I-30 Speedway
Merchant SUPR's all-time leader after I-30 victory
From series reports
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Aug. 1-2) — Kenny Merchant of West Monroe, La., became the all-time winningest driver on the O'Reilly Southern United Professional Racing circuit with a victory at I-30 Speedway. Merchant's 42nd career SUPR triumph moves him ahead of the retired Doug Ingalls of Longview, Texas, a three-time series champion who has 41 victories.
Fittingly, Merchant's historic victory came at a quarter-mile oval where he's been dominant in SUPR competition. Merchant captured the Saturday finale of the two-race weekend while Kyle Cummings of Minden, La., won the Friday opener. Merchant has won nine career SUPR events at I-30 and at least one at the Little Rock track each year since 2003.
In the weekend finale, polesitter Rob Litton of Alexandria, La., led past the halfway point of the 35-lapper, but with virtually every car in the low groove, he ran into trouble with lapped traffic. Near lap 20, Litton made an outside move on a slower car, but the slower car also moved high and Litton fell back to third behind second-row starters Merchant and Cummings.
Cummings kept the heat on Merchant as the race entered the late stages, and Merchant's right-front tire was giving up and making his car's handling difficult. But a caution with five laps remaining allowed Merchant to regroup, and he held on for the victory. Litton settled for third while Sitton and Jeff Chanler of Minden rounded out the top five.
O'Reilly SUPR @ I-30: (1) Kenny Merchant, (2) Kyle Cummings, (3) Rob Litton, (4) Kevin Sitton, (5) Jeff Chanler, (6) Jordan Jones, (7) Robbie Stuart, (8) Lee Davis, (9) Allen Tippen, (10) Gary Scott Christian, (11) Jeff Moss, (12) Allen Murray, (13) Jeff Floyd, (14) Ross Camponovo, (15) Billy Moyer Jr., (16) Nicholas Brown, (17) Joseph Long. Heat race winners (among 17 cars): Jones, Litton.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Merchant tied the victories mark; a discrepancy in the series history revealed that Merchant overtook Ingalls.
