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Michael Despain
JUNCTION CITY, Ky. (September 19) - The O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series presented by Graphic Impressions made its final visit of 2008 at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, KY and 2002 series champion Eddie Carrier, Jr. of Salt Rock, WV would claim the $5,000 payday in the Total Lubricants 50 in front of the television cameras of the Outdoor Channel. The win for Carrier, Jr. would make him the tenth different winner with the series for the 2008 racing season.
Carrier. Jr.'s triumph would be his eighth career series checkered flag and came aboard the Carl Grover Motorsports owned Engines Inc./Grover Race Engines/Blue Ridge Machinery and Tool sponsored Rocket Chassis, Grover Race Engines powered mount, while receiving product support from Hoosier Tire and Bell Helmets.
Series points leader Victor Lee of Stanford, KY would place second in the Kentucky's Best/Modern Heating and Air sponsored C.J. Rayburn Race Car, while Brad Neat of Dunnville, KY would score a third place finish aboard the Kentucky Proud/NWN Distributing sponsored MasterSbilt Race Car. Dustin Neat of Dunnville, KY would place fourth at the finish in his NWN Distributing/Tarter Gate Company sponsored MasterSbilt Race Car after starting 12th, with 18th starting Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN earning the PPM Racing Products Hard Charger award by driving the Estes Race Engines/Hensley Trucking sponsored Rocket Chassis to a fifth place finish.
The remainder of the top ten at the finish would be Dustin Linville, Eric Wells, Jordan Bland, David Webb, and Buzz Williams. The 50 lap event would be slowed by four caution flags.
Eddie Carrier, Jr. would take the lead at the start of the 50 lap sprint, with Eric Wells, Victor Lee, Jordan Bland, and Dustin Linville giving chase. Lee would take second from Wells on lap 2, with the first caution waving one lap later for a spin turn three by Brandon Hardgrove that would also collect David Gentry, ending the night for Gentry. The lap three restart would see Chris Combs make contact with the retaining wall in turn three and Joey Kramer would also get collected in the incident, parking both drivers for the evening with disabled race cars. The restart would keep Carrier, Jr. on the point, while Dustin Neat would make his way into the top five. Lap 5 would see Bland take the third spot and Brad Neat take fifth from brother Dustin. The third caution would wave for debris on lap 7. This restart would see Brad Neat go to fourth and 21st starting Jeff Watson zip into fifth. As Carrier, Jr. kept a comfortable margin on Lee for the lead, Watson and Wells battled for fifth with Wells claiming the spot on lap 10.
Bland would retake third from Brad Neat on lap 11, with Carrier, Jr. and Lee scooting away from the field. Carrier, Jr. would start the lapping process of slower traffic on lap 16, putting a pair of lapped cars between himself and Lee at this point. The front five would remain the same at this juncture of the event, with Carrier, Jr. keeping lapped machines between himself and Lee.
Brad Neat would retake third on lap 21, only to have Bland reclaim the position one circuit later, with 18th starting Mike Marlar rolling into the five spot at this point. With Carrier, Jr. now beginning to pull away from Lee in traffic at this point, Neat would again go back around Bland on lap 24. Marlar would slip past Bland for fourth off of turn two on lap 26. The front pair of Carrier, Jr. and Lee would have some open track for a short time on lap 28, with Dustin Neat creeping back into the top five past Bland on lap 30.
The final caution of the event appeared on lap 31 for Shon Flanary, who had looped his mount in turn two. The restart would see Dustin Neat go by Marlar for fourth, while Watson, Bland, Dustin Linville, and Eric Wells would beginning a torrid battle for sixth through ninth, featuring plenty of three-wide action among this quartet, with Watson hanging on for sixth by lap 38.
Carrier, Jr. would again open his lead over Lee in clear track and would again start lapping traffic on lap 43. Lap 44 would see Watson do a complete 360 degree exiting turn four, losing several spots, with all drivers taking evasive action and the event remained green. With Carrier, Jr. and Lee one and two, the Neat brothers would battle for the fourth spot, with Marlar running fifth. The top five would not change over the final five trips, with Carrier, Jr. taking the checkered flag first.
In preliminary action, Eric Wells was the Racing Optics Top Qualifier among 37 entries with a lap of 13.666 seconds. Heat race checkered flags went to Wells in Wayne Bowen Racing Supply heat one, Eddie Carrier, Jr. in K&N Performance Engineering heat two, Victor Lee in Graphic Impressions heat three, and Jordan Bland in Real Racing Wheels heat four. Royce McGowan and Mike Marlar would win the B-Main events, while Tyrel Todd and Aaron Hatton earned series provisional starts, with the track provisional going to Michael Chilton.
The next event for the Super Late Model division of the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series will be the 2008 series finale at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY on Saturday September 20. The event will be the 10th Annual Kentucky's Best Bluegrass 50, paying $5,000 to win, with Outdoor Channel being there to tape the event.
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
Ponderosa Speedway-Junction City, Kentucky-September 19, 2008
Racing Optics Top Qualifier- Eric Wells 13.666
Wayne Bowen Racing Supply Heat #1(Top 4 Advance)- Eric Wells, Chris Combs, Shon Flanary, David Gentry, Joey Kramer, Shannon Thornsberry, Brandon Fouts, Anthony Adams, Ernie Cordier, Larry Foxx
K&N Peformance Engineering Heat #2 (Top 4 Advance)- Eddie Carrier, Jr., David Webb, Zach Carney, Tim Tungate, Royce McGowan, D.J. Wells, Tommy Bailey, Jeff Watson, Michael Paul Howard
Graphic Impressions Heat #3 (Top 4 Advance)- Victor Lee, Brad Neat, Brandon Hardgrove, Jake Henry, Arnie Fields, Mark Walters, Mike Marlar, Michael Chilton (DNS-Tyrel Todd)
Real Racing Wheels Heat #4 (Top 4 Advance)- Jordan Bland, Dustin Linville, Dustin Neat, Larry Gray, Bobby Carrier, Jr., Buzz Williams, Aaron Hatton, Doug Smith, Dennis Barton
B-Main #1 (Top 3 Advance)- Royce McGowan, Joey Kramer, Jeff Watson, D.J. Wells, Michael Paul Howard, Anthony Adams, Shannon Thornsberry, Brandon Fouts, Ernie Cordier, Larry Foxx, Tommy Bailey
B-Main #2 (Top 3 Advance)- Mike Marlar, Bobby Carrier, Jr., Buzz Williams, Aaron Hatton, Tyrel Todd, Arnie Fields, Mark Walters, Dennis Barton, Michael Chilton, Doug Smith
Series Provisionals- Tyrel Todd, Aaron Hatton
Track Provisional- Michael Chilton
Total Lubricants 50 O'Reilly A-Main- Eddie Carrier, Jr., Victor Lee, Brad Neat, Dustin Neat, Mike Marlar, Dustin Linville, Eric Wells, Jordan Bland, David Webb, Buzz Williams, Tyrel Todd, Larry Gray, Jeff Watson, Tim Tungate, Bobby Carrier, Jr., Aaron Hatton, Brandon Hardgrove, Royce McGowan, Shon Flanary, Jake Henry, Michael Chilton, Chris Combs, Joey Kramer, David Gentry, Zach Carney
Total Entries- 37
Lap Leaders- 1 (Lap 1-50 Eddie Carrier, Jr.)
Cautions- 4 (lap 3, lap 3 restart, lap 7, lap 31)
Red Flags- None
PPM Racing Products Hard Charger- Mike Marlar (started 18th- finished 5th- advanced 13 positions)
Drive Smart Kentucky Move of the Race- Mike Marlar (pass for 5th on lap 22)
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Model Point Standings (after September 19, 2008)
1. Victor Lee (Stanford, KY)- 4,170
2. Tyrel Todd (Science Hill, KY)- 3,491
3. Tim Tungate (Campbellsville, KY)- 3,348
4. David Webb (Nicholasville, KY)- 3,284
5. Eric Wells (Hazard, KY)- 3,177 ®
6. Larry Gray (Lexington, KY)- 2,944 ®
7. Zach Carney (Mooresville, IN)- 2,919 ®
8. Chris Combs (Isom, KY)- 2,499
9. Mike Jewell (Scottsburg, IN)- 2,434
10. Royce McGowan (Faubush, KY)- 2,429 ®
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Upcoming Schedule of Events:
September 20- Bluegrass Speedway (Bardstown, KY)- 10th Annual Kentucky's Best Bluegrass 50- $5,000 to win (Outdoor Channel Television Race)
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