FUEL525SERIES
04-28-2014, 09:17 AM
(CHARLOTTE, NC - APRIL 28, 2014) - Ross Bailes followed up his runner-up effort at the season opening event at Cherokee and staked an early claim on the 2014 FUEL Racing Series Championship with an exciting win on Saturday night at Friendship Motor Speedway in the 2nd race of the 2014 tour. It would not come easy for the Clover, SC native as he would battle almost the entire race with Blairsville, Georgia's Jonathan Davenport. Multiple lead changes and intense competition highlighted the event as Bailes, after surrendering the lead, stormed back by Davenport to score the $3000 victory and take over the championship point lead.Noel Tucker set fast time in Klotz Synthetic Lubricants Time Trials and would go on to win RE Suspension Heat Race #1 over Billy Hicks. KRC Power Steering Heat #2 would go to Davenport followed closely by Bailes. The Top 4 redraw results were: Bailes - Tucker - Davenport - Hicks.Bailes and Tucker led the field to the green in the feature event only to have the initial start halted by a multicar incident entering turn 3. Once the track was cleared, Bailes surged to the point on the opening lap with Davenport, Hicks, and Tucker all in tow. Bailes set the pace early as the action picked up behind the race leader. Ricky Weeks began making his way through the field as Davenport began to pressure Bailes for the lead. Davenport continued to work the high side of the speedway and eventually made his way around Bailes with an exciting pass exiting turn 4. Davenport's lead would be short lived as Bailes reassumed his position at the point on the next double file restart and never relinquished the lead in route to the win."It feels great, that was one heck of a show," said Bailes. "Jonathan gave me a good run and I was trying to protect the bottom. I didn't think anyone could run the top but he (Davenport) showed me the way around there and on the last restart I got a good jump. I started running up high and picked up a little bit." Davenport, who made his series debut this weekend, would bring home a 2nd place finish in the feature. Ricky Weeks of Ruthefordton, NC would finish 3rd, followed by Ellenboro, NC's Jason Pack and Donald Bradsher of Burlington, NC. Pack and Bradsher joined Bailes as the only drivers with Top 5 finishes in each of the first two events.Next up for the FUEL Racing Series will be Round #3 on the 2014 tour and a trip to Wythe Raceway in the Blue Ridge Mountains on Saturday May 3rd for a $3,000 to win main event. Make plans to come watch the stars and cars of the FUEL Racing Series powered by City Chevrolet Performance as they tackle the historic 1/2 mile in Rural Retreat, VA.For more information about FUEL Racing Series, visit the website (fuelracingseries.com), find us on Facebook (FUEL Racing Series), and follow us on Twitter (@FUEL525SERIES).Partners of the FUEL Racing Series include Chevrolet Performance, City Chevrolet Performance, Hoosier Racing Tire, State Water Heaters, Klotz Synthetics, RE Suspension, KRC Power Steering, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, B&B Motorsports, Flag To Flag, Kenny Lamb Racing Engines, Heintz Brothers Performance, Performance Tees, D&E Marine, WP Racing Shocks, Renegade Race Fuels, JRi Shocks, Beyea Headers, Eibach Springs, The Joie of Seating, To The Point, Gale Force Suspensions, Roush Yates Performance Products, AR Bodies, Insane Racing Graphics, Velocita, Superior Trailers, Local Race Chat, and Thomas Clarke Performance.CITY CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE MAIN EVENT RESULTS (40 LAPS)Ross Bailes, Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Weeks, Jason Pack, Donald Bradsher, Noel Tucker, Ryan Atkins, Kenny Van Derveer, Brett Hamm, Greg Knight, Billy Hicks, Bill Tesh, Chris Cantrell, Clinton Cook, David Smith, Carson Ferguson, Derek Brown.RE SUSPENSION HEAT RACE #1 RESULTS (10 LAPS)Noel Tucker, Billy Hicks, Ricky Weeks, Kenny Van Derveer, Donald Bradsher, Jason Pack, Chris Cantrell, Bill Tesh, Furman PartonKRC POWER STEERING HEAT RACE #2 RESULTS (10 LAPS)Jonathan Davenport, Ross Bailes, Ryan Atkins, Brett Hamm, David Smith, Carson Ferguson, Clinton Cook, Derek BrownKLOTZ SYNTHETIC LUBRICANTS TIME TRIALS (2 LAPS)Noel Tucker 16.003, Ross Bailes 16.017, Kenny Van Derveer 16.046, Jonathan Davenport 16.057, Chris Cantrell 16.155, Ryan Atkins 16.189, Donald Bradsher 16.216, David Smith 16.246, Billy Hicks 16.254, Brett Hamm 16.456, Jason Pack 16.474, Carson Ferguson 16.904, Furman Parton 16.943, Clinton Cook 16.963, Ricky Weeks 17.079, Derek Brown 17.106, Bill Tesh 17.987, Greg Knight 19.767FUEL RACING SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS Ross Bailes (196) - Jason Pack (184) - Brett Hamm (182) - Donald Bradsher (180) - Billy Hicks (172) - Ricky Weeks (172) - Ryan Atkins (168) - David Smith (158) - Kenny Van Derveer (158) - Clinton Cook (156) - Carson Ferguson (148) - Chris Cantrell (140) - Greg Knight (130)