Battle of the Bluegrass Dirt Car Racing Series
2009 Press Release Archive

September 6, 2009

Brandon Kinzer Bags Bucks with O’Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass Win at 201 Speedway

Sitka, KY-September 6, 2009- The O’Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series presented by Graphic Impressions continued its 2009 Triple Header Championship Weekend on Saturday evening at 201 Speedway in Sitka, KY and Brandon Kinzer of Allen, KY would take the $5,000 payday at the Chuckie May promoted facility.

Kinzer’s win was his first-ever with the series and came aboard the Kinzer Racing owned Will Kinzer Foundation for Autism Research/Kinzer Drilling/Quality Gas and Oil/Eastco Supply/Commonwealth Chiropractic Center/Art’s Radiator and Welding/ RideHonda.com/Phase II Sign Supply sponsored GRT Race Car, powered by a Custom Race Engine.

Victor Lee of Danville, KY would finish second in the Gary Craig and Steve West owned Quality Pawn/Advance Auto Parts sponsored Rayburn/Corder powered machine, while Justin Rattliff of Campbellsville, KY would finish third in the MGL Auto Sales/B&W Auto Recyclers sponsored Rocket/Pro Power mount. Fourth place would go to Dustin Linvill e of Bryantsville, KY in the Bruce Barnes and Terry Linville owned Barnes and Davis Family Dentistry/Linville’s Finish Carpentry sponsored Rayburn/Bullock unit, with Aaron Hatton of Mount Sterling, KY completing the top five in the Russell Hatton owned Checkered Flag Auto Sales/Jerry Hatton Used Cars sponsored Rayburn/Bullock powered entry.

The remainder of the top ten would be Eric Wells, Paul Harris, Shon Flanary, Mike Jewell, and David Powers. The 50 lap, $5,000 to win event would slowed by nine caution flags.

Shon Flanary would take the lead at the start of the event, trailed by Brandon Kinzer, Dustin Linville, Shannon Thornsberry, and Victor Lee. Caution would wave on lap 2 for a spin by Tim Tungate in turn two. The restart would see Linville take the lead from Flanary on the high side of turn two as Lee would take fourth from Thornsberry. The caution flew again on lap 4 for a Cowan Kinney spin in turn four. The restart would not see a lap completed as Jamie Ferguson would make contact with the backchute guardrail and draw another caution flag. This restart would see Kinzer go to second, while Eric Wells would charge to fourth by lap 6 as Kinzer pressured Linville for the lead. Anthony Adams would draw the next caution when his machine stopped on the frontchute to tighten the field up once again. The restart saw Linville stay on the point as Lee would drive around Wells for fourth on lap 8. Justin Rattliff would begin to move at this point, but caution waved again on lap 10 as Kevin Wagner rolled to a stop in turn one. The restart would see Brandon Fouts spin in turn one to draw a caution and this would turn into a red flag after David Webb stopped at the end of the frontchute and was rear-ended by Terry Hicks.

Once racing resumed, Rattliff would take fifth from Wells, while Kinzer dogged Linville for the lead. Lee would take third from Flanary on lap 11 as Fouts slowed in turn one to bring out another caution flag. The restart would see Kinzer dive under Linville in turn three and take the lead off of turn four, while Rattliff and=2 0Wells battled for fifth. Rattliff and Wells would move Flanary out of the top five on lap 16 as Kinzer began to slowly pull away a bit from Linville. Kinzer would begin to work slower traffic by lap 20, with Lee taking second from Linville on the same circuit. Rattliff would take third from Linville two trips later on lap 22 as Aaron Hatton would begin to battle with Linville for fourth when David Webb would spin in turn two.

Back underway, the race would hit the midpoint with Kinzer at the point, followed by Lee and Rattliff, while Linville and Hatton would begin a battle that saw the pair swap fourth place numerous occasions around the track, with Greg Johnson getting into the mix as well by lap 27. As Kinzer again motored away from the pack, Linville and Hatton continued to tussle for fourth when the final caution of the event waved on lap 35 for Cowan Kinney’s spun machine in turn one. The restart again saw Kinzer quickly pull away as Lee and Rattliff gave chase, while Hatton and Linville again swapped the fourth spot back and forth. The battle for fourth continued to ra ge on as lap 40 was scored and Kinzer was putting more distance on the field and again started working traffic on lap 42. With the five laps remaining, Linville would finally win the battle for fourth, but there would be no one catching Kinzer as he motored to the checkered flag first, followed by Lee, Rattliff, Linville, and Hatton.

In preliminary action, Shannon Thornsberry was the Racing Optics Top Qualifier among 29 entries with a lap of 14.000 seconds. Heat race checkered flags went to Thornsberry in Wayne Bowen Racing Supply heat one, Flanary in Graphic Impressions heat two, and Kinzer in C.J. Rayburn Race Cars heat three. Mike Jewell would win the B-Main, while provisional starting spots went to Michael Paul Howard and Kevin Wagner (series) and David Powers and Cowan Kinney (track).

The next event for the O’Reilly Battle of t he Bluegrass DirtCar Series Super Late Models will be the 2009 series finale and take place on Sunday September 6 at Tazewell Speedway in Tazewell, TN for $5,000 to win.

The O’Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series sanctions regional Super Late Model events at tracks in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. For more information about America’s most competitive regional racing series, visit the series webpage on the world wide web at www.battleofthebluegrass.com or call the series office at (502) 762-1606 or (502) 931-5068.