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GARDNER WINS THUNDERBOWL SHOOTOUT |
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TULARE, CA, APRIL 5, 2003 - The NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) series made its first of two Thunderbowl Raceway appearances Saturday night, with Damion Gardner besting Richard Griffin in an exciting 30-lap shootout. Gardner's win comes in only his second start at the Thunderbowl without a wing. Gardner's other start came last year when he dominated the main event and while leading, he clipped the front straightaway wall and flipped with four laps to go. Determined to avenge his heart-breaking loss from a year ago, Gardner was fast out of the chute and started the evening by setting a new one-lap track record during Sander Engineering Time Trials. "We came here tonight, thinking that we were going to win it, because we were so fast here last year. Sometimes, things like what happened to us here last year, can haunt you for a while. That's why we wanted to come back here tonight and show everyone that it's not going to haunt us for too long," Gardner said with a grin. "My two crew chiefs, Mike Nigh and Vince Lattner, have done a great job working together. We were fast time tonight, won our heat, finished second in the dash, and we were able to come away tonight with the maximum points possible. I couldn't ask for a better situation or a better crew." Both of last weekend's winners, Rip Williams and Gardner, shared the front row for the main event. Williams got a good jump at the start, but it was Gardner who prevailed after a nice run off the turn two cushion. At the end of the first lap, Gardner and Williams were followed by Troy Rutherford, Griffin and Mike English. Griffin was on the move early, muscling his Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart #50 Jon Boy into second place in four laps. Griffin was nearly half a straightaway behind the Harlan Willis / TCR Performance #45 driven by Gardner at the time he moved into the runner-up spot, but quickly narrowed the gap. Gardner reached lapped traffic in just seven laps, but now had Griffin rapidly closing behind him. Griffin took two legitimate shots at the lead in traffic before darting ahead of Gardner in turn three on lap 12. Four laps later, Griffin was the one bottled-up in lapped traffic, and forced to watch Gardner blast under him while exited turn four. "Lapped traffic was tough," Gardner later said. "Richard got by us, so we had to get our elbows up and make it exciting for the fans. He was probably a little faster than us tonight, but we got through traffic better. We might not have been the best car, but we were good enough to win." Griffin again showed the speed Gardner referenced on lap 22, nearly taking the leading in turn three after a big wheelie along the back straight. Just as Gardner began to pull away in lapped traffic, the yellow flag flew for his teammate, Josh Ford, who slowed with a flat right rear tire five laps from the finish. One lap after the restart, Griffin had a tremendous run off the fourth corner cushion and was attempting to overtake Gardner when he bounced off Gardner's rear tire and into the front straight wall. Moments later, the yellow flag flew for Rickie Gaunt, who spun to a stop in turn three. "After Richard passed me I knew that he was really good because I was running pretty hard when he caught me," Gardner said after his sixth career SCRA win. "We were hanging it out, and I knew he'd be right there. I wasn't surprised by the bump, and we don't like to get together like that, but luckily nothing happened to either one of us." Griffin stayed close after the restart, but could never get close enough to take another run at the lead. Griffin would, however, take over the SCRA point lead with his second place finish. Williams finished third in the Sharon Jory / Tomarco Fastners #3 Stinger ahead of Rutherford in the Mark Priestley / Roy Miller Freightliners #7 Kunz. For Rutherford, it was his fourth straight fourth place finish. After a spectacular flip in the first heat race, Steve Ostling returned to win the B-Main, before driving the Fischer Motorsports / Stress Relief Engineering #29 Okie to a fifth-place finish. Bryan Stanfill started 14th and finished sixth in the Linda Lancaster entry. In addition to earning his best career SCRA finish, Stanfill received the KSE Products Hard-Charger Award and took of the lead in the Gel-Gloss / Jeff Bagley Memorial Rookie of the Year point standings. SCRA RACE #6 - THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY, TULARE, CA Date of Race: 04/05/03 SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS 1. Damion Gardner, Concord CA, Willis 45, 15.020 (New Track Record) 2. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50, 15.167 3. Kevin Urton, Elk Grove CA, Urton 51, 15.212 4. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Alexander 4, 15.292 5. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer Mtrspts 29, 15.297 6. Mike English, Norwalk CA, Jory 6, 15.402 7. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Priestley 7, 15.455 8. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3, 15.664 9. Danny Faria, Jr., Tulare CA, Hasebe Mtrsprts 2H, 15.709 10. Ricci Faria, Visalia CA, Faria 89, 15.819 11. Bobby Cody, Costa Mesa CA, Cody Racing 41, 15.848 12. Mike Faria, Tipton CA, Faria 4F, 15.870 13. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, Dorathy 21A, 15.914 14. Mike Spencer, Temecula CA, Engstrom 44, 15.928 15. Seth Wilson, (R) San Clemente CA, Racing Optics 17, 15.960 16. Bryan Stanfill, (R) Bakersfield CA, Lancaster 14, 16.024 17. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA, Gremett 85, 16.034 18. Alan Ballard, (R) Bakersfield CA, Ballard 97, 16.049 19. Davey Key, Fresno CA, Key 15K, 16.058 20. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98, 16.074 21. Aaron Altaffer, Tulare CA, Altaffer 84, 16.085 22. Rodney Argo, El Segundo CA, Argo 19, 16.143 23. Josh Ford, (R) Camarillo CA.,Willis/Ford 54, 16.166 24. Ron DiDonato, Mission Viejo CA, DiDonato 57, 16.189 25. Jimmy Crawford, (R) Ventura CA, Ruth 25, 16.336 26. Jimmy Voitel, Covina CA, Pratt 12, 16.447 27. Nicholas Lima, (R) Industry CA, Lima 30, 16.572 28. Trevor Brilman, (R) Las Vegas NV, Element Mtrspts 10, 16.756 29. A.J. Reyer, (R) San Diego CA, Burton 31, 16.935 30. Tom Wilhelm, (R) Temecula CA, Girgich 64, 17.025 31. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62, 17.039 SO-CAL PERFORMANCE HEAT 1 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Danny Sheridan, 3. Jimmy Crawford, 4. Lance Gremett, 5. A.J. Reyer, 6. Danny Faria, Jr., 7. Aaron Altaffer, 8. Steve Ostling, SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2 1. Rodney Argo, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. Mike English, 4. Richard Griffin, 5. Alan Ballard, 6. Ricci Faria, 7. Tom Wilhelm, 8. Jimmy Voitel, SPIN TECH MUFFLER HEAT 3 1. Josh Ford, 2. Troy Rutherford, 3. Kevin Urton, 4. Bobby Cody, 5. Mel Murphy, 6. Seth Wilson, 7. Nicholas Lima, 8. Davey Key, STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4 1. Bryan Stanfill, 2. Ron D!Donato, 3. Mike Faria, 4. Rip Williams, 5. Rickie Gaunt, 6. Trevor Brilman, 7. Verne Sweeney, JE PISTONS DASH 1. Rip Williams. 2. Damion Gardner. 3. Troy Rutherford. 4. Mike English. 5. Kevin Urton. 6. Richard Griffin. 7. Mike Faria. 8. Bobby Cody. SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS B FEATURE 1. Steve Ostling. 2. Rickie Gaunt. 3. Ricci Faria. 4. Davey Key. 5. Alan Ballard. 6. Jimmy Voitel, 7. Trevor Brilman. 8. Mel Murphy. 9. Tom Wilhelm. 10. A.J. Reyer, 11. Nicholas Lima, 12. Verne Sweeney, 13. Danny Faria, Jr.. 14. Seth Wilson. A FEATURE (30 Laps) 1. Damion Gardner. 2. Richard Griffin. 3. Rip Williams. 4. Troy Rutherford. 5. Steve Ostling. 6. Bryan Stanfill. 7. Mike English, B. Rickie Gaunt. 9. Mike Faria. 10. Ricci Faria, 11. Kevin Urton. 12. Mike Spencer, 13. Rodney Argo. 14. Lance Gremett. 15. Bobby Cody. 16. Jimmy Crawford. 17, Ron DiDonato. 18. Davey Key, 19. Danny Sheridan. 20. Alan Ballard. 21. Josh Ford. 22. Jimmy Voitel, Laps Led: Gardner 1-11, Griffin 12-16, Gardner 17-30 CAR NAME HOMETOWN STARTS POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 50 Richard Griffin Silver City NM 6 381 2. 7 Troy Rutherford Ojai CA 6 376 3. 45 Damion Gardner Concord CA 6 327 4. 3 Rip Williams Yorba Linda CA 6 304 5. 6 Mike English Norwalk CA 6 289 6. 4 Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 6 251 7. 29 Steve Ostling Corona CA 6 246 8. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA 6 234 9. 38 Levi Jones Olney IL 5 201 10. 2 Tony Jones Garden Grove CA 5 171 11. 61 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 5 160 12. 85 Lance Gremett San Marcos CA 6 159 13. 99 Adam Mitchell Escondido CA 5 136 14. 14AZ Jerry Coons, Jr Tucson AZ 3 135 15. 14 Bryan Stanfill (R) Bakersfield CA 6 128 16. 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita CA 6 123 17. 27 Tracy Hines Greenfield IN 3 121 18. 21 Jeremy Sherman Phoenix AZ 2 117 19. 19 Rodney Argo El Segundo CA 4 116 20. 94 Charles Davis, Jr Buckeye AZ 4 107 |
