DELMAR, Del. — The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply RUSH Dirt Late Model Series kicked off the fourth annual “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek on Wednesday night.
It marked the first appearance by the Flynn’s Tire Touring Series at the half-mile Delaware International Speedway since 2019 after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 event and rain washed out the 2021 event. Sunshine and temps in the low 80s graced fans along with competitors from seven different states (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia) plus Ontario, Canada.
After tracking down defending Touring and National Weekly Series Champion Kyle Hardy in his heat race then winning the Sunoco Dash to earn the feature pole, local racer Joe Warren pulled off a big upset victory in the opening round of the “Battle of the Bay.” Warren led wire-to-wire in the 30-lap feature fending off a late charge by 2018 “Battle of the Bay” Champion and Mid-Atlantic star Logan Roberson to capture his first career Tour win worth $3,000.
Warren joined Super Late Model standout Ross Robinson as the only Delaware racers to ever capture a RUSH Late Model Touring Series victory.
“I got a sinus infection the other day and couldn’t even get out of bed yesterday,” revealed the 47-year-old Georgetown, Delaware winner. “My wife was upset I was even coming tonight, but I drank all of my fluids and took my medicine. It’s hard to miss this stuff when we’re addicted to this like we are. We do whatever it takes to get here to race in front of these fans, and to smell this burning fuel- that’s what we live for! When you come to one of these ‘Battle of the Bay’ races it’s tough; people come from all over then you have guys that run Super Lates too and have two or three cars in the shop. In my heat race alone there were four people that could have won that easily. I work on this thing by myself and do whatever it takes to get here so this is a big win for me and my team.”
An opening lap tangle in turn three between Austin Hubbard and opening night Winchester Speedway RUSH Weekly Series winner Tyler Hoy created another try at the initial start. Once racing got underway, Warren continued his speed as he had shown throughout the night taking the early lead, while Trevor Collins passed Roberson for second. Matt Hill and Amanda Robinson meanwhile filled out the top five after the first circuit.
By lap three, Warren and Collins began to distance themselves from the field, while in the ensuing laps Roberson was able to break free from any battles behind him. As the laps ticked off caution-free, Warren had opened up a two second lead on Collins by the time he caught lapped traffic on lap 11. Collins slowly chewed into Warren’s lead and by Lap 18 Roberson had caught Collins and Warren making it a three-car battle for the lead.
Warren got a big break when last year’s Flynn’s Tire Tour runner-up point man Joe Martin spun between turns one and two bringing out the last stoppage of the event, which put Warren in clean air for the remainder of the event.
When racing resumed for the final time, Warren resumed his lead, while Roberson and Robinson passed Collins for second and third respectively. Hill had a tough restart dropping from fourth to ninth, while Hardy moved into the top five for the first time of the event. Warren had a pretty comfortable lead in the ensuing laps until lap 27 when Roberson began to close in. With two laps to go, it appeared Roberson was going to have the opportunity to overtake Warren as he was right there; however, Warren hit his marks perfectly on the last two laps and took the checkered flag first by 0.891 seconds.
Warren became the 40th different driver to win a RUSH Flynn’s Tire Touring Series event all-time with his victory in the 10th season opener. In addition to the $3,000, Warren received a spoiler kit from Ontime Body & Graphic along with a five-gallon Race Jug from Precise Racing Products.
Keyword: Joe Warren Wins ‘Battle Of The Bay’ Opener