USA Speedway
Bagley gets SUPR hat trick at USA Speedway
By Bryan Wimberley
DirtonDirt.com correspondent
Morgan Bagley steers toward victory at USA Speedway. (Best Photography)
STERLINGTON, La. (May 27) — Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, placed his stamp of dominance on USA Speedway on Friday, winning a third consecutive time over a 10-week span at the quarter-mile oval in O'Reilly Southern United Professional Racing competition. | Slideshow
The polesitting Bagley outran B.J. Robinson of Blanchard, La., by seven lengths to a $2,000 victory in stretching his SUPR points lead. Robinson eased under Bagley twice during the 40-lapper, but the Texan led all the way.
"We don't quite understand the success we have been having here. We come here and try to be well prepared, just like everywhere else," Bagley said. "The last couple of times here, we started on the outside of the front row of the heat race, which helped us out a lot and gave us a decent starting position in the feature. Tonight we pulled in and had to start last in the heat and our team thought then, that it could be the end of our streak.
"We dug in, held our heads up and worked hard and got some good passing points that put us on the pole. From then on, we had a good enough car to stay up front and lead every lap — it worked out pretty good for us.
"At the same time, we are ready to win somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, we will try to win every time out here at USA, but we want to win somewhere else also to prove it is not some kind of a fluke deal."
While Robinson continued a series of solid runs with his runner-up performance, front-row starter Kevin Sitton of Baytown, Texas, finished third while debuting a new Barry Wright Race Car. Jeff Chanler of Minden, La., posted his first top-five SUPR finish of the season and ninth-starting Jody Prince of Sibley, La., rounded out the top five.
Bagley got the jump on Robinson, Sitton, Rob Litton and Chanler at the outset and reached lapped traffic by the 10th lap.
A lap-14 for a slowing Ronny Adams brought out the first yellow, and Robinson kept Bagley within a few lengths through the halfway point.
As Bagley approached the slower Troy Berdan, Robinson closed to the decklid of Bagley. Both drivers negotiated traffic well, with Robinson not letting Bagley get out of his grasp at lap 30.
Litton lost a top-five finish when he slowed with suspension problems to bring out the final caution on lap 32, and Bagley edged away to lead but a full second by lap 37 as most drivers stuck with the low groove on the rubbered-up track.
Robinson eased closer to Bagley in the final laps, but never got within striking distance.
Notes: Bagley's Rocket Chassis is powered by a Wall 2 Wall Performance Engine and sponsored by P&W Sales & Oilfield Mfg., Mr. Frank Motorsports, 360 Motorsports, Southern Transport, MSI, J&J Motorsports, Outerwears, Club 29 and Hyperco. ... Bagley is the only driver to win multiple Super Late Model features at the track that opened in March 2010. ... Bagley's the first to win three SUPR consecutive races at a single track since winningest series driver Kenny Merchant won three straight last season at Champion Park Speedway. ... The checkered flag flew on the 24-minute feature at 11:47 p.m. ... The race was slowed by just two cautions. ... Runner-up B.J. Robinson has four straight top-10 finishes, a streak that includes an unsanctioned victory May 21 at Jones Motor Speedway in Chatham, La. ... In Robinson's two previous visits to USA Speedway, he was 17th and 15th. ... Timothy Culp of West Monroe, La., entered Friday's race 15 points behind Bagley in the series standings. Although Culp won his heat race from the pole and started sixth in the main event, he faded to finish 11th and lost 49 points to Bagley. ... Culp was second in his previous two visits to Sterlington. ... Allen Tippen of Minden, La., had a string of four straight sixth-or-better finishes snapped at USA Speedway. The eighth-starting Tippen decided to bring his older GRT Race Car and never was a factor. ... Jon Mitchell of Texarkana, Texas, was the hard charger, going from 16th-to-eighth. ... Chris Holley of Dayton, Texas, ran a Erb Racing Team backup car to a sixth-place finish. Holley's familiar No. 28 is temporarily out of commission with engine woes. ... Greenville (Miss.) Speedway Super Late Model points leader Mike Palasini Jr. of Leland, Miss., finished 18th. ... Drivers failing to make the feature lineup: Nicholas Brown, Jay Brunson, Nate Jantz, Paul Joyner, Curt Lipsey, Jesse Mills and Allen Murray.
SUPR @ USA Speedway: (1) Morgan Bagley, (2) B.J. Robinson, (3) Kevin Sitton, (4) Jeff Chanler, (5) Jody Prince, (6) Chris Holley, (7) Doug Begnaud, (8) Jon Mitchell, (9) Derek Perkins, (10) Allen Tippen, (11) Timothy Culp, (12) John Mark Mills, (13) Wesley Chanler, (14) Troy Berdan, (15) Bubba Mullins, (16) Rob Litton, (17) Kennith Crowe, (18) Mike Palasini Jr, (19) Darin Patrick, (20) Ronny Adams. Heat race winners (among 27 cars): Sitton, Culp, Robinson, J. Chanler. Consolation winner: W. Chanler.
