Many, Louisiana (May 23, 2003) - The general consensus leaving Houston Raceway Park last week was that James "Binky" Ward was due an O'Reilly SUPR victory. It didn't take Binky, the 2002 Late Model America/B&K Underground Rookie of the Year, long to prove that notion correct. Binky started 3rd in his Larry Shaw Pontiac Grand Prix and used a bold move in traffic on lap 23 to move past Dennis Duncan, who led the feature from the drop of the green and Kenny Merchant to take the lead in turn 1. Ward made his move when Duncan and Merchant made contact in lapped traffic. As Binky relayed it, "the car was getting better and better throughout the race. Kenny and Dennis pulled out on me but I had run them back down and when that happened I was right on their tail so I was in perfect position to take advantage of it." Duncan cut down a tire and slowed to bring out the caution on the next circuit.
Ward felt he was due a break after last week's frustrations, "it played in my favor and I knew it would, things like that either work for you or against you and sooner or later it's going to work for you."
Ward showed he had the strongest car on the ensuing restart and the remaining 2 restarts, one on lap 30 when Greg Dillard slowed in turn 1 and the other on lap 36 for a spin by Bobby Russell in turn 1. The Russell spin happened directly in front of Ward and Binky was fortunate to narrowly escape unscathed. Kenny Merchant wasn't as fortunate as he sustained some front end damage but he was able to soldier on to finish second.
But Kenny wasn't placing blame anywhere, "he was better than we were. We wasn't really that good all night, we were decent. I was trying to get by Duncan and lapped traffic kind of bottled him and me up and kind of got together and think he ended up with a flat and that let Ward get by but I mean heck, Ward was better than we was. He's been deserving a win all year and he finally got it."
Bubba Mullins, the B&K Underground Top Qualifier ran in the top five all race long and finished a solid third ahead of Tommy Surrett and Jody Prince.
36 O'Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. Dennis Duncan, Tommy Surrett, Bubba Mullins, David Ashley and Robbie Starnes won the heat races with Trey Beene and Ray Moore taking the last chance victories.
1. James Ward
2. Kenny Merchant
3. Bubba Mullins
4. Tommy Surrett
5. Jody Prince
6. Curt Lipsey
7. Robbie Starnes
8. David Ashley
9. Rob Litton
10. Trey Beene
11. Jimmy Noland
12. Jeff Chanler
13. Ryan Plaisance
14. Ray Moore
15. Bill Gordon
16. Robert Stuart
17. Greg Dillard
18. Bobby Russell
19. Dwight Falcon
20. Dennis Duncan
21. Brock Williams
22. Jim Bryant
23. Lee Davis
Ward felt he was due a break after last week's frustrations, "it played in my favor and I knew it would, things like that either work for you or against you and sooner or later it's going to work for you."
Ward showed he had the strongest car on the ensuing restart and the remaining 2 restarts, one on lap 30 when Greg Dillard slowed in turn 1 and the other on lap 36 for a spin by Bobby Russell in turn 1. The Russell spin happened directly in front of Ward and Binky was fortunate to narrowly escape unscathed. Kenny Merchant wasn't as fortunate as he sustained some front end damage but he was able to soldier on to finish second.
But Kenny wasn't placing blame anywhere, "he was better than we were. We wasn't really that good all night, we were decent. I was trying to get by Duncan and lapped traffic kind of bottled him and me up and kind of got together and think he ended up with a flat and that let Ward get by but I mean heck, Ward was better than we was. He's been deserving a win all year and he finally got it."
Bubba Mullins, the B&K Underground Top Qualifier ran in the top five all race long and finished a solid third ahead of Tommy Surrett and Jody Prince.
36 O'Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. Dennis Duncan, Tommy Surrett, Bubba Mullins, David Ashley and Robbie Starnes won the heat races with Trey Beene and Ray Moore taking the last chance victories.
1. James Ward
2. Kenny Merchant
3. Bubba Mullins
4. Tommy Surrett
5. Jody Prince
6. Curt Lipsey
7. Robbie Starnes
8. David Ashley
9. Rob Litton
10. Trey Beene
11. Jimmy Noland
12. Jeff Chanler
13. Ryan Plaisance
14. Ray Moore
15. Bill Gordon
16. Robert Stuart
17. Greg Dillard
18. Bobby Russell
19. Dwight Falcon
20. Dennis Duncan
21. Brock Williams
22. Jim Bryant
23. Lee Davis
