Hickory, N.C. (3/17/12) – Ronnie Bassett Jr. took advantage of his outside-pole starting spot to win Saturday night’s UARA-STARS season opener at Hickory Motor Speedway. Following a late, fierce battle for the lead, he emerged ahead of Sunoco polesitter Andy Mercer, who finished second followed by rookie contender Ben Rhodes, Roger Powell and Garrett Campbell.

Jumping ahead of polesitter Mercer, Ronnie Bassett, Jr. grabbed the lead early in the race. Around lap 10, he realized he needed to save his equipment and began to hang back. With twenty laps to go Bassett Jr. began to make his move. On the final restart on lap 143, Bassett Jr. found himself back on the front row with pole winner Andy Mercer on his outside. The two drivers battled door-to-door to the checkered flag, ending with Bassett in victory lane.

“These guys worked so hard on this car this offseason and we knew it was going to be fast, we just didn’t know it was going to be this fast,” said Bassett in victory lane following the event. “They didn’t get this car finished until a couple of weeks ago and we were only able to test once before this race. Chris and the entire crew busted their butts and we’re here for blood on this championship this year.”

Although Mercer and Bassett Jr. were the two to beat late in the race, Roger Powell certainly had a good start to the night as he led the opening half of the race. Powell raced three wide with Garret Campbell and Rookie of the Race Ben Rhodes during the seven lap final shootout. Rhodes was able to pull it off with Powell in fourth and Campbell rounding out the top five.

“We really worked hard to come out here and win this race,” said Mercer after running second. “My brother put a wacky setup under the car that we’ve never tried and it was fast all weekend long. We just didn’t quite have enough for Ronnie late in the race. But this is a good start for all of our sponsors and we’re always searching for more to help us run the rest of the tour. We needed this. This will be good going to Dillon.”

The first caution of the 2012 season fell on lap 27 when Randy Hawkins got together with Trey Marcham and spun on the high side between turns one and two. The spin had a domino effect, causing Giles Thornton and Cory Joyce to spin on the low side to avoid the calamity.

Hawkins was also involved with the second caution, when he and Darrick Coomer made contact on the backstretch on lap 84. Coomer suffered right-front damage and Hawkins was also able to continue.

The last two cautions of the night included a spin by Thornton, which caused Camden Murphy to get pinned up against the inside wall by Devin Jones. The final caution was due to a spin by Brandon Jones after contact from Tim George Jr.’s machine with 12 laps to go. Jones will be the ARbodies Hard Luck Winner of the Race.

Another UARA-STARS competitor that had a great start to the night was Kaleb Pressley. Pressley started the night in 14th  place, but by lap 20 he was in second challenging for the lead. Unfortunately loss of oil pressure forced him to park his car with only 50 laps to go. Pressley will be the recipient of the Pigwire “Electrifying Move of the Race” award  after this great show of strength.

Joey Herques won the season opener’s Holley Performer of the Race Award, his second such award of his UARA career. Herques started 26th and worked his way through the field and finished 14th, making him the driver who gained the most positions during the race.

The next stop for the UARA-STARS will be on April 7th at Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, South Carolina, for another 150-lap contest and the series’ only visit to the track this year. The event will also be broadcast LIVE on a pay-per-view basis at MotorsportsBroadcasting.com as will the remainder of the 16-race UARA schedule.

For more info visit www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833

Press Release by: Kassie Hughes

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

1.                   Ronnie Bassett, Jr.

2.                   Andy Mercer

3.                   Ben Rhodes

4.                   Roger Powell

5.                   Garrett Campbell

6.                   Dillon Bassett

7.                   Josh Wright

8.                   Matt Piercy

9.                   Jake Morris

10.                Scott Turlington

11.                Travis Swaim

12.                Trey Marcham

13.                Tim George, Jr.

14.                Joey Herques

15.                Sean Shalvoy

16.                Tyler Laing

17.                Randy Hawkins

18.                Jeremy Pike

19.                Brandon Jones

20.                Devin Jones

21.                Giles Thornton

22.                Camden Murphy

23.                Darrick Coomer

24.                Cory Joyce

25.                Sean Rayhall

26.                Clayton Pyne

27.                Kaleb Pressley

28.                Will Gallaher