FUEL525SERIES
08-25-2014, 04:55 PM
Using the top groove and a wealth of experience at a track he has tamed before, Ross Bailes earned his 4th FUEL Racing Series win of the season Friday night at Rolling Thunder Speedway in Ararat, VA. With the win, Bailes extended what was already a 14 point lead in the championship standings, and earned his first win since July 5th. “We got on a bad streak for a while there and couldn’t find victory lane, but it definitely feels good to be back here” said Bailes. “We got the car a lot better than it’s been the past couple of races. I’ve been here before in my SECA (South Eastern Crate Association) car and I think that was to my advantage. This place gets really slick so you have to be easy on the throttle.” Prior to qualifying, a light rain would grace the race track. Action on the track was delayed nearly an hour but with the help of racers and track crew the surface was rolled back in allowing the racing action to resume. Due to a strict time curfew at Rolling Thunder Speedway, the two standard heat races for the FUEL series were scratched. In Klotz Synthetic Lubricants time trials as 14 cars would make the call. 13 cars into qualifying, it appeared Bailes would earn his third fast time award until the #07 Gib Gibbons took the top spot earning his third pole award of the season instead. After the traditional top 4 redraw Gibbons would keep his pole position with Brett Hamm joining him on the front row. Bailes and Billy Hicks would round out the top 4 starters for the 40 lap feature. Off the start Gibbons jumped out front early but that progress was slowed by a lap 1 caution involving Mitchell Coble and Brandon Umberger. On the subsequent restart, 2nd place running Bailes would be on the outside of Gibbons on the front row and would take the lead before a lap 2 caution involving Bill Tesh and Matthew Nance. Bailes, choosing the outside line on each restart, would hold the lead from there on out. After three consecutive cautions on lap 16 the race would finally run green for the remainder of its 40 lap distance. While Bailes was leading, 2nd place running Jonathan Davenport would stay close along with Billy Hicks as the top 3 broke away from the field. Hicks applied pressure to Davenport and Davenport closed in on Bailes, yet neither were able to overtake the race leader as Bailes would hold on for the victory. Partners of the FUEL Racing Series include Chevrolet Performance, City Chevrolet Performance Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire, State Water Heaters, Klotz Synthetics, RE Suspension, KRC, 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.