Posted by Wink Bodenhamer/UARA-STARS on October 22, 2007, 2:10 pm
Board Administrator

FURR CLAIMS HIS FIRST UARA VICTORY FOR THE HOME FOLKS IN THE FAIRBORN EQUIPMENT 150 AT CONCORD MOTORSPORTS PARK On a beautiful sunny day at Concord Motorsports Park Ross Furr had his best UARA finish of his career, winning the UARA-STARS Fairborn Equipment 150. He accomplished this with style and determination. Furr couldn’t have shown his glory at a better time. He was at a track built by his grandfather with all his family, friends and sponsors there to see him claim his first Late Model Stock victory. In victory circle a very emotional Furr said, “It is just a dream come true.” The day began with a great field of cars some 39 strong rolling to the grid to get the action going. Furr began his day with a bang landing the Sunoco Pole with point leader Mark Setzer claiming the Brisco outside pole to set the stage. Getting into the field proved to be tough for some of the series regulars. Car owner Austin Green formed a partnership with Lance Gatlin bringing along with him those coveted car owner points. In their rush to get all details worked out they hadn’t changed the numbers on their car until after qualifying, practice etc. causing confusion with other owners and drivers. Pat Shell was the other lucky car owner to get a starting spot with the owner provisional for his son Zeke. The race began with Mark Setzer claiming the lead from the git-go. He would maintain that position for 101 of the 150 total laps that would complete the race. Having done that he claimed 10 extra bonus points to his credit. Jeff Melton will be the first victim of a caution on lap 4. He and Brandon Dean had contact and it appeared that Melton suffered rearend damage due to this. With the Racing Electronics in car radio hookups, announcer Alan Dietz contacted Setzer who said, “ This Mitch West Ford Fusion is really good. The bottom of the track is the place to be.” The field will go back to green on lap 9 and will be fall right back to caution on lap 10 with the spin of Lee Tissot. Along with Tissot in a tangled mess will be the cars of Clint Mills, Clay Greenfield, Claude Kelly, Lance Gatlin, Paddy Rodenbeck, Alex Kennedy and Darrell Wallace, Jr. Greenfield, Gatlin, and Mills will be in and out of the pits trying to repair the damage to their machines but it will be the end of the show for Greenfield and Gatlin. Mills will complete a few more laps before ending his day. Mills will receive the ARP Hard Luck Award having blown a motor in early practice, drive home to change it and still end up many laps short of a finish. Dietz will go to Ross Furr who is running second via the Racing Electronics connection at this time. Furr said “ We want to lead the most laps but our main focus is on the win.” With the restart there will be contact between Jake Crum and Buster Bennett. Crum will get way loose but will regain control and continue on. Caution 3 flies for debree on the frontstretch on lap 19. The field will go back to green on lap 23 with Setzer, Furr, Dean, and Shane Brafford leading the pack. Melling Select Rookie Matt DiBenedetto, B.J. Mackey, Payne Pickles, Crum and Roger Lee Newton look like a freight train in hot pursuit. They are hooked nose to tail doing some serious racing. DiBenedetto and Mackey get side by side and Mackey will come out with the fifth place position at this time. Pickles will be glued right to his bumper and drop DiBenedetto back to 7th. Shortly after that DiBenedetto has Roger Lee Newton and Jake Crum making the move on him. DiBenedetto is loosing ground fast. Dietz radioed DiBenedetto later in the race and DiBenedetto said, “My nose is way off the ground.” He had apparently made contact with the Melton car during the first caution. His father gave him some excellent advice when he told him “Make the best of a bad situation”. The action is fierce all through the field as Justin Hill and Lee Tissot are on the move along with Mikey Kile, Buster Bennett, Lucas Ransone and Bobby Measmer tagging right along with them. Caution four will fall with the spin of Darrell Wallace, Jr. on the backstretch. At this time Roger Lee Newton who is riding 5th says “We’re just riding, biding our time to see what we got here”. On the restart Hill still seems to be the man on the move with Tissot charging after him. Tissot will eventually overtake Hill for 9th and Zeke Shell will overtake Claude Kelly and Daniel Pope II for position. Lap 56 sees Andrew Thomas and Austin Dillon spinning out of turn four bringing out caution 5. Both cars will see the black flag drop on them to fix damage to their cars. When the action restarts Brafford, Newton and Pickles battle for 4th as Tissot and Mackey battle for 8th. Measmer and Kile have a battle of their own for 11th. Caution 6 files on lap 75 as Pickles and Newton make contact. Jake Crum spins and he contacts Tissot in the process. Tissot will continue his charge however and take the 6th spot when the field retakes the green. Back in the field Lucas Ransone spins after some hard racing with Zeke Shell on lap 89 bringing out caution 7. Shell will receive the stop and go penalty for rough driving. During this caution Tissot says “Cautions are killing me but we’re looking for a top 2 or 3.” Tissot will come home as the Holley Performer of the Race. B.J. Mackey is pulled down on the apron of the track to check for a possible leak. UARA official Mike Cox says, “It’s dry as a boneyard”. When the race restarts Furr and Brafford are all over Setzer giving him a run for the money. On lap 101 they make their move and Furr will lead his first lap on 102. Serious racing is going on all over the field. Pickles and Dean make contact with Dean getting very loose but holding on. Pickles and Tissot will pass Dean at this time. By lap 126 Furr and Brafford have a decent lead over Setzer. Caution 8 will fall as Wallace and Hill make contact. Both cars have damage but will continue on. Wallace will have a flat tire and need attention in the pits. During this caution Furr says: “Me and Mark always race good around each other. We like to beat and bang but he closed the door on me a couple of times, but I finally got around him.” On the restart Furr gets a good go and Newton and Setzer go side by side for position. Newton will claim the third spot. Newton seems to be on a tear and then the battle is on for the lead spot. Brafford is working on Furr, Newton is in hot pursuit of Brafford and then a three-way battle ensues. Caution 9 falls as the Alex Kennedy car spins in turn four. This turn of events will bring the field to a green, white, checker finish. When the green falls Furr gets a good start and sails home to the checker. The UARA Championship will not be decided until the next and final event at Caraway Speedway November 3, 2007. This will be a very exciting finish to the UARA-STARS sixth season. Mark Setzer will lead into that final event with a mere 12-point advantage over Furr who has been cutting that advantage weekly. Setzer is one to run very well under pressure and Furr is not one to give up easily. B.J. Mackey comes into the event third in points and will give it all he has to eliminate that 54-point advantage that Setzer has over him. One small mistake can cost the championship to one of these very talented drivers. Fairborn Equipment 150 Finish 1. Ross Furr 2. Shane Brafford 3. Roger Lee Newton 4. Mark Setzer 5. Payne Pickles 6. Lee Tissot 7. B.J. Mackey 8. Brandon Dean 9. Bobby Measmer Buster Bennett Claude Kelly Austin Dillon Mikey Kile Zeke Shell Justin Hill Matt DiBenedetto Andrew Thomas Lucas Ransone Mike Terry Paddy Rodenbeck Daniel Pope II Alex Kennedy Darrell Wallace, Jr. Jake Crum Clint Mills Clay Greenfield Lance Gatlin Jeff Melton