Adams grabs 35th SUPR victory but first at I-30

By Bryan Wimberley
O'Reilly SUPR Series correspondent
 

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (July 24) - Veteran Dirt Late Model racer Ronny Adams of Greenwood, La., has won a lot of races at a lot of tracks, but the 59-year old driver entered the 2010 season winless at I-30 Speedway. But after plenty of second and third place finishes at the track nicknamed Hammer Hill, Adams broke through Saturday with a dominating victory on the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southern United Professional Racing tour.

"I thought I had one last year and Kenny (Merchant) come driving around me with two or so laps to go, and we was disappointed about that then. You know, you never feel too bad when Kenny does it at Little Rock though. But this tonight makes up for that a little bit," Adams said after earning $2,500 for his 40-lap victory.

Adams took the lead from Chris Holley of Dayton, Tex., on the 14th lap and repeatedly drove away from the field, eventually taking the checkers 2.5 seconds ahead of Holley at the quarter-mile oval that took rubber.

"We seen the track was getting really dry in the heat races and this track is not real bad about taking rubber, but it will do it," Adams said. "We chose right tonight (on tires). We knew it was going to take rubber, so we took tires and setup that was going to work really well under these conditions for me and a rubber-down track."

Adams made plenty of adjustments on his MasterSbilt Race Car for Saturday after his 16th-place finish in the first night of SUPR's weekend doubleheader at I-30.

"Well, I call it wholesale slaughter," Adams joked. "We didn't do so well last night. We done a lot of bar-changing, I changed bar angles, bar links and changed the bite I was running in the car. We also changed the spring rates and, of course, every shock on the car."

The changes paid off as Adams appeared unbeatable once he took the point from Holley. Coupled with great restarts the last three cautions, Adams was able to pull away at will en route to victory.

"We went with a little softer tire tonight. We didn't think the track was going to rubber up, so that long green flag run kind of killed us and ate that right rear up," Holley said. "I am happy with second with the group of guys that came here tonight for sure. Thanks goes out to some sponsors, Mark Erb Racing, First Class Septic, Performance Race Engineering and Smiley Racing Products, because we had a good run going tonight."

Holley added, about the improvements of his team and the differences between the two nights of racing at I-30,

"Going back to these tracks with seat time and getting a better understanding of them is key, because last year was the first time I had ever been to these tracks. Me and my crew guys, Neil Manchester, have really stepped up in their knowledge program (area) and as far as driving, when the cars are setup right they are easy to drive. We actually went back to our standard setup that we ran Friday night in the heat race, but we kind of got behind in the feature last night (Friday) and didn't make enough changes then that we needed to. Tonight was our standard setup, but when you start in front of them, it makes it easier to drive away from them. We were just lucky and I'll take that anytime!

Polesitter Lee Davis, also of Greenwood, was third, while current series points leader Rob Litton of Alexandria, La., finished fourth. Ray Moore of Haughton, La., advanced from his ninth-starting spot, to complete the top five finishers.

The race required two starts after a three-car mishap in turn two on the first lap. Front-row starter Nicholas Brown's wreck sent Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., into a tire barrier while Adams got by mostly unscathed.

On the next start, Holley made a daring move coming off turn two, splitting the cars of Davis and Brown to take command. But three laps later, the yellow flag appeared again for a five-car pileup in turn four involving Dustin Hyde, Josh Danzy, Jody Prince, Timothy Culp and Brown. Brown's mangled car was towed away, while Prince's car was sporting some right-side and nose damage.

When the race resumed, Holley maintained his lead while Adams took the runner-up spot from Davis on the seventh lap. Adams quickly pressured Holley as the pair made contact a few times, racing side-by-side for the top spot on lap 10. Holley held his ground a few more laps before Adams took the point.

Holley slipped into a battle with Texans Robbie Starnes and Kevin Sitton, both of Baytown, on lap 16. Sitton got by Starnes for third on the next lap, as Adams built a five-second lead midway through the race. With Adams checked out, an intense battle ensued between Holley and Sitton for second. Sitton briefly took second from Holley, but he eventually spun in turn two on lap 30 to bring out the fifth caution. Sitton elected to retire rather than to restart on the rear, while Holley held onto second. Sitton finished 16th.

"Kevin (Sitton) is a good friend of mine, I hated for that to happen -especially to him. We came down the front straightaway here, he got underneath me and I seen that he was going at it real hard. I kind of just checked up and drove back up underneath him, then I think we were just racing for the same real estate. I mean, we were both there at the same time and we came together. I hate that it happened though," Holley said of the incident.

The final caution on lap 36 gave Holley one more shot at Adams, but the veteran pulled away once again for his first victory at I-30 -but 35th of his SUPR career.

"It feels good" being fourth on the all-time SUPR victories list, Adams said with a laugh, "but I got an advantage on the others, because I have been doing this a long time."

Notes: Ronny Adams drives a MasterSbilt by Stuckey powered by a Robert Nealy engine and sponsored by C.Wrights Machine Tool, New Vision Graphics, Jimmy Carl & Jackie Oney and Nealy & Associates.

Adams has two SUPR victories in 2010, the first came May 28th at USA Speedway in Sterlington, La.

Adams won his first SUPR event in the first series season in 1990 at his home track, Boothill Speedway.

The checkered flag flew on the 35-minute feature at 10:55 pm and was slowed by six cautions.

Kyle Cummings of Sibley, La., was the hard charger of the race, going from 17th-to-seventh.

Another big mover of the feature was Jon Mitchell of Texarkana, Tex., advancing ten spots from his 20th-starting position -finishing 10th.

Rob Litton increased his series points lead to 96 points over Kyle Cummings.

Little Rock fans had an outpouring response to home-state driver Jack Sullivan's "Brave The Shave" campaign, donating $1,200. Sullivan is one of 21 drivers in a cancer research fundraiser organized by Michigan driver Jeep Van Wormer's team. The drivers will shave their heads as part of the fundraiser, which culminates Sept. 9th-11th at Eldora Speedway's World 100 in Rossburg, Ohio. For more information, visit ' www.ahead4acure.com ' It was started in hopes of uniting the Dirt Late Model community together in the fight against cancer.

The Saturday race at I-30 Speedway was SUPR's 55th event at the facility.

Drivers failing to make the feature included, Doug Begnaud, Wendall Bolden, Jay Brunson, Wesley Crutchfield, Paul Joyner, Skip O'Neal and Mark McWilliams.

The Clay's track drew 106 race cars overall in five classes which included, SUPR Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Mini Sprints and Mod Lites, in front of a packed house.

SUPR @ I-30: (1) Ronny Adams, (2) Chris Holley, (3) Lee Davis, (4) Rob Litton, (5) Ray Moore, (6) Robbie Starnes, (7) Kyle Cummings, (8) David Ashley, (9) Kenny Merchant, (10) Jon Mitchell, (11) Timothy Culp, (12) Alex Ashley, (13) Jeff Chanler, (14) Josh Danzy, (15) Dustin Hyde, (16) Kevin Sitton, (17) Allen Tippen, (18) Jack Sullivan, (19) Jody Prince, (20) Darin Patrick, (21) Nicholas Brown

Heat Race Winners (among 28 cars): Davis, Brown, Adams, Holley
Consolation Race Winner: Cummings
Provisional Starter: Tippen

SUPR Series points
(Top 15 through July 24)

1. Rob Litton - 1,578
2. Kyle Cummings - 1,482
3. Jeff Chanler - 1,230
4. David Ashley - 1,207
5. Allen Tippen - 1,147
6. Ronny Adams - 1,120
7. Chris Holley - 1,058
8. Josh Danzy - 940
9. Kevin Sitton - 937
10. Alex Ashley - 910
11. Robbie Stuart - 881
12. Ray Moore - 869
13. Jon Mitchell - 692
14. Lee Davis - 656
15. Jody Prince - 642

Most SUPR wins at I-30 Speedway

Kenny Merchant - 10
Bill Frye - 4
Donnie Barnhart - 4
Duke Whiseant - 3

Tied at 2 wins each
David Ashley
Mike Bowers
Dennis Duncan
Odie Green
Doug Ingalls
Rob Litton
Ray Moore
Dave Siegert
Allen Tippen


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