SUPR Late Models
I-30 Speedway
June 18, 2011
________________________________________

Moore goes back-to-back with SUPR victory at I-30

by Bryan Wimberley
BRYANT, Ark. (June 18) - Ray Moore of Haughton, La., continues to be a force on the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southern United Professional Racing Series tour, winning

his third series race of the season. Moore scored a $2,500 paycheck with the I-30 Speedway victory, holding off Kevin Sitton of Baytown, Tex., by four lengths.

Front-row starter Moore, had an early back-and-forth battle with current series points leader, Morgan Bagley of Longview, Tex., before getting a late race scare from Sitton at the stripe of the 40-lapper.

Bagley would expand his points lead by a slim margin, finishing in third, while Timothy Culp of West Monroe, La., rebounded nicely with a fourth place finish. Brett Frazier of Haughton, continues to improve, recording his second straight series top ten, finishing in fifth.

Moore would lead the pack on the initial lap, with Bagley, Frazier, B.J. Robinson and Culp following close behind. Bagley would pull alongside of Moore to challenge for the lead on the next lap, but Moore would edge Bagley by a length. Jon Mitchell of Texarkana, Tex., would bring out the race's first caution on the same lap.

Polesitter Bagley would get a great restart and would take the point on lap three. A second yellow would fly when Chad Dupont would be off-the-pace while running fifth.

Moore and Bagley would resume their side-by-side war on the restart, raging on for three more laps. Bagley would lay claim to the low groove, as Moore would take to the cushion for the lead -a lead he would never relinquish.

Timothy Culp would move into third and begin to close the gap on Bagley for second. Moore's pace would have him negotiating lapped traffic on the eighth circuit.

Moore stretched the advantage to nearly three seconds, as Sitton's continuous pressure on Culp lands him in the third spot. Moore had lapped all the way up to 10th, with positions sixth through ninth battling hard to stay on the lead lap. Amongst that battle were Robinson and Jeff Chanler of Minden, La., with Moore baring down on the pack to put them one down. Exiting turn four, Robinson and Chanler were door-to-door on lap 24, as contact sent Robinson out of control on the front straightaway. Chanler would draw up on the pair rapidly with no place to go. The yellow was brought out for the third time for Robinson's spin.

On the restart, Bagley would quickly clear the lapped car of Tippen, gaining a shot at Moore for the lead. The suspense would be short lived and Moore powered back to control the race with ten laps remaining.

Contact between Jeff Chanler and Ronny Adams running near the top five, sent Adams slamming the wall by the flagstand. Adams never let up and the race would stay green until a fire broke out under Curt Lipsey's car on lap 33. The track safety crew would quickly extinquish the fire, setting up a seven-lap run to the finish.

It would play into the hands of Sitton the best, working past Bagley after dipping to the inside and getting second. Moore appeared to be cruising upfront with a two-second advantage on lap 38, but Sitton wasn't about to give up on the lead.

Moore would push upon to lap traffic, letting out of the throttle to roll around the corners, while Sitton could see Moore's decklid getting bigger. On the last lap, unbeknownst to Moore, his security for the win was in jeopardy in the last two corners. Sitton's charge had shrunk the two-second lead, to a few lengths. Moore's momentum would carry him to the win, but only by mere car lengths from the fast-closing Sitton.

Notes: Moore's MB2 Customs Chassis is powered by a Jay Dickens Racing Engine and sponsored by Moore Wireline Inc, tic Tools International, X-Treme Graphics, Smith's Towing and J&J Motorsports.

The win was Moore's 17th SUPR Series victory and his third consecutive series top 10 finish at I-30 Speedway -adding to a fifth and tenth last July.

Moore has three SUPR wins at I-30 Speedway, dating back to June 2007.

Eight of Moore's last ten Late Model entries have been top 3 finishes, only missing the starting grid in two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events at Wheatland (MO) and Kilgore (TX).

The 26-minute feature ended at 11:04 pm. Four cautions slowed the main event, with nine cars on the lead lap.
It was SUPR's 56th visit to I-30 Speedway dating back to 1991, with 29 different drivers winning in the series during that span.

Sitton continues to get comfortable in his new Barry Wright Race Car, having four of five top 6 finishes in it, with an accident giving him a DNF last week at Chatham.

The seventh-starting Sitton was one of the top 10's biggest movers, advancing five positions to claim the runner-up spot.

Sitton draws closer in the O'Reilly SUPR points standing to make it a three-way battle for second place, currently trailing Timothy Culp (by 61) and Allen Tippen (by 36).

Jeff Chanler claimed the hard charger of the race, going from 19th-to-seventh.

Morgan Bagley has over a one-race cushion in the points, increasing his lead from 183 to 198 over second place Timothy Culp.

Bagley has managed to pull away from week-to-week, by registering four of five series top 5's in the last month, including a win three weeks ago at USA Speedway in Sterlington.

The Childress Racing Team placed a fifth different driver to take the wheel of the No. F5 car. Modified driver, Chad Dupont of Bossier City, La., handled the duties at I-30 Speedway, impressing early with a heat race victory. Bad luck would strike early in the feature for Dupont and he would exit early to become the first retiree of the race.

Dupont joins, Josh Danzy, Jody Prince, Billy Moyer Jr. and Justin Allgaier, who drove the car (then decalled up as the No.31) in The Prelude to the Dream and finished fifth. Danzy is normally the driver of the race car, but back injuries continue to hamper the 30-year old from Heflin, Louisiana. He is not expected to return until becoming completely healed and back to 100 percent.

The O'Reilly Southern United Professional Racing Series tour returns to action in two weeks with a tripleheader starting on Friday, July 1st at 171 Speedway in Leesville, Louisiana -the first visit in 14 years to that facility. The series then moves to Champion Park Speedway near Haughton on July 2nd, for a $3,000-to-win special event that will honor 1998 SUPR Series champion Rusty Cummings, in a event dubbed "The Race To Erase ALS". The weekend will conclude with a Sunday date at Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, Texas.

SUPR @ I-30 Speedway: (1) Ray Moore, (2) Kevin Sitton, (3) Morgan Bagley, (4) Timothy Culp, (5) Brett Frazier, (6) Jody Prince, (7) Jeff Chanler, (8) Chris Holley, (9) Ronny Adams, (10) Allen Tippen, (11) Jay Brunson, (12) Terry Henson, (13) Joseph Long, (14) Paul Joyner, (15) Curt Lipsey, (16) B.J. Robinson, (17) Jon Mitchell, (18) Allen Murray, (19) Chad Dupont

Heat race winners (among 19 cars): Moore, Dupont, Bagley

O'Reilly SUPR Series points
(through June 18th)

1. Morgan Bagley - 1,365
2. Timothy Culp - 1,167
3. Allen Tippen - 1,142
4. Kevin Sitton - 1,106
5. Chris Holley - 883
6. Rob Litton - 878
7. Jody Prince - 831
8. Ray Moore - 778
9. B.J. Robinson - 774
10. Ronny Adams - 759
11. Jeff Chanler - 732
12. Robbie Stuart - 579
13. Bubba Mullins - 525
14. Jay Brunson - 490
15. Jon Mitchell - 474