Middleburg, Florida (02/02/15) – Mark Whitener and Big Frog Motorsports claimed the first win of the 2015 campaign with a $2,000 triumph at Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, Florida) on Wednesday night in their #58 Dave’s Towing/B&B Produce/Barry Wright Late Model.
Big Frog Motorsports returned to action on Wednesday night with the opening round of four straight events with the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, which were held as part of the annual Bubba Army Winternationals at the uniquely-shaped oval. The team enjoyed a strong start to the weekend as Mark Whitener powered to the $2,000 victory in the opening round.
Mark posted the third fastest time overall in qualifying, amongst the thirty-six entries on hand for the event, locking him into the third starting spot for the 40 lap finale. Following an early battle with Jacob Hawkins for the second spot, Whitener would take the position for good on lap thirteen and begin to reel in race leader, Michael Lake. One circuit later, Whitener used the bottom groove coming off the fourth turn to get underneath Lake and take the lead.
From there Whitener held on through adverse track conditions for a 1.415 second margin of victory over Hawkins. Max Blair finished third while Walker Arthur took home fourth and Ryan King rounded out the top five finishers.
“The heavy rain from earlier in the week made it pretty wild out there tonight, but the track crew did a great job giving us a track to race on,” said Whitener in victory lane. “It was a really fun race though, and I can’t thank my team enough for giving me such a great race car.”
After battling bad luck to a 14th place finish on Thursday night, Whitener bounced back to score a pair of second place finishes to close out the weekend, including a runner-up finish to Walker Arthur in Saturday night’s 10th Annual Chevrolet Performance World Championship race, which posted a $10,000 top prize.
Complete results from the events can be found at www.NeSmithRacing.com .
The team now turns its attention to a very busy, Super Late Model slate, which will include eight races in eight days. Action begins on February 8th at North Florida Speedway (Lake City, Florida) with a $5,000-to-win, UMP Super Late Model affair. From there the team will compete in four events with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) at East Bay Raceway Park (Tampa, Florida) on February 9th-12th. To close out the ultra-busy stretch Whitener will pilot the #58 Big Frog Motorsports entry in a trio of events at Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, Florida). Action includes a $5,000-to-win, UMP Late Model event on Friday, February 13th and a pair of $10,000-to-win World of Outlaws (WoO) Super Late Model event on February 14th and February 15th. For more information on the events please visit www.NorthFloridaSpeedway.com, www.EastBayRacewayPark.com, and www.BubbaRacewayPark.com .
Big Frog Motorsports would like to thank their principal and associate sponsors including Dave’s Towing, B&B Produce, Big Frog Shocks, Big Frog Signs and Graphics, FK Rod Ends, Schaeffers Oil, Racecar Engineering, Sunoco Race Fuels, Koury Racing Engines, Custom Racing Engines, Ohlins Shocks, American Race Tire, Barry Wright Race Cars, Daytona Sensors LLC, Schoenfeld Headers, COMP Cams, AR Bodies, Vahlco Wheels, Leaf Firesuits, Bubba Army, and MSR Mafia Marketing Services.
For the latest team news and updates on Big Frog Motorsports please visit www.BigFrogMotorsports.com .
Thanks!
Ben Shelton, Owner
MSR Mafia Website & PR Services – www.MSRMafia.com
The Midsouth Racing Scene – www.MidSouthRacing.com