|
USAC National Sprints – Ocala Speedway 2-9-12GARDNER GRABS FIFTH FLORIDA WIN IN SIX TRIES TO START “WINTER DIRT GAMES”
Ocala, FL…….Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif. started the 2012 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season much the way he has started the last two after capturing the opening round of “Bubba’s Winter Dirt Games” presented by eBay Motors at Bubba Raceway Park on Thursday night. Gardner took his DG Racing Pace Lighting Eagle/Shaver #71 to the point on lap six, slipping past early leader Brady Bacon, and led the distance despite heavy pressure throughout.
“It’s just a great way to start the year. We have to keep it going, but it’s great to get this one tonight. There were a couple times I thought we weren’t going to get it, but we caught a couple lucky breaks, so it worked out well,” Gardner said.
Gardner did appear to be in trouble as Bacon pressured him in lapped traffic. After catching a caution on lap 26 to get clear track, Bacon slipped by on the restart aboard his Hoffman Auto Racing Mean Green Triple X/Stanton Mopar #69, but a caution negated the move and gave Gardner the lead back. On the ensuing restart, Bacon surrendered second to Jon Stanbrough, who also looked low for the lead. Gardner held on despite another late caution for his third win in four tries at the Ocala, Fla. oval. Gardner also went two-for-two at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton in 2010.
Stanbrough held on for second in his Roberts/Tate Racing Leer Racing DRC/Speedway #21x over Bacon. Bryan Clauson, who set a New Track Record in Qualifications, finished fourth in the CTR/RW/Curb-Agajanian R&B Trucker’s Maxim/Fisher #7. Bud Kaeding was fifth in the BK Racing Kaeding Performance Maxim/Speedway #29.
AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: February 9, 2012 – Ocala, Florida – Bubba Raceway Park – 3rd “Bubba’s Winter Dirt Games” presented by eBay Motors
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bryan Clauson, 7, CTR/RW/Curb-Agajanian-14.409 (New Track Record); 2. Darren Hagen, 69OT, Dynamics- 14.589; 3. Blake Fitzpatrick, 10, Fitzpatrick-14.691; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-14.746; 5. Justin Grant, 40, Grant-14.877; 6. Jon Stanbrough, 21x, Roberts/Tate-14.974; 7. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-14.975; 8. Scotty Weir, 21H, Hery-15.024; 9. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-15.031; 10. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-15.085; 11. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-15.109; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, Thomas-15.134; 13. Dave Darland, 11, Walker-15.136; 14. Wes McIntyre, 83, McIntyre-15.140; 15. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-15.175; 16. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-15.192; 17. Jonathan Hendrick, 68, Hendrick-15.264; 18. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-15.282; 19. Bobby East, 2B, Benic-15.303; 20. Casey Shuman, 21, Pollock-15.305; 21. Mitch Wissmiller, 1, Wissmiller- 15.346; 22. Kyle Cummins, 3c, Cummins- 15.360; 23. Kody Swanson, 19, Slinkard- 15.445; 24. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG- 15.513; 25. Coleman Gulick, 14, Gulick-15.712; 26. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.771; 27. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight- 16.098; 28. Logan Jarrett, 29x, Jarrett-16.176; 29. Jake Simmons, 3, Simmons- 16.798; 30. Mike Weber, 22w, Weber- NT (time of 15.830 disallowed)
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Darland, 3. Clauson, 4. Gulick, 5. Hendrick, 6. Wissmiller, 7. Grant. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Kaeding, 4. Hagen, 5. McIntyre, 6. Cummins, 7. Leary, 8. Weber. 2:21.32
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. East, 3. Fitzpatrick, 4. Hines, 5. Swanson, 6. Goodnight, 7. Windom. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Shuman, 2. Jones, 3. Thomas, 4. Ballou, 5. Stockon, 6. Weir, 7. Jarrett. 2:16.59
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Stockon, 3. Weir, 4. Wissmiller, 5. Swanson, 6. Cummins, 7. Windom, 8. Leary, 9. McIntyre, 10. Goodnight, 11. Hendrick, 12. Jarrett, 13. Weber. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Jon Stanbrough, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Bud Kaeding, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Casey Shuman, 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9. Justin Grant, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Levi Jones, 12. Tracy Hines, 13. Robert Ballou, 14. Blake Fitzpatrick, 15. Scotty Weir, 16. Coleman Gulick, 17. Kody Swanson, 18. Chase Stockon 19. Jonathan Hendrick, 20. Mitch Wissmiller, 21. Hunter Schuerenberg, 22. Bobby East, 23. Kyle Cummins, 24. Darren Hagen. NT
—————————-
**Simmons flipped during qualifications. Windom flipped during Heat 3. McIntyre flipped during the Semi.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Bacon, Laps 6-30 Gardner.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1- Gardner-68; 2-Stanbrough-66; 3-Clauson-63; 4-Darland-52; 5-Shuman-50; 6-Thomas, Jr.-45; 7-Grant-42; 8-Jones-38; 9-Fitzpatrick-35; 10-Hines-34.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: February 10 – Ocala, FL – Bubba Raceway Park – 3rd “Bubba’s Winter Dirt Games” presented by eBay Motors
David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com
|
