SUPR Late Models
Texas Motor Speedway
March 3, 2012
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Sullivan lands back in SUPR victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway



by Bryan Wimberley
FORT WORTH, Tex. (March 3) - After getting off to a difficult start to begin 2012, Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., rebounded Saturday night in an all-too-familiar place, grabbing the win at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. The $3,500 victory was Sullivan's second in three years at the 4/10-mile oval, located north of Fort Worth. Sullivan took over the lead from Will Vaught and drove away from John Anderson late, securing the four-second victory, in the 40-lap opener on the Southern United Prossional Racing Series tour.

Sullivan ultimately made the decision to travel to Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, a place where he won in 2010, instead of travelling to the MARS double-header in Clarksville, Tennessee. The decision paid dividends for the Arkansas native, who prevailed on a rough surface.

"It is in my past experiences, that when you find a hole, then you get in it! It was slick from the middle lane up to the top, you could use momentum around there. We took off and we rolled behind Will (Vaught) and (John) Anderson there. I felt like I could get around that bottom, I felt like I better get down there before those guys did!" exclaimed Sullivan.

"I wish I could say we were on the same stuff when we won here two years ago, but we wasn't -that was a completely different animal. The racetrack was kind of close to the same, it worked out for us. The GRT Race Car worked good, the Russell Baker Racing Engine worked well and Triple A Diesel Service got me here, so we done well!" said the 36-year old GRT House Car driver.

Sullivan added, "The weather helped us decide to come here, instead of The Toliet Bowl Classic. I don't do snakes or tornadoes and there was a lot of tornadic activity over that way -I just don't do that stuff! I'll be honest with you, I didn't think the purse was as intriguing as we would have liked. We made an executive decision to come over here to race."

John Anderson of Omaha, Neb., would finish as the runner-up, holding off current SUPR Series champion Morgan Bagley of Longview, who ended up in third place. Last year's Texas World Dirt Track Championship winner, Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., led the first 13 laps, but would slip back to fourth place when all was said-and-done. Kevin Sitton completed an amazing 17th-to-fifth place run to round out the top 5 finishers.

At the drop of the green flag, third-starting Anderson, got an excellent jump on polesitter Morgan Bagley, but it was Vaught who led lap one.

Trouble struck immediately afterwards, when Jeff Chanler of Minden, La., and Derek Perkins of Oakdale, La., made contact down the backstretch, sending Chanler backwards into a barrier, as the rear of the car came to a rest off the ground.

On the restart, Vaught pulled out over Anderson, with Bagley, Sullivan and Chris Brown of Spring, Tex., trailing. Anderson makes a lap 9 move on Vaught for the lead, but Vaught holds off the challenge. The second caution flew on the same lap, for a spinning Zach McMillan of Gladewater, Tex., in turn four.

A three-way battle ensued on the restart, pitting Vaught, Anderson and Sullivan vying for the point. Vaught again held his ground by less than a length over Anderson, with Sullivan charging closely behind at the stripe.

Anderson got shuffled to third, when Sullivan picked him off for the position, then Sullivan dipped low out of turn two, forcing the issue with Vaught. A debris caution on lap 12 temporarily slowed the pace of the action, but Sullivan gained the top spot on lap 14 from Vaught, as the cars starting bouncing around.

Sullivan began to drive away, opening up a three-second advantage on a quickly fading Vaught.

A caution appeared at the halfway mark, when last year's SUPR finalist, Timothy Culp spun in turn four, nearly collecting Allen Tippen, who was able to stop before making contact and prevent a collision. It proved to be costly anyway, with Tippen restarting in the rear. Culp would retire early due to a power steering line problem.

The race hit a stand-still when a caution seem to bred other cautions. Once the pace picked back up, Anderson pressured Vault for second, but by the time Anderson had locked down the spot, Sullivan had checked out to a half straightaway lead.

Reigning SUPR champ, Morgan Bagley, was able to grab third from Vaught soon after.

Sullivan then converged on lap traffic with nine laps remaining in the feature. Time was running out for the 2007 TMSDT winner, Anderson, to reel in Sullivan. Anderson made a last ditch effort to close the gap, but was only able to chop off very little in the waning laps.

Anderson said after the race, "We used pretty much the same notes (as when we won in 2007), except for the gear and that's about it. This late model stuff changes quite a bit. We had some notes on the tire choice at this track, but other than that, you just have to keep digging. It was a pretty good run, it just got too rough where you had to run down near the holes to try to make your car work. Jack (Sullivan) was just a little bit better, we were good when it was pretty slick, but you have to just do all you can to get up there and stay there. We could have used a caution to make it interesting, but Jack was really good through them holes, so we will take our 2nd place and move on. It's a brand new car, so we are happy with it."

Nobody had an answer for Sullivan and his GRT on this night though, as he crossed under the checkered flags for a comfortable win and taking his second series victory in the process.

"Joe (Garrison) has gone to great lengths and GRT is a good race car. He has kind of lost some speed and technology has kind of evolved. His guys were centrally located on hard tires and the rest of the world has gotten bigger around him. He has made a lot of strides trying to get better in areas, the car we got now is more like an '06 model - an older car. I think we have come up with a front end that we are working on now, like the one tonight and it seems to turn pretty good," said Sullivan.

Sullivan declared, "Everybody has got to do what is best for them and in racing, people make a lot about car builders, but the bottom line is that the car is the cheapest part of this whole scenario. It is the biggest, cheapest thing you can change to make a difference and that is the truth of the matter. The motors and the going up-and-down the road is what costs the money, along with the everyday expenses. You can buy another car, change a whole program overnight and it's the cheapest thing to buy. That is why you see a lot of people flipping back-and-forth, cause once you run them, you can sell them. Racers see what other racers do and unfortunately this is a monkey-see, monkey-do business and there is not a lot of loyalty. I was raised to be loyal, so I am trying my best and we are going to figure all this out!"

Notes: Sullivan's GRT Race Car is powered by a Russell Baker Racing Engine and sponsored by Triple A Diesel Serivce, Bryant Motorsports, Central Arkansas Pest Services, DSI Motorsports, Sweet Mfg., JFR Graphics and Allstar Performance.

The Texas World Dirt Track Championship was Sullivan's 11th attended event this season, but only the second time in a feature -the other was a 13th-place in the World of Outlaws opener at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania (GA). Sullivan finished 9th in last year's TWDTC and wore the cowboy hat in victory lane in 2010.

The SUPR feature kicked off with driver intros at 10:15pm, had two leaders (Vaught and Sullivan) and was slowed by six cautions.

Advantage or not, 2011 series champ and rookie of the year, Morgan Bagley, came into TMS having raced (19) times already this season. Although Bagley never posed a threat for the lead, he equalled his best finish at the track, posting a third place result -the same as last year's TWDTC.

Bagley has veteran crew chief Randall Edwards in his pits, after Edwards split with former World of Outlaws champion, Darrell Lanigan last November. Edwards is not fully committed to Bagley's pits for the entire season and plans to split time with other drivers -mainly Austin Hubbard.

B.J. Robinson of Shreveport, La., just missed making the feature, losing by a half length to Dennie Gieber for the final transfer spot, in the first consolation race -Robinson was the only driver eligible and took a provisional start in the 40-lap feature.

Another dramatic consolation race, saw Derek Perkins of Oakdale, La., transferring to the feature with a second place finish, edging Jason Ingalls by a quarter length, in the second consolation race.

Drivers not making the feature included, Ricky Begnaud, Jim Bryant, Jon Driskill, Chad Ewell, Jason Ingalls, Keith Lawson, Tom Lorenz, Allen Murray, Eric Neal, Derek Rashall, Jeff Roth, Randy Roth, Jay Sale, Josh Sliney, Bryan Sugg, Larry White and Brock Williams.

The Port-A-Cool Texas World Dirt Track Championship drew (190) cars in three different classes -(82) modifieds, (70) limited modifieds and (38) SUPR Dirt Late Models.

Late model racer, Chris Brown of Spring, Tex., passed Kelly Shryock of Fertile, IA., with less than two laps remaining in the modified feature and took the checkered flag. A post-race inspection disqualified Brown of the win, for being 11 lbs. light at the scale -Brown was in Shryock's backup car.

Shryock was later awarded the $3,000 win, claiming the modified division.

Another shake-up in the top 5 finishing order of the modified feature, had Corey Babbitt of Channelview, Tex., being disqualified after his fifth-place run -Babbitt was 1 lb. light at the scales.

Two other late model drivers raced in the modified feature, Steven Whiteaker Jr of Corpus Christi, Tex., finished 8th, while John Anderson took home a 9th-place finish.

In the $2,000-to-win limited modified feature, Dennie Gieber of Frankston, Tex., took the victory. Gieber also completed an impressive 19th-to-ninth result in the SUPR Late Model feature in a Randy Copeland-owned car.

There were also two other late model drivers racing in the limited modified feature, Jason Ingalls of Longview, Tex., grabbed 5th, while Steven Whiteaker Jr ended up in 21st position -Whiteaker Jr was the only driving that competed in all three feature events at TMS Dirt Track.

Much preparation always goes into an event held at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, which only hosts two or so events in a calendar year. An efficient program is a given and this year, new dirt was added to the racing surface.

"We put 6 inches of fresh dirt on the track for this race weekend and that was a big concern for us, making sure that the dirt stays compacted and doesn’t come apart and rut up. The Thursday night practice was a good test and we actually had a little too much water on it for that session, but the fact that it didn’t come apart, rut up, is a very good thing. We use in the neighborhood of 200,000 gallons of water on the track during a race weekend. During the weeks leading up to the race, we try to put 20 loads a day on the track, which is 2,000 gallons. That’s just to maintain the water table and as the weekend plays out, we add more," said Cameron Branch, General Manager of Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.

The Southern United Professional Racing Series will be back in action in two weeks at Jones Motor Speedway in Chatham, Louisiana, on March 17th.

A-Main
1 5 1S Jack Sullivan $3,500
2 3 2J John Anderson
3 1 14M Morgan Bagley
4 2 1 Will Vaught
5 17 20 Kevin Sitton
6 8 6X Rob Litton
7 9 5 Jon Mitchell
8 6 77 Robbie Starnes
9 19 27M Dennie Gieber
10 14 28H Chris Holley
11 20 22 Derek Perkins
12 7 21 Chris Brown
13 15 2 Tommy Weder, Jr
14 12 21D Lee Davis
15 4 K5 Michael Jay Brunson
16 18 89 Steven Whiteaker
17 21 R5 B J Robinson
18 11 71A Allen Tippen
19 13 14Z Zachary Mcmillam
20 10 C8 Timothy Culp
21 16 11C Jeff Chandler

B-Main #1
1 20 Kevin Sitton
2 27M Dennie Gieber
3 R5 B J Robinson
4 2 Alan Murray
5 60 Keith Lawson
6 84 Tom Lorenz
7 74S John Sliney
8 97 Eric Neal
9 69 Ricky Begnaud
10 7JR Chad Ewell
11 64 Jay Sale

B-Main #2
1 89 Steven Whiteaker
2 22 Derek Perkins
3 87M Jason Ingalls
4 4X Brock Williams
5 188 Derek Rashall
6 4 Jim Bryant
7 18 Bryan Sugg
8 26R Randy Roth
9 14R Jeff Roth
10 ZZ Sloppy Hog
11 12 Jon Driskill

Heat #1
1 2J John Anderson
2 21 Chris Brown
3 21D Lee Davis
4 89 Steven Whiteaker
5 2 Tommy Weder, Jr
6 20 Kevin Sitton
7 R5 B J Robinson
8 97 Eric Neal
9 84 Tom Lorenz
10 64 Jay Sale

Heat #2
1 1 Will Vaught
2 C8 Timothy Culp
3 1S Jack Sullivan
4 71A Allen Tippen
5 87M Jason Ingalls
6 22 Derek Perkins
7 4X Brock Williams
8 18 Bryan Sugg
9 ZZ Sloppy Hog
10 4 Jim Bryant

Heat #3
1 K5 Michael Jay Brunson
2 77 Robbie Starnes
3 28H Chris Holley
4 2 Alan Murray
5 11C Jeff Chandler
6 188 Derek Rashall
7 69 Ricky Begnaud
8 74S John Sliney
9 7JR Chad Ewell

Heat #4
1 14M Morgan Bagley
2 6X Rob Litton
3 5 Jon Mitchell
4 14Z Zachary Mcmillam
5 60 Keith Lawson
6 27M Dennie Gieber
7 26R Randy Roth
8 14R Jeff Roth
9 12 Jon Driskill