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Michael Despain
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (August 1) - The O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series presented by Graphic Impressions was again in action on Saturday evening at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY for the 11th Annual Bluegrass 50 and Victor Lee of Stanford, KY would nip Terry English coming off turn four to the checkered flag to capture the $5,000 payday at the David and Anita Ferrell promoted ½ mile high-banked clay oval.
Lee's victory would be his fourth of the season and eleventh career series victory. Lee would take the win in the seat of the Steve West and Gary Craig owned Quality Pawn/Advance Auto Parts/Kentucky's Best Racing/ West Towing/Corder's Competition Engines/American Racer Tires sponsored #55 C.J. Rayburn Race Cars, Corder's Competition Engines powered machine.
Benton, KY native Terry English would finish second in his Triple A Fence/Seay Motors sponsored C.J. Rayburn Race Car/Clement powered unit, while Dustin Neat of Dunnville, KY would finish third in his Red Buck Cigars/NWN Distributing sponsored MasterSbilt/Estes powered mount. Fourth place would fall to David Webb of Nicholasville, KY in the David and John Webb owned ORS Auto Body and Collision/Valvoline sponsored C.J. Rayburn Race Car/Pro Power machine, with Dustin Linville of Bryantsville, KY completing the top five in the Bruce Barnes and Terry Linville owned Barnes Family Dentistry/Paul Benton Auto Body sponsored C.J. Rayburn Race Car/Bullock powered entry.
The remainder of the top ten in the 11th Annual Bluegrass event would be 17th starting Duane Chamberlain, Tanner English, Johnny Wheeler, 18th starting Jeff Watson, and Todd Coffman. The 50 lap, $5,000 to win event would slowed by four caution flags.
After one false start, action would get underway and Johnny Wheeler and David Webb would duel for the lead, with Wheeler leading lap 1. Webb would take the lead on lap 2 over Wheeler, followed by Jason Keltner, Terry English, and Dustin Linville. English would slide to the third spot on lap 3, with Keltner dogging him still for the spot. Victor Lee would make his way into the top five on lap four, while English began to pressure Wheeler for second. English would gain the runner-up slot on lap 6 as Lee began to challenge Keltner for fourth. Lee would motor into the fourth position on lap 7, while Lee continued his charge from his eighth starting spot by wheeling past Wheeler on lap 8 for the third spot. Keltner and Wheeler would then battle door-to-door for the fourth spot and Keltner would claim fourth on lap 10 as Dustin Neat would join the fray and make it three wide at one point.
Race leader Webb would begin to work slower traffic by lap 12 and English would slowly start to reel in the race leader. The battle for fourth continued with three-wide action between Keltner, Wheeler, and Neat as the first caution waved on lap 15 when Jerry Rutherford looping his machine in front of race leader Webb, who narrowly missed the spinning car. The restart would see the caution wave as the field worked into turn one when Duane Chamberlain spun his machine, collecting Justin Rattliff and Todd Coffman in the tangle. Back underway, English began to pressure Webb for the top spot, while Wheeler would retake fourth in yet another three wide battle with Keltner and Neat. The lead duo of Webb and English would be in dead heat at the line on lap 17 before English grabbed the top spot off turn two on lap 18. Webb and Lee would then begin a spirited battle for the runner-up spot, while Wheeler held on to fourth, with Neat taking fifth on lap 21 and grabbing fourth on lap 22.
As the field saw the halfway signal, English was motoring away from the field, while Webb and Lee dueled for the second position. English would start working slower traffic on lap 29 as Lee would finally win the battle for second over Webb one circuit later. The front five would remain the same until the next caution flag waved on lap 37 when Jason Keltner would roll his mount to a stop at the top of the track at the entrance to turn one. After action resumed, Lee would dog English for the top spot, while Neat pressured Webb for third when the final caution of the event waved on lap 39 for a spin by Todd Coffman.
When the green flag waved for the final time, English and Lee resumed their battle, while Neat would drive past Webb for third. Linville would make his way back into the top five past Wheeler on lap 41. The next few circuits would see Lee drop back a bit and then mount one last charge on lap 46. As English would change his line to protect the bottom of the race surface, Lee would pedal his mount upstairs to the high side as the white flag was displayed. Lee would pull alongside English off of turn two and the duo raced side-by-side into turn three, with Lee able to pull past English exiting turn four and taking the win by a half-car length, with Neat, Webb, and Linville completing the top five.
In preliminary action, David Webb was the Racing Optics Top Qualifier among 22 entries with a lap of 14.877 seconds. Heat race checkered flags went to Webb in Wayne Bowen Racing Supply heat one, Wheeler in Graphic Impressions heat two, and Jason Keltner in C.J. Rayburn Race Cars heat three.
The next events for the O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Models will be at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, KY on September 4, 201 Speedway in Sikta, KY on September 5, and Tazewell Speedway in Tazewell, TN on September 6.
The O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series sanctions regional Super Late Model events at tracks in Kentucky, 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 (502) 762-1606 or (502) 931-5068.
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Model Division
Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, KY-August 1, 2009
Racing Optics Top Qualifier- David Webb 14.877
Wayne Bowen Racing Supply Heat #1- David Webb, Dustin Linville, Mike Marlar, Aaron Hatton, Lee Devasier, Bobby Wolter, Jr., Jerry Rutherford, Terry Keltner
Graphic Impressions Heat #2- Johnny Wheeler, Terry English, Victor Lee, Tanner English, Justin Rattliff, Duane Chamberlain, Michael Chilton
C.J. Rayburn Race Cars Heat #3- Jason Keltner, Tim Tungate, Dustin Neat, Todd Coffman, Larry Greer, Jeff Watson, Ed Behn
11th Annual Bluegrass 50 REAL Racing Wheels A-Main- Victor Lee, Terry English, Dustin Neat, David Webb, Dustin Linville, Duane Chamberlain, Tanner English, Johnny Wheeler, Jeff Watson, Todd Coffman, Lee Devasier, Tim Tungate, Ed Behn, Mike Marlar, Jason Keltner, Jerry Rutherford, Michael Chilton, Justin Rattliff, Aaron Hatton, Bobby Wolter, Jr., Larry Greer (DQ-Terry Keltner)
Total Entries- 22
Lap Leaders- 4 (Johnny Wheeler 1, David Webb 2-17, Terry English 18-49, Victor Lee 50)
Cautions- 4 (Lap 15, 15 restart, 37, 39)
Red Flags- None
PPM Racing Products Hard Charger- Duane Chamberlain (started 17th-finished 6th -advanced 11 positions)
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Model Point Standings (after August 1, 2009)
1. Victor Lee (Stanford, KY)- 2,544
2. David Webb (Nicholasville, KY)- 2,485
3. Mike Marlar (Winfield, TN)- 2,083
4. Aaron Hatton (Mount Sterling, KY)- 1,963
5. Dustin Neat (Dunnville, KY)- 1,892
6. Michael Chilton (Salvisa, KY)- 1,844
7. Bobby Wolter, Jr. (Lexington, KY)- 1,843
8. Mike Jewell (Scottsburg, IN)- 1,632
9. Dustin Linville (Bryantsville, KY)- 1,601 ®
10. Justin Rattliff (Campbellsville, KY)- 1,540
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