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GARDNER DOMINATES SCRA RUN AT THE GROVE |
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MECHANICSBURG, PA, AUGUST 9, 2002 - Damion Gardner dominated Friday
night's racing action at Williams Grove Speedway from start to finish.
After setting fast time and winning his heat race, Gardner took the lead on the
second lap of the 30 lap NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA feature
race and never looked back en route to his first Non-Winged World Championship
(NWWC) win. "It's pretty special to come here and win at the Grove because it's one of those historical places that you just dream about coming to race at. I just never dreamt that I'd come here and win in a non-winged sprint car," Gardner said after his $4,000 victory. J.J. Yeley won the JE Pistons Dash and started on the pole next to Tony Elliott. Gardner advanced three positions in the dash to earn an inside second row starting spot. Yeley vaulted into the lead at the drop of the green as Gardner immediately pounced on Elliott. Exiting turn four, Gardner pushed his Coy Construction No. 20 Eagle ahead of Elliott. Carrying tremendous speed into turn one, Gardner found enough room between Yeley and the cushion to slip into the lead on lap two. Gardner was beginning to extend his lead when the first caution flag of the race flew on lap four for Levi Jones, who coasted to a stop in turn four. "Anytime you can pass a guy like J.J. Yeley you know you're doing your job. Especially driving around him on the top. He drove around us on the top last night (at Fremont) and it was just nice to be able to pay him back. It's fun racing with him because it makes it tough and you know you can never relax," Gardner said. Bud Kaeding was the on the move early in his BK Motorsports / High Five Pizza No. 29K Maxim, coming from the eleventh starting spot to line-up in fourth for the restart. Kaeding passed Elliott coming down to accept the green flag, but would find the task of passing Gardner and Yeley to be more difficult. Like Kaeding, John Heydenreich was working his way to the front. After starting 18th, Heydenreich was up to the seventh position when sixth place Troy Rutherford spun in turn four on lap seven to bring out another yellow flag. Richard Griffin, who started ninth, challenged Kaeding for third after the restart as Gardner and Yeley pulled away from the rest of the field. At the midway point of the race, the best battle on the track was between Tony Jones, Cory Kruseman and Heydenreich for fifth. Unfortunately, each of these drivers would run into problems before the end of the race. Jones, who held the fifth position, brought out the red flag on lap 18 after he hooked the turn four cushion and flipped over the guardrail. Jones was not hurt. Before the restart, Yeley retired to the pit after it was determined that there was a problem with his car's birdcage. Heydenreich clipped the back of Kruseman's car on the restart which could have possibly contributed to a front end failure he suffered on lap 24 that left him against the inside retaining wall. Heydenreich was not hurt. As Gardner drove to his second career SCRA win, Kruseman's hard luck came on the final lap of the race when he ran out of fuel while running fourth. Kruseman did manage to bring his car home in sixth behind Mike Kirby. Griffin, who recovered from a crash in his heat, drove his Arizona Race Mart No. 50 Jon Boy to a third place finish. John Scott won the KSE Hard Charger Award after he drove his Pace Electronics No. 83 TCR from the 17th starting spot to finish fourth. ### SCRA RACE #24 - WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY, MECHANICSBURG, PA Date of Race: 8/9/02 SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS 1. Damion Gardner, Gardner 20, 20.35 2. Cory Kruseman, Willis 1, 20.58 3. J.J. Yeley, GT Racing 76, 20.58 4. Richard Griffin, Chaffin 50, 20.70 5. Adam Mitchell, Mitchell 99, 20.93 6. Tony Jones, Vermeer/Jones 87, 20.94 7. Tony Elliott, Walker 39, 20.98 8. Rickie Gaunt, Alexander 4, 21.03 9. Rip Williams, Jory 3, 21.05 10. Bobby Cody (R), Cody 41, 21.05 11. Troy Rutherford, Witherill 61, 21.06 12. Bud Kaeding, BK Motorsports 29K, 21.07 13. Levi Jones, Crossno 138, 21.08 14. Mike English, Jory 6, 21.13 15. Mike Kirby, Geurin 5, 21.16 16. Bobby Graham, Crossno 38, 21.17 17. Mike Spencer, Engstrom 44 , 21.24 18. John Scott, Scott Mtrsprts 83, 21.31 19. Jack DeArmond, Jr., DeArmond, Jr. 24, 21.40 20. John Heydenreich, 44H, 21.81 21. Lance Gremett, Gremett 85, 21.91 22. Todd Allen, Allen 1A, 22.01 23. Mike Haggenbottom, Bostic Mtrsptrts 6H, 22.10 24. Rick Lafferty, Lafferty 0, 22.50 25. Mike Wells, Wells 74JR, 22.53 26. Billy Brian, Jr., Brian 16, 22.63 27. Mike Lauterborn, Lauterborn 41M, 22.64 28. Jerry Speck, Speck 5J, 23.60 29. Niki Young, Young 17N, No Time 30. Charles Davis, Jr., Davis 94, No Time HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1 1. Gardner, 2. Williams, 3. L. Jones, 4. Mitchell, 5. Spencer, 6. Wells, SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2 1. Scott, 2. Kruseman, 3. English, 4. Brian, 5. T. Jones, 6. Allen, 7. Cody, SPIN TECH MUFFLERS / STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 3 1. Yeley, 2. Kirby, 3. Rutherford, 4. Elliott, 5. DeArmond Jr., 6. Lauterborn, 7. Haggenbottom, STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4 1. Kaeding, 2. Heydenreich, 3. Lafferty, 4. Gaunt, 5. Speck, 6. Graham, 7. Griffin, JE PISTONS DASH 1. Yeley. 2. Elliott. 3. Gardner. 4. Kruseman. 5. Gaunt. 6. Rutherford, 7. Mitchell. 8. Williams. B FEATURE 1. Griffin. 2. T. Jones. 3. Allen. 4. Graham. 5. Spencer. 6. Lauterborn. 7. Cody. 8. Gremett. 9. Wells. 10. Haggenbottom. 11. Speck. 12. DeArmond Jr. A FEATURE (30 Laps) 1. Gardner. 2. Kaeding. 3. Griffin. 4. Scott. 5. Kirby. 6. Kruseman. 7. Allen. 8. Elliott. 9. Lafferty. 10. Rutherford. 11. Williams. 12. Brian. 13. English. 14. Lauterborn. 15. Spencer. 16. L. Jones. 17. Heydenreich. 18. Gaunt. 19. Yeley. 20. T. Jones. 21. Mitchell. 22. Graham. Laps Led: Yeley 1, Gardner 2-30 |
