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Michael Despain
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (August 2) - The O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series presented by Graphic Impressions made its fourth visit of the 2008 season to Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY on Saturday evening for the 6th Annual My Old Kentucky Home Shootout and Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN lived up to his nickname of the "Winfield Warrior" as he would control all 50 laps of the $5,000 to win event and claim his series leading 13th career victory in the event, co-sanctioned with the Independent Racing Series.
Marlar's victory was his third series win of the season, with all of them coming at Bluegrass Speedway. The winner's machine is a C.J. Rayburn Race Car, powered by an Estes Race Engines, and is owned by Steve Estes, while receiving sponsorship from Estes Race Engines, Stephens Motorsports, Wayne Bowen Racing Supply, and Glenn Hensley Trucking. Product supporters on the winning entry include VP Race Fuels, PBM Performance Products, Dyer's Top Rods, Braswell Carburetion, Bayea Headers, Brodix, All Star Performance, Genesis Shocks, and Skillsaw Designs.
Don O'Neal of Martinsville, IN would finish second in his Jones Core/Group Metal Recycling sponsored C.J. Rayburn Race Car, with Brad Neat of Dunnville, KY placing third in the Kentucky Proud/NWN Distributing sponsored MasterSbilt Race Car. Rob Blair of Titusville, PA would score a fourth place finish in the Bossard's Auto Parts/Speciality Products sponsored Rocket Chassis, while PPM Racing Products Hard Charger Kevin Claycomb of Vincennes, IN would complete the top five in the 5150 Race Trailers/All Star Performance sponsored MasterSbilt Race Car after starting in the 17th position.
The remainder of the top ten at the finish would be Victor Lee, Michael England, Aaron Hatton, Dustin Neat, and Tyrel Todd. The event was slowed by six caution periods and would take 46 minutes, 44 seconds to complete.
The start of the 6th Annual My Old Kentucky Home Shootout would see Mike Marlar grab the top spot, with Michael England, Don O'Neal, Dustin Linville, and Tim Tungate giving chase. Marlar and England would trade slidejobs on lap 2, with Marlar remaining on the point, while Linville challenged O'Neal for third. Brad Neat would pressure Tungate for fifth on lap 6 and would take the position on lap 8. The first caution waved one round later on lap 9 as Ed Behn looped his machine on the frontchute while exiting turn four.
The Delaware double-file restart would see O'Neal drive around England for second, while Neat would slide past Linville for fifth. The caution appeared for the second time on lap 11 when Zach Carney slowed on the backchute with a flat right-rear tire. The restart saw England slidejob past O'Neal for second, while Victor Lee would work past Linville for fifth on the same circuit. Marlar would begin to pull away a bit by lap 15, while England and O'Neal continued to wage a battle for the runner-up slot. As Marlar began working traffic on lap 17, Lee would turn up the heat on Neat in the battle for fourth. As England and O'Neal began to close in on Marlar in traffic, Larry Gray would draw the third caution of the race on lap 24 when he rolled to a stop in turn two.
The restart would see O'Neal go second, while England and Lee battled for third, but it would all be short-lived as England and Lee made contact entering turn three, with England ending up spun out in the middle of the corner, with Johnny Wheeler and Carney also being collected, while 10th place running Jordan Bland would pit with a flat tire. Back under green flag conditions, Hatton would make his way into the top five, while O'Neal and Neat battled for second. Caution would wave again on lap 28 when sixth place Linville would have an axle failure exiting turn two, losing the left-rear tire from his unit and spinning out.
This restart would see Rob Blair make his way into the top five on lap 29, while O'Neal and Neat continued battle for second behind Marlar. Blair would take fourth from Lee off of turn two on lap 33, while the final caution of the race would be displayed on lap 36 when Eric Wells would slow at the bottom of the track at the entrance to turn three. The restart would see Neat slidejob past O'Neal to take second, with O'Neal returning the favor one round later to reclaim the two spot. Kevin Claycomb would flex his muscles and work his mount into fifth past Lee after starting 17th on lap 38.
The final ten laps would see Marlar pull away from the field, while O'Neal and Neat continued to wage war for second. Marlar would have almost a full straightaway lead at the drop of the checkered flag, while O'Neal would win the battle with Neat for second, with Blair and Claycomb completing the top five.
In preliminary action, Jordan Bland was the Racing Optics Top Qualifier among 31 entries with a lap of 16.373 seconds. Heat race checkered flags went to Jason Keltner in Wayne Bowen Racing Supply heat one, Tim Tungate in K&N Performance Engineering heat two, Brad Neat in Graphic Impressions heat three, and Rob Blair in Real Racing Wheels heat four. Kevin Claycomb and Jordan Bland would win the B-Main events, while Marlar Linville would claim the Pole Dash. Duane Chamberlain and Zach Carney earned series provisional starts, while Bryant Woodcock was the track provisional.
The next event for the Super Late Model division of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series will be on Saturday August 16 at Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, IN for the 4th Annual Hall of Fame Classic, paying $4,000 to win at the Tim Keithley promoted ¼ mile oval.
The O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series sanctions regional Super Late Model events at tracks in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee. For more information about America's most competitive regional racing series, visit the series webpage on the world wide web at www.battleofthebluegrass.com or call the series office at (859) 762-1606 or (502) 931-5068.
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Model Division
Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, Kentucky-August 2, 2008
Racing Optics Top Qualifier- Dustin Linville 16.373
Wayne Bowen Racing Supply Heat #1(Top 4 Advance)- Jason Keltner, Aaron Hatton, Don O'Neal, Dustin Neat, Kevin Claycomb, Mike Jewell (DNS-Duane Chamberlain, Scotty Earl)
K&N Peformance Engineering Heat #2 (Top 4 Advance)- Tim Tungate, Rick Aukland, Dustin Linville, David Webb, Zach Carney, Larry Gray, Lee Devasier, Royce McGowan
Graphic Impressions Heat #3 (Top 4 Advance)- Brad Neat, Tyrel Todd, Michael England, Terry English, Jordan Bland, Eric Wells, Ed Behn, Jacob Webber
Real Racing Wheels Heat #4 (Top 4 Advance)- Robbie Blair, Mike Marlar, Victor Lee, Johnny Wheeler, Tim Brown, Bobby Wolter, Jr., Bryant Woodcock
B-Main #1 (Top 3 Advance)- Kevin Claycomb, Mike Jewell, Larry Gray, Lee Devasier, Zach Carney, Royce McGowan, Duane Chamberlain (DNS-Scotty Earl)
Pole Dash- Mike Marlar, Michael England, Don O'Neal, Dustin Linville, Rick Aukland
B-Main #2 (Top 3 Advance)- Jordan Bland, Eric Wells, Ed Behn, Tim Brown, Bobby Wolter, Jr., Jacob Webber, Bryant Woodcock
Series Provisionals- Duane Chamberlain, Zach Carneyl
Track Provisional- Bryant Woodcock
6th Annual My Old Kentucky Home Shootout O'Reilly A-Main- Mike Marlar, Don O'Neal, Brad Neat, Robbie Blair, Kevin Claycomb, Victor Lee, Michael England, Aaron Hatton, Dustin Neat, Tyrel Todd, Jordan Bland, Terry English, Jason Keltner, Tim Tungate, Johnny Wheeler, Eric Wells, Zach Carney, Ed Behn, Duane Chamberlain, Rick Aukland, Mike Jewell, Dustin Linville, Larry Gray, David Webb, Bryant Woodcock
Total Entries- 31
Lap Leaders- 1 (Marlar 1-50)
Cautions- 6 (Laps 9, 11, 24, 24 restart, 28, 36)
Red Flags- None
PPM Racing Products Hard Charger- Kevin Claycomb (Started 17th-Finished 5th-Advanced 12 positions)
Drive Smart Kentucky Move of the Race- Brad Neat (turn four slidejob pass of Don O'Neal on lap 36)
Time of Race- 46 minutes, 44 seconds
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Model Point Standings (after August 2, 2008)
1. Victor Lee (Stanford, KY)- 3,573
2. Tyrel Todd (Science Hill, KY)- 2,924
3. Tim Tungate (Campbellsville, KY)- 2,738
4. David Webb (Nicholasville, KY)- 2,703
5. Eric Wells (Hazard, KY)- 2,577 ®
6. Zach Carney (Mooresville, IN)- 2,487 ®
7. Larry Gray (Lexington, KY)- 2,380 ®
8. Mike Jewell (Scottsburg, IN)- 2,092
9. Royce McGowan (Faubush, KY)- 1,983 ®
10. Chris Combs (Isom, KY)- 1,944
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Upcoming Schedule of Events:
August 16- Brownstown Speedway (Brownstown, IN)- 4th Annual Hall of Fame Classic- $4,000 to win
August 29- Mountain Motor Speedway (Isom, KY)- $3,000 to win
August 30- 201 Speedway (Sitka, KY)- $5,000 to win
September 19- Ponderosa Speedway (Junction City, KY)- $5,000 to win (Outdoor Channel Television Race)
September 20- Bluegrass Speedway (Bardstown, KY)- 10th Annual Bluegrass 50- $5,000 to win (Outdoor Channel Television Race)
2008 O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Sponsors:
O'Reilly Auto Parts - Title Sponsor and "Official Auto Parts Retailer" of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Max Brake- "Official Trailer Brakes" of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
CarbonX- "Official Flame Shielding Fabric" of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Health PMO- "Official Health Care Company" of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Graphic Impressions- Presenting Sponsor and "Official Souvenir and Merchandise Vendor" of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Bob Hook Chevrolet of Louisville- "Official Auto Dealership" of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Total Lubricants- "Official Oil and Lubricant" of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Other O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series 2008 Series Supporters Include: American Race Tires, C.J. Rayburn Race Cars, Curtis Signs, Cruise With The Champions, Double H Race Fabrication, Drive Smart Kentucky, DT52 Photos, Honda of Prestonsburg, Hoosier Race Tires, Kentucky's Best Racing, K&N Performance Engineering, PPM Racing Products, Racing Optics, Real Racing Wheels, Trailer Parts and Service, Wayne Bowen Racing Supply
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