2007 Champion Wins UARA Opener at
Concord Motorsports Park

CONCORD, NC. (March 31, 2008) - Rarely in racing do things line up to perfection.  So many variables often prevent drivers from achieving that “storybook ending.” The UARA-Stars tour had been a playground for Ross Furr for the last 11 months. With a family-owned team, Furr missed the season opener, strung together a bunch of solid finishes, won a pair of races late in the season and took the title in the final race of the season.

As if the last 11 months of Ross Furr’s life had not been pretty impressive, winning the 2008 season UARA opener at Concord Motorsport Park was the icing on the cake.  The Concord kid brought home the win in front of the hometown crowd to cap off a perfect string for the young driver. Add in a victory for an ailing friend and sponsor and things couldn’t have been more perfect for Furr Saturday night. 

“Tim Taylor, who is one of our sponsors, couldn’t be with us tonight,” He’s battling lung cancer.  He had been with us since we started in Late Models.  He’s been there in the thick and thin and to win tonight means a lot.”

Furr missed the opening race a year ago at Hickory and came all the way back to win the Championship.  He was not only at the opener this year but he was a contender from the drop of the green flag.  Furr started seventh and quickly started moving to the front.

“I knew we could get it done if we could keep the fenders on it,” said Furr. “Everything worked out this weekend. We were fast all weekend and it’s great to win here at Concord Motorsport Park. I think this is just a sign of more things to come.”

Ross Furr won his second career UARA event at Concord Motorsport Park. (51 Sports photos)

Clint Mills won the pole, but it was Shaun Mangum who led the opening laps.  BJ Mackey took a turn at the top spot in the middle of the race, before Furr took the lead just after the 100 lap mark.

But in the closing laps, two hard-charging drivers put in their bids to dethrone Furr from the top spot.  Jake Crum had lurked in the top ten all night and Roger Lee Newton started shotgun on the field after breaking a rear end in qualifying and both gave Furr a stiff test down the stretch.

Crum had a solid run going with 10 laps to go after a restart.  He got to the inside twice and up to Furr’s rear tire before the final yellow flag ruined his momentum.  Furr got a clean jump on the final restart and sailed to the win ahead of Crum and Newton.  Clay Greenfield and Jamie Yelton rounded out the top-five. 

“We broke a pinion out of the rear end,” said Newton. “It was wild coming from the back but I have got a million laps around this place and I know some secrets.  The restarts were critical with the tires being so cold.  You had to scuff your tires every lap under yellow.  It was a good run for us with all my friend and family here to support us. 

“We had a fast car I know he’s got a lot of laps here,” said Crum. “We got up under him coming off the dogleg when the yellow came out.  He got a better restart and more bite off the corners. We just couldn’t get it to stick and that was the race.”