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THE DEMON STRIKES AGAIN AT THE PAS
By Robert Mayson
Perris, Calif…(November 15, 2008) Damion Gardner, Concord, Calif., won his second Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint Car feature race of the year Saturday at the Perris Auto Speedway during the 12th running of the Jack Kindoll Classic.
“There wasn’t an easy lap out there,” Gardner said with a smile. “We started up front, and I don’t like starting up front, and we couldn’t seem to get away from everyone and we just had to fight-off the onslaught for awhile. I’d break someone’s rhythm for awhile and every time I looked over there was a different car. Finally, I was able to find my rhythm and put together a couple of good laps at the end.”
Gardner started the 30-lap race on the outside of the front row in his Leffler Racing / Pace Lighting No. 71 Beast, with the Keith Kunz / Red Bull No 67k Bullet driven by Cole Whitt (Alpine, Calif.) to his inside.
The opening set of corners proved to be difficult for a few drivers. The first start saw fast qualifier Chad Boat’s night end after heavy contact with Rip Williams. The second start provided the first flip of the night after third-place Alan Ballard bicycled entering turn-one before tumbling end-over-end. Ballard was not hurt.
The third start officially counted with Whitt leading at the end of the opening lap. Gardner showed his strength on the second-lap passing Whitt with a nice turn-one slide-job. The turn-four cushion caught series point leader Mike Spencer off guard on the eighth lap sending him into the wall before flipping.
The race resumed with Spencer’s crew feverously working on his battered sprinter hoping to earn a few more championship points. Whitt jumped back into the lead three-laps after the restart, only to watch “The Demon” drive past him on lap-12 after he snagged the cushion exiting turn-four.
Blake Miller’s difficult day took another twist on lap-14 when he slowed to a stop on the racing surface with mechanical problems. Miller was late arriving at the track and missed time trials and heat race competition as a result of being one of hundreds of Southern California residents forced to evacuate their homes due to wild fires in the area. Fortunately, Miller’s home was spared, but the same could not be said for his championship hopes after Spencer returned to action during the caution period he created.
Whitt stole the lead back on lap-16 before slapping the turn-four cushion again three laps later. Seizing the opportunity, Gardner roared off the fourth-corner with his front wheels lifted high off the ground and jumped back into the lead.
“Turn-four is probably what kept it all good for me,” Gardner said. “I hit that spot early in the race and was done with my mistakes and was starting to get through (turns) three and four really good. I and was actually having more problems with one and two because it was still really tacky down there and I needed to be able to free-up the car.”
One driver that found the tacky surface in turns-one and two to his liking was “Dynamite” David Cardey of Riverside of California. Running the bottom after started the event in 12th, Cardey put his Glenn Crossno / ITI Performance No. 38 Viper into the second-position on lap-26 and immediately challenged for the lead.
Cardey briefly darted into the lead four-laps from the finish after a Gardner miscue entering turn-one. Quickly gathering his composure, Gardner took the lead back that same lap after Cardey had difficulty negotiating the turn-four cushion. Cardey would regroup, as well, and show Gardner a wheel on the final lap. Unfortunately for Cardey, he but would have no opportunity to attempt a last-pass thanks to a lapped car blocking his path.
Whitt finished third, one spot ahead of Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria, Calif., in the Kittle Plumbing / Pace Lighting No. 18 Stinger. Fifth-place finisher Greg Bragg, Visalia, Calif., won the “Hard-Charger” Award. Bragg started the event in the 17th position in the Tom & Lauri Sertich / Tom Ingram Motorsports No. 92 Buckley. Bragg’s teammate Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Okla., finished sixth.
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