th in the main event.
The 15-minute feature ended at 10:10 pm and was slowed by just one caution.
Fifteen cars finished on the lead lap, as Ashley encountered lap traffic by the 17th circuit.

O'Reilly SUPR @ I-30: (1) David Ashley, (2) Allen Tippen, (3) Gary Christian, (4) Rob Litton, (5) Jody Prince, (6) Kevin Sitton, (7) Chris Holley, (8) Kyle Cummings, (9) Lee Davis, (10) Shane Harris, (11) Ronny Adams, (12) Alex Ashley, (13) Terry Henson, (14) Jon Kirby, (15) Jeff Chanler, (16) Josh Danzy, (17) Dewaine Hottinger, (18) Darin Patrick, (19) Jon Mitchell, (20) Kyle Beard, (21) Paul Joyner. Scratched: Wesley Crutchfield, Jason Botsford.
Heat race winners (among 23 cars): Prince, D.Ashley, Christian

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