THE “ANGIE ASSASSIN” MAKES HIS THIRD STORMPAY.COM DLMS “HIT” AT NORTH VERNON , IN

Jay Blair of Angie, LA is joined by his car builders Tader and Keith Masters of Mastersbilt Race Cars (second and third from left) in victory lane Saturday night at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, IN after winning the Hoosier State 75 for the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series.  The win was the third of the season for Blair in the #2x All Star Graphics Mastersbilt.  (Matt Adkins Photo)

                NORTH VERNON, IN – Jay Blair of Angie, LA took the lead on lap 19, and led the rest of the way in the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series Hoosier State 75 at Twin Cities Raceway Park on Saturday night.  The $5,000 win in the All-Star Graphics Mastersbilt was the third of the season for the “Angie Assassin” and moved him up to the second spot in the National point standings.

                “It was all about tire choice tonight, and we picked the right set up tonight,” Blair said.  “It feels good to be right in this championship battle with just a couple of race left to go in the season, and we hope to be there at the end.”

                The 25-car starting field ran the first 70 laps of the race caution-free, as Blair at one time, had a full straightaway lead over second-place Chip Brindle of Chatsworth , GA.   As the laps wound down, Brindle and Steve Barnett of Franklin , IN were slowly closing in on the leader.

               Josh Walker of Auquia, IN brought out the first caution flag, followed by the red flag when a fire erupted under the hood of his Terry Eaglin Motorsports GRT on lap 71.  A couple of more cautions on the restarts kept the field bunched up, but in the four lap dash to the finish, Blair had pulled out to a half-straightaway lead at the checkered flag.

“I would have liked for the race to have gone the distance without a caution, but when it came out, I knew any lead I had would be gone,” Blair said.  “When the green came back out, our tires came back to life pretty quick, and we were able to stay out front.”

Brindle finished second in the CSC Trailer Repair/Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT after setting fast time among the 30 entrants during Friday night’s qualifications with a lap around the 3/8-mile high-banked dirt oval in 15.590 seconds.  Brindle won the first 12-lap heat race on Friday night to earn the pole position for the main event.

Brindle led the first 18 laps of the race, and was the Rookie of the Race.  Brindle’s runner-up finish moved him into a tie with Frank Ingram of Woodstock , GA for the fourth spot in the StormPay.com DLMS National point standings.

Barnett finished third in the J.D. Byrider/Tony Stewart Racing Rayburn, and the defending StormPay.com DLMS National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN took the fourth spot in the Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt to hold a 20-point lead over Blair in the StormPay.com DLMS National point standings.

Brad Barrow of Bloomington , IN started the King Distributors Rayburn in the 14^th position and finished fifth to earn the NeSmith Chevrolet Hard Charger of the Race Award.  Steve Godsey of Bedford, IN was sixth in the Indiana Stone Works Rayburn.

Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA drove the Hays Racing/Barto Enterprises Warrior to a seventh-place finish, and dropped him from second to third in the StormPay.com DLMS National point standings, ten points behind Blair.

Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA moved up to the sixth spot in the StormPay.com DLMS National points chase with an eighth-place effort in the Summerville Junkyard Mastersbilt.  Bryan Bernhardt of Versailles, IN took the ninth spot in the B&B Precision Moving Rocket, and Jim Moon of Zionsville, IN rounded out the top ten in the Jedco Racing Rocket.

Brindle took the lead at the start of the race, as Blair came from the third starting hole to drive under the outside front row starter Rainey for the second spot coming off the second turn.  Gentry settled into the fourth spot, and Barnett moved up from his seventh starting spot to fifth on lap one.

Barnett got to the inside of Gentry on lap three, and the pair raced side-by-side for three laps until Barnett grabbed the fourth spot on lap six.  Brindle reached lapped traffic by the ninth lap, while Patrick Sheltra of Indiantown , FL moved his Sheltra and Sons Construction Rayburn up to challenge Gentry for the fifth position.

Blair began to look to the inside of Brindle on the 12^th lap, as the leaders worked lapped traffic.  Blair made an inside bid for the point on lap 14 when he and Brindle made the three-wide meat in the sandwich the lapped car of Chip Stitsworth of Deputy, IN in the Lamb’s Tractor Repair Rocket.  Brindle was able use his momentum to keep the lead.

Two laps later, Blair reeled Brindle back in, and made another challenge for the lead.  Blair got to the inside of Brindle going into turn one on lap 19, and took lead coming off the second turn.  By lap 20, Blair and Brindle had a half-straightaway lead on Rainey in the third spot, as he was being challenged by Barnett for the position.

By lap 30, the Rainey and Barnett battle for the third spot had more company, as Gentry and Sheltra joined in among heavy lapped traffic.  Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Blair had pulled out to a full straightaway lead over Brindle, Rainey, Barnett, Gentry and Sheltra by lap 35.

Rainey began to fade on lap 36, as Barnett made the pass for third.  Gentry got by Rainey for fourth on lap 42, and Sheltra passed Rainey for fifth on lap 43.  Brindle closed to within a half straightaway of Blair at lap 50.  Barnett was third with 25 laps to go followed by Gentry, Sheltra, Rainey, Bernhardt, Barrow, Godsey, and Fields.

Fields passed Godsey for the ninth spot on lap 56, and Barrow got by Bernhardt for seventh on lap 60.  Barrow then made a move on Rainey to take over the sixth spot on lap 62.  Fields kept moving forward when he passed Bernhardt for the seventh spot on lap 64.

With ten laps to go, Barnett had closed on Brindle, as the second and third-place cars had closed to within eight car-lengths of Blair, and with five laps to go, Barrow was challenging Sheltra for the fifth spot.  When Walker ’s car went up in flames on lap 71, the old tire strategy was out, and a new tire strategy was in.

Walker climbed out of his burning car under his own power and was uninjured, and while the track safety crews cleaned up the race track, cars with softer tires cooled off, and the driver moving forward with harder tires, and got even cooler.  Tires were not a problem for Sheltra, but a broken rear-end assembly was, as he gave up the fifth spot and retired for the evening.

When the field went back to green flag action, they raced for one lap until the caution flag came out for a turn four spin involving Rusty Hoge of Ooltewah, TN in the H&H Powersports GRT and Terry Mosley of Gilbertown, MS in the Robert Parks Realty Rocket.  On the restart, Mark Barber of North Vernon , IN spun the Biehle Electric Mastersbilt in turn two.

That set up the four-lap dash to the checkered flag with Blair leading Brindle, Barnett, Gentry, Barrow, Rainey, Godsey, Fields, and Bernhardt as the top nine cars on the lead lap.

When the field went green, Barnett looked inside Brindle for second on lap 73, but Brindle hung on for the runner-up spot.  Godsey made a pass on Rainey for the sixth spot on lap 74, as Blair pulled away to take a half-straightaway advantage to the checkered flag.

In preliminary action on Friday night, the four 12-lap heat races were won by Brindle, Rainey, Blair and Gentry.  In preliminary on Saturday night, the two 12-lap B-Main races were won by Moon, and P.J. Feistritzer of Danville , KY in the Self Service Storage Rayburn.

The next event for the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Tour will be a 50-lap $3,000-to-win race on October 27 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga , AL .

OFFICIAL FINISH OF ROUND 19 AT TWIN CITIES RACEWAY PARK IN NORTH VERNON , IN ON 9/22/07 :

POS       STRT     CAR #   DRIVER                             HOMETOWN                   LAPS     $ WON 
1.            3             2x           Jay Blair                            Angie , LA                            75           $5,000
2.            1             38c         Chip Brindle (R)              Chatsworth , GA                               75           $2,500
3.            7             20           Steve Barnett                    Franklin , IN                      75           $1,750
4.            4             56           David Gentry                    Lewisburg, TN                  75           $1,600
5.            14           K1          Brad Barrow                    Bloomington , IN                             75           $1,350
6.            13           14           Steve Godsey                     Bedford , IN                        75           $1,000
7.            2             87           Derrick Rainey                 Powder Springs, GA       75           $850
8.            6             16           Jeff Fields                          Aragon, GA                       75           $750
9.            9             B69        Bryan Bernhardt              Versailles , IN                    75           $700
10.          17           1             Jim Moon                          Zionsville, IN                    74           $650
11.          12           302        Robert Stutts (R)             Murfreesboro , TN            74           $600
12.          19           10           Matthew Turner                              Dawsonville, GA                             74               $550
13.          11           44t         Jim Till (R)                       Greenville , AL                  74           $500
14.          15           8             Chris Tays                         Corinth , MS                      74           $450
15.          8             34           Brandon Keeton                              Toomsuba, MS                  74           $400
16.          10           81           Mark Barber                     North Vernon , IN             74           $380
17.          18           88           P.J. Feistritzer                 Danville , KY                      74           $360
18.          21           802        Terry Mosley (R)             Gilbertown, AL                73           $340
19.          16           21           Rusty Hoge                        Ooltewah, TN                    73           $320
20.          5             23           Patrick Sheltra                 Indiantown, FL                 70           $300
21.          24           6j            Josh Walker                      Auquia, IN                          68           $300
22.          25           2             Chip Stitsworth                              Deputy, IN                          51           $300
23.          20           00           David Daughtery              Carmel , IN                         36           $300
24.          22           18           Tracy Ellison                    Montpelier , IN                 18           $300
25.          23           97           Mike Bechelli                   Elizabethtown , IN            2             $300

ENTRIES:  30
FAST QUALIFIER:  Brindle, 15.590 Seconds
TRACK PROVISIONAL:  Stitsworth
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  Brindle, 1-18; Blair, 19-75
LAPS LED:  Blair, 57; Brindle, 18
NeSMITH CHEVROLET HARD CHARGER:  Barrow (started 14^th and finished 5^th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Brindle
CAUTIONS:  3 (1 Red)

QUALIFYING: