SUPR Late Models
Battleground Speedway
June 13, 2014
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SUP'e'R MITCHELL MAKES IT THREE-IN-A-ROW WITH BATTLEGROUND WIN

by Bryan Wimberley
P&W Sales SUPR DLM Series correspondent

HIGHLANDS, Tex. (June 13) - A reminisce of six years ago, Jon Mitchell of Texarkana, Tex., grabbed his third consecutive late model victory Friday night at Battleground Speedway, slipping by veteran Ronny Adams of Diana, Tex., to collect a $1,000 payback and his 9th career P&W Sales Southern United Professional Racing Series win. It was the second time in Mitchell's illustrious career in pulling off the feat, going back to his days on the AMP Series' tour.

"I can't recall if we ever was able to pull off three-in-a-row before, I don't believe we have done that and we haven't been to this place since the World of Outlaws event (March 2010) a few years ago. We really wasn't good that night and we hadn't been here in a long, long time before then, so we unloaded tonight on our basic stuff for this car, not knowing really what to expect -knock on wood, everything fell our way tonight and we was able to take the win," Mitchell said.

Third-starting Mitchell worked himself into position early to make his move, sizing up Adams before the halfway point of Friday's 20-lap opener, at the 3/8-mile clay oval outside of Houston. Once Mitchell seized the lead, his main concern was choosing the correct line in lap traffic to stay there.

Adams would draw near in his familiar No. 1A car, a few times in a crowd, but once Mitchell had clean air in front of him, the advantage would again extend for breathing room.

Mitchell recounted, "I knew when we got by Ronny (Adams), that I mostly wanted to ride around to bide my time and save our tires. Once I got by him, I was trying to still put distance between us, but we ran that traffic down and a couple of those cars didn't work with us too good. I thought to myself 'I wasn't sure where the guys trailing us were at while negotiating traffic' and I couldn't see my signals too good from the crew. In worked in our favor later on and Ronny raced us clean, but I know he was running up down at times. Being that he is in a MasterSbilt too, it was a good run for the brand, getting a 1-2 finish for those guys."

Actually the chassis brand would score the top three spots in Friday's finishing tally, since Robbie Starnes would pilot his MasterSbilt Gen-X by Stuckey to his best SUPR finish of 2014, finishing in third, while Kevin Sitton of nearby Baytown, Tex., had a solid 4th-place feature run. To round off the top 5 finishers, last season's Devil's Bowl Speedway track champion, Skip O'Neal of Midlothian, Tex., took home fifth.

A pair of early cautions slowed the race's outset, one involving 2007 Southern United Professional Racing Series' champion, Ray Moore of Haughton, La., forcing him to restart at the back of the field. Ninth-starting Moore would rebound throughout the rest of the feature, charging back from the rear, ending up tenth.

With green flag racing resumed, Mitchell passed O'Neal for second, with five down, then drew tight to leader Ronny Adams on the next two laps.

As Mitchell raced door-to-door down the back straightaway with Adams, the MasterSbilt by Gen5 machine led by a hood at the flag-stand, giving Mitchell his first lead of the feature.

On lap 12, Mitchell opened to almost a two-second advantage on Adams, as the race became a two-horse show, entering heavy congestion.

Although Adams was able to move to within a few lengths of Mitchell in traffic, even reaching his decklid with just over a lap remaining, Mitchell's eventual chosen line would pan through, en route to the checkered flags, notching his fourth SUPR win (of six total events) of the season.

Trying for his second weekend sweep this year, Mitchell attempts to string together four-in-a-row in Battleground's finale on Saturday -something he has never accomplished in any series, throughout his late model career.

"It's gumbo dirt and it has a mind of its own, it will be slick in one spot and have traction in another. If we can make this new 1350 tire rule work out tomorrow, because our tire wear wasn't real bad tonight in this feature, then I believe we will have a good show for tomorrow's 40-lap distance," concluded Mitchell.

NOTES: Mitchell's MasterSbilt Gen5 Race Car is powered by a KHP Racing Engine and sponsored by W&W Timber, Team 5 Enterprises, Kustom Graphics, J&J Motorsports, HealthCARE Express, Keyser Manufacturing Company, Kenneth's High Performance, Integra Shocks, FK Rod Ends, R2C Competition Series Filters, BASE Racing Fuel.

The 12-minute feature ended at 10:43 pm and was slowed by two cautions.

The top 10 hard charger of Friday's Battleground opener was Robbie Starnes of Kingwood, Tex., who started eighth and went on to a podium finish of third.

In true Friday The 13th form, no other driver felt the wrath of the ole superstition than Texas racer, Patrik Daniel of Wills Point, who had his night come to a screeching halt by a simple ten dollar part. Daniel entered the weekend double as one of the most consistent on the circuit, sporting third-place in the SUPR title chase, but a failed ignition switch before pace laps began, left the 2005 Rookie of the Year dead in the water. Daniel exited to his pits via push truck and was unable to rejoin the field before racing resumed -the No. 75 crew later brought the engine back to life after diagnosing the problem.

After two months, much work completed and a cost of approximately ten-grand, Kody Barber of Bogalusa, La., re-appeared in the very car he flipped at Thunder Valley Speedway in Glenmora on April 12th. In a test-n-tune role Friday night at Battleground, Barber finished in 16th-place.

As a new project, Robert Metz Jr of Lumberton, Tex., entered a second car from his stable (also owning Chad Comer's No. 955), that was powered by a modified engine. First entering the No. 655 three weeks ago at TVS, Metz took 15th at Battleground on Friday.

With a journey over 7+ hours, Keith Craft of Arkadelphia, Ark., hovered around the top 5 most of the feature, before slipping up late, fading to ninth.

Next race: The P&W Sales Southern United Professional Racing Series Dirt Late Models conclude their weekend doubleheader tonight, Saturday, June 14th at Battleground Speedway, with a $2,000-to-win/$400-to-start finale.

SUPR AT BATTLEGROUND OPENER: (1) Jon Mitchell, (2) Ronny Adams, (3) Robbie Starnes, (4) Kevin Sitton, (5) Skip O'Neal, (6) Robbie Stuart, (7) Rick Duke Jr, (8) Rob Litton, (9) Keith Craft, (10) Ray Moore, (11) Zach McMillan, (12) David LaFleur, (13) Tyler Erb, (14) Chad Comer, (15) Robert Metz Jr, (16) Kody Barber, (17) Nate Jantz, (18) Ricky Begnaud, (SCR) Patrik Daniel.

Lap Leaders: Adams 1-7, Mitchell 8-20.
Total Laps Led: Mitchell 13, Adams 7.
Margin of Victory: Six-lengths.

HEAT RACE WINNERS (among 19 cars): Mitchell, O'Neal, Adams.

Heat 1 results: Jon Mitchell, Keith Craft, Robbie Stuart, Rick Duke Jr, Tyler Erb, Robert Metz Jr, Ricky Begnaud.

Heat 2 results: Skip O'Neal, Kevin Sitton, Robbie Starnes, David LaFleur, Zach McMillan, Kody Barber.

Heat 3 results: Ronny Adams, Patrik Daniel, Ray Moore, Rob Litton, Chad Comer, Nate Jantz.