CONCORD, N.C. - Mooresville's Clay Rogers scored the victory in Sunday's $15,000-to-win 250-lap Asphalt World Championship at Concord Motorsport Park. He overcame early problems with a pair of loose plug wires in scoring the triumph.

"This is awesome," said Rogers. "I love racing here and it's good to win at my home track."

Pole winner Travis Kittleson, from Merritt Island, Fla., jumped to the early lead and set the pace for the first 62 laps. Ricky Marshall, of Mooresville, drove around Kittleson into the top spot on lap 63.

Freddie Query was slowly picking his way forward from his sixth starting spot and moved to second on lap 107. He wasted little time there and drove inside Marshall into the lead five laps later.

A lap 114 caution opened the pits and the lead cars chose to make
four-tire stops. Six lead-lap cars, including Rogers, remained on the track with Query's team getting him out first of the cars that pitted in seventh on the track.

Rogers had pitted five times in the first 86 laps to attach the loose
plug wires cycling him to the front of the field. By lap 155, Query moved into second spot and started chasing Rogers. The nine-time winner this season was no match for Rogers as he rolled to the win.

"I looked in the mirror a lot over those last few laps," said Rogers.
"Nobody is better getting around here than Freddie is. He was good for a few laps after each restart, but then we were able to stretch it out on him after five or six laps. After than it was a matter of driving offensively and not defensively.

"We had a rough end to our season, so I'm very happy to get this win tonight."

Concord Motorsport Park has been very good to Rogers. In 1999 the speedway presented a triple-crown series where if a late model stock driver could win two of three events, he would earn a $50,000 bonus. Rogers collected that bonus.

Concord was also good to Rogers earlier this season when he won the USAR Hooters Pro Cup event at the track. He also has 13 career late model stock victories at the track.

"This is the first time I've driven a super late model here," he
continued. "I came out here on Friday and looked like an idiot. These cars are so much quicker than Hooters Cup or late model stock cars. But, my guys just worked hard, gave me a good race car and we were able to win today."

Query completed an amazing season at the speedway with a second-place finish. Dean Clattenburg, of Dartmouth, NS, Canada, finished third with Kittleson fourth. Marshall completed the top five.

The Asphalt World Championship concludes the 2003 season at Concord Motorsport Park. The speedway wish to express sincere appreciation to fans, drivers, teams, sponsors, officials and its employees for a great season.

The 2004 season begins on Saturday, March 27, 2004 with the first Big-10 Series event of the year.

The following are results from Sunday's 250-lap Asphalt World Championship
Big 10 Series super late model feature including finish position, starting
position, driver, hometown, car make, laps completed and money won:
1(4) Clay Rogers, Mooresville, Ford Taurus, 250, $15,000
2(6) Freddie Query, Mooresville, Chevy Monte Carlo, 250, $5,000
3(2) Dean Clattenburg, Dartmouth, NS, Canada, Chevy Monte Carlo, 250, $3,000
4(1) Travis Kittleson, Merritt Island, Fla., Chevy Monte Carlo, 250, $2,000
5(3) Ricky Marshall, Mooresville, Chevy Monte Carlo, 250, $1,500
6(14) Rich Bickle, Edgerton, Wisc, Ford Taurus, 250, $1,400
7(13) Eric Darnell, Beach Park, Ill, Chevy Monte Carlo, 250, $1,300
8(23) Shelton McNair Jr., Plymouth, Chevy Monte Carlo, 250, $1,200
9(15) Jason Hogan, Cleveland, Ga., Chevy Monte Carlo, 250, $1,100
10(12) Terry Brooks, Concord, Chevy Monte Carlo, 249, $1,000
11(28) Jim Kelley, Newport, Chevy Monte Carlo, 249, $900
12(10) Mark Reedy, Kannapolis, Pontiac Grand Prix, 249, $850
13(25) Larry Pollard, Taylorsville, Ford Taurus, 249, $800
14(17) Ted Musgrave Jr., Mooresville, Chevy Monte Carlo, 248, $750
15(30) John Batten, Nashville, Chevy Monte Carlo, 248, $700
16(24) Carnell Lee Jr., Wendell, Pontiac Grand Prix, 248, $650
17(29) Conrad Burr, China Grove, Pontiac Grand Prix, 248, $600
18(31) John Heck, Indianapolis, Ind., Pontiac Grand Prix, 246, $575
19(20) Perry Brown, Riverview, Fla., Chevy Monte Carlo, 229, $550
20(11) Dennis Schoenfeld, Concord, Chevy Monte Carlo, 219, $525
21(32) LeRoy Herschell, Charlotte, Chevy Monte Carlo, 197, $500
22(22) Ryan Crane, Panama City, Fla., Chvey Monte Carlo, 194, $500
23(18) Chris Dunn, Raleigh, Chevy Monte Carlo, 176, $500
24(16) Scott Fraser, Shubenacadie, NS, Canada, Chevy Monte Carlo, 126, $500
25(7) Eddie Massnegill, Goldsboro, Ford Taurus, 115, $500
26(8) Johnny Clark, Hallowell, Me., Chevy Monte Carlo, 90, $500
27(5) Jimmy Simpson, Concord, Chevy Monte Carlo, 71, $500
28(28) Danny Propst, Monroe, Chevy Monte Carlo, 65, $500
29(9) Bobby Gill, Dalton, Ga., Ford Taurus, 41, $500
30(26) Davin Scites, Wayne, W.V., Pontiac Grand Prix, 24, $500
31(19) Casey Smith, Austin, Texas, Chevy Monte Carlo, 3, $500
32(21) Tommy Pecaro, Edgerton, Wisc., Ford Taurus, 0, $500

Lap Leaders: Kittleson 1-62, Marshall 63 - 111, Query 112 - 116, Rogers 117 - 250
Margin of Victory: 1.867 seconds
Cautions: 13 for 80 laps
Pole: Kittleson - 115.548 miles per hour
Next Big-10 Series Race: 2004 Season Opener, March 27




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