Baton Rouge, Louisiana (May 25, 2003) - James "Binky" Ward wrapped up a solid weekend of racing with his second victory in three nights of O'Reilly SUPR Late Model action, taking the win tonight at Baton Rouge Raceway. Ward, now second in the O'Reilly SUPR Late Model Championship standings, battled first with B&K Underground Top Qualifier Ryan Plaisance and then Curt Lipsey to take the win. Ward was excited by the performance of his car this year and the support he is receiving from car owner Mitch Tassin. "It' s getting funner every day! The car is just awesome, even Saturday night in Chatham , we was off on the setup and we still run third. It's working on slick tracks, it's working on tacky tracks and it's working on rubbered tracks."
At the drop of the green, Plaisance got the lead after a brief side-by-side battle with Curt Lipsey. Plaisance led the first 12 laps and looked to be in a strong position for his first win of the season but Ryan's motor let go and his night was done. This allowed Ward to take the lead. Ward held the lead until he got caught up in lapped traffic. This allowed Curt Lipsey to grab the lead just as the race reached the halfway mark. Lipsey was able to hold off Ward's challenges but his tires started to fade and this allowed Ward to close back in for the lead. Ward moved back to the point on lap 43 and he went on to take the win over Lipsey, Merchant, Jay Blair and Sam Patrick.
Merchant's third place finish came after an all night thrash to get his car back together from the damage suffered on Saturday night at Fast Trax Motorplex. The fifth arm broke on Merchant's car and knocked the driveline out and it tore up plenty o other parts in the process.
For Lipsey, the race got away from him when his tires started to go away in the late stages of the race and Ward was able to run him done and retake the lead with just 7 laps to go in the feature.
25 O'Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. Kenny Merchant, Ryan Plaisance, Kevin Watts and James Ward won the heat races with Chris Hoyt taking the last chance race. Randy Cook was the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger award.
Official Results:
1. James Ward
2. Curt Lipsey
3. Kenny Merchant
4. Jay Blair
5. Sam Patrick
6. Dennis Duncan
7. Kevin Watts
8. Michael Sibley
9. Randy Cook
10. Chris Hoyt
11. David Ashley
12. Rodney Sheridan
13. Bill Gordon
14. Jimmy Noland
15. Tommy Surrett
16. Corie Herberger
17. Jerry Bevis
18. Ryan Plaisance
19. K.I. Davis
20. David Knight
At the drop of the green, Plaisance got the lead after a brief side-by-side battle with Curt Lipsey. Plaisance led the first 12 laps and looked to be in a strong position for his first win of the season but Ryan's motor let go and his night was done. This allowed Ward to take the lead. Ward held the lead until he got caught up in lapped traffic. This allowed Curt Lipsey to grab the lead just as the race reached the halfway mark. Lipsey was able to hold off Ward's challenges but his tires started to fade and this allowed Ward to close back in for the lead. Ward moved back to the point on lap 43 and he went on to take the win over Lipsey, Merchant, Jay Blair and Sam Patrick.
Merchant's third place finish came after an all night thrash to get his car back together from the damage suffered on Saturday night at Fast Trax Motorplex. The fifth arm broke on Merchant's car and knocked the driveline out and it tore up plenty o other parts in the process.
For Lipsey, the race got away from him when his tires started to go away in the late stages of the race and Ward was able to run him done and retake the lead with just 7 laps to go in the feature.
25 O'Reilly SUPR Late Models were on hand. Kenny Merchant, Ryan Plaisance, Kevin Watts and James Ward won the heat races with Chris Hoyt taking the last chance race. Randy Cook was the Lloyd Wild Jr. Logging Hard Charger award.
Official Results:
1. James Ward
2. Curt Lipsey
3. Kenny Merchant
4. Jay Blair
5. Sam Patrick
6. Dennis Duncan
7. Kevin Watts
8. Michael Sibley
9. Randy Cook
10. Chris Hoyt
11. David Ashley
12. Rodney Sheridan
13. Bill Gordon
14. Jimmy Noland
15. Tommy Surrett
16. Corie Herberger
17. Jerry Bevis
18. Ryan Plaisance
19. K.I. Davis
20. David Knight
