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| Press Release |
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GARDNER
TAKES USAC FEATURE, CLAIMS THE USAC/CRA DRIVING TITLE |
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Phoenix, AZ (November 11) Damion Gardner and Josh Pelkey won feature races in the second round of the Checker Auto Parts/Budweiser Western World Championships at Manzanita Speedway. After finishing third in the Thursday night 25 lap qualifying feature, Damion Gardner was on a mission Friday night. It took him only four laps to get the Ron Chaffin sprinter to the front with a pass on Darren Hagen. Once in front Gardner’s only problem was lapped traffic that he encountered in the closing laps. The track stayed green for the entire 25 laps and the lapping began with about five laps to go and Jerry Coons used the traffic to get closer to the leader but never offered a serious threat.
Jerry Coons, Jr. earned a prime starting position for the Saturday night 40 lap feature, probably in the front row. Gardner, with a win and a third may also be in the front row. Dave Darland kept his USAC championship hopes alive with a third place finish but trails Levi Jones, who finished fourth by 16 points heading into Saturday nights finale. Tracy Hines came out of the fourth row to finish fifth. Hagen, the early leader crossed the finish line in front of Mike Kirby, Bill Rose, Casey Shuman and Brad Sweet.
For the second straight night Jones was the quickest qualifier with a clocking of 18.687. Shuman, at 18.794 and Coons, 18.922 were the only other drivers in the 18 second bracket.
The heat races were worth the price of admission. Sixteen year old Bryan Clauson started third and took the win in the first heat with Jones blasting his way from eighth to second. Mike Kirby took third and the final main event transfer position went to Danny Sheridan who barely edged Tracy Hines. Sheridan made contact with Hines’ car to reclaim fourth and Hines spun him on the cool off lap which brought about a fine from USAC.
Mat Neely used a front row starting berth to good advantage to win the second heat in a race long duel with Bud Kaeding who finished second. Shuman finished third with a drive from eighth and Charles Davis, Jr. was fourth.
Coons showed the form that carried him to a win Thursday night as he came out of the back row, grabbed the lead, and then pulled away from the field. Shane Cottle finished second, Mike Spencer third and Darren Hagen fourth.
It was more of the same in the fourth heat as Gardner, the night’s fourth fastest qualifier, drove from the back row to beat R.J. Johnson, Jeremy Sherman and Ryan Pace.
The final heat was won by Cory Kruseman with Jesse Hockett second, Darland third and Sweet fifth.
The 12 lap “B” main was won by Tracy Hines who jumped out front at the drop of the green and only a couple of yellow flags allowed the field to stay close. Jay Drake made a race of it as he finished second. Bill Rose was third and Seth Wilson nipped Rip Williams at the line for the final main event position.
Williams and Dickie Gaines used provisionals to get into the feature. Rickie Gaunt won the eight lap “C” main over Brandon Lane, Justin Marvel, Bob Ream, Jr. and Nadine Keller.
WESTERN USAC SPRINT CAR SUMMARY
Main Event: 1. Damion Gardner 2. Jerry Coons, Jr. 3. Dave Darland 4. Levi Jones 5. Tracy Hines 6. Darren Hagen 7. Mike Kirby 8. Bill Rose 9. Casey Shuman 10. Brad Sweet 11. Cory Kruseman 12. Bud Kaeding 13. Dickie Gaines 14. Mat Neely 15. Jay Drake 16. Bryan Clauson 17. Jesse Hockett 18. Charles Davis, Jr. 19. Seth Wilson 20. Danny Sheridan 21. Shane Cottle 22. Rip Williams 23. Mike Spencer 24. Jeremy Sherman 25. R.J. Johnson 26. Ryan Pace (25 laps, time: 8:48.60)
1st Heat: 1. Bryan Clauson 2. Levi Jones 3. Mike Kirby 4. Danny Sheridan 5. Tracy Hines 6. Ben Gregg 7. Rodney Argo 8. Dickie Gaines (10 laps, time: 3:22.18)
2nd Heat: 1. Mat Neely 2. Bud Kaeding 3. Casey Shuman 4. Charles Davis, Jr. 5. Bill Rose 6. Tom Hessert 7. Jordan Hermansader (DNS-Tom Ogle)
3rd Heat: 1. Jerry Coons, Jr. 2. Shane Cottle 3. Mike Spencer 4. Darren Hagen 5. Josh Ford 6. Josh Wise 7. Mike Leslie 8. Adam Mitchell (time: 3:24.71)
4th Heat: 1. Damion Gardner 2. R.J. Johnson 3. Jerry Sherman 4. Ryan Pace 5.Chuck Buckman 6. Seth Wilson 7. Mike Martin 8. Davey Ray (time: 3:26.46)
5th Heat: 1. Cory Kruseman 2. Jesse Hockett 3. Dave Darland 4. Brad Sweet 5. Rip Williams 6. Rick Ziehl 7. Derek O’Dell 8. Jay Drake
“B” Main: 1. Tracy Hines 2. Jay Drake 3. Bill Rose 4. Seth Wilson 5. Rip Williams 6. Dickie Gaines 7. Ben Gregg 8. Josh Ford 9. Rick Ziehl 10. Rickie Gaunt 11. Mike Martin 12. Tom Hessert 13. Josh Wise 14. Chuck Buckman 15. Mike Leslie 16. Bob Ream, Jr. 17. Adam Mitchell 18. Derek O’Dell 19. Brandon Lane 20. Jordan Hermansader 21. Tom Ogle 22. Justin Marvel 23. Rodney Argo (DNS-Davey Ray)
“C” Main: 1. Rickie Gaunt 2. Brandon Lane 3. Justin Marvel 4. Bob Ream, Jr. 5. Nadine Keller (8 laps, time: 2:44.56) |
