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Gordon Conquers
Nemesis, Almost
By Paul Warner
Monday, March 17, 2008 10:16:00 AM
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| After performing a Polish
Victory Lap, Benny Gordon pulls into Wraps INK
Victory Lane after winning the Sears Auto Center 200
at USA Int’l Speedway. (Kathy Bond Photos) View
more images |
Northern Division driver takes
Southern Division opener
Lakeland, Fla.-Benny Gordon has always said that USA Int’l
Speedway was the one Hooters Pro Cup track that he struggled
with. So after Gordon won the Sears Auto Center 200
presented by All Pro U-Pull-It, one would think his opinion
had changed. Well, guess again.
"I still can’t drive here," said Gordon, driver
of the No. 66n Samuel Metals Ford. "On 90% percent of
the tracks we go to, I know where to pick up the throttle,
and I can be spot-on and dial my car in. I’m still kind of
erratic here, but I’m getting better."
Gordon, a Sears Auto Center Northern Division competitor,
used an unorthodox pitting strategy to get the lead in the
Greased Lightning Southern Division opener. While most
leaders waited to pit on Lap 64, Gordon elected to take his
BFGoodrich Tires g-Force radials on Lap 26 and cycled into
the lead on Lap 88.
Gordon held the lead until Lap 152, when Mark McFarland,
driver of the No. 81s Sears Auto Center Chevrolet, moved to
the point. McFarland inched away from Gordon over the next
20 laps, but smoke began to billow from underneath his
machine at Lap 175.
"When Mark started smoking, I knew I was racing for the
win," said Gordon. "And I knew if I could get out
front, we’d be tough to beat."
But Gordon almost didn’t make it out front.
Matt Hawkins, driver of the No. 2s JaniKing Ford, was locked
in a dogfight with Gordon for second spot before McFarland
began to slow. The battle was so intense that Gordon
considered letting Hawkins take the position.
"We were battling hard and got into each other a couple
of times," said Gordon. "I was just about to back
off because I didn’t want to burn the tires up. Then
McFarland started smoking, and I said, ‘Hell, this is for
the win.’ Because I knew whoever got in front of the other
one was going to win."
Even with Gordon holding him off, Hawkins felt like he still
had a shot over the final laps.
"I thought I had him, I really did," said Hawkins.
"That’s why I’m so disappointed. I was passing four
cars per restart. But when I got to him, I couldn’t do
anything. I was trying to not let him know what I was doing,
but he did a heck of job and pulled out more than we
had."
Hawkins shouldn’t be too disappointed. The sophomore
driver now leads the Southern Division standings-and he has
a good jump on some of the more prominent Southern stars in
the title chase.
Michael Ritch, the defending Southern Division champion,
arguably had the best car of the night. Ritch, driver of the
No. 28s Racing For Veterans Ford, led the first 65 laps of
the event and was charging back to the front after a pit
stop when his car slowed after a restart on Lap 135. Ritch
pulled behind the wall and finished 28th.
McFarland’s mechanical failure dropped him to 25th in the
final rundown. Bobby Gill, driver of the No. 06s USG
Sheetrock Ford, was involved in two accidents and finished
22nd. Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 29 Chevy Racing
Chevrolet, was running in the top five before his car fell
off the pace with seven laps remaining, dropping him to 19th
at the finish.
Though some of the top teams had problems, the race did have
some feel-good stories.
James Buescher, driver of the No. 84s Mercedes Homes
Chevrolet, seemed to carry his late-season momentum of a
year ago into the 2008 campaign. For the third race in a
row, Buescher came home third.
Caleb Holman, driver of the No. 75s Food Country Chevrolet,
started his season off on the right foot by finishing
fourth.
Billy Bigley Jr., driver of the No. 82s Peerless Woodworking
Ford, rounded out the top five, giving him his first
top-five finish in over a year.
Travis Kittleson, Kirk Leone, Hunter Robbins, Scotty
Crockett and Drew Herring completed the top 10.
Robbins picked up the Miller Lite Rookie of the Race Award
for his eighth-place finish.
The Greased Lightning Southern Division returns to action at
South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Ga., on Saturday,
March 29.
The Sears Auto Center 200 was slowed 12 times for 68 laps of
caution and featured six lead changes among six drivers.
VERSUS Network will air the event on Monday, March 31 at 4
p.m.
Sears Auto Center 200 Notebook
Come Monday
As a rookie Caleb Holman, driver of the No. 75s Food Country
Chevrolet, averaged a 26th-place finish in the first three
events of the ’07 season. Holman kicked his second season
in Hooters Pro Cup with a solid, fourth-place effort in the
Sears Auto Center 200. But he wasn’t quite ready to
celebrate after the event.
"Right now, I just told my guys that if we would have
made the right adjustments we would have won the race,"
said Holman. "But Monday, I’ll be really happy.
Looking back on last year, it was just a nightmare in the
first three races; we couldn’t do nothing right. It just
feels good to have a solid night."
The Drew Crew
Drew Herring, driver of the No. 22s Black’s Tire&Auto
Service Ford, always had fans at South Boston (Va.) Speedway
and Southern National (N.C.) Raceway Park during his racing
career. But, evidently, Herring’s fans are willing to
venture far outside of Benson, N.C., to follow their
favorite.
When the first practice rolled off at 10:30 a.m., they were
already in their seats, cheering wildly when Herring made
his first laps.
"That was crazy," said a grateful Herring.
"I’m in Florida, eight hours away from home, and I
got just as many fans as anyone here. When you hear that
many people cheer for you it gets you pumped up."
Herring was a little too pumped up in qualifying, but he
rallied from starting 21st-and a mid-race spin-to finish
10th in his first Pro Cup start.
"I thought were we at least going to be in the top 10
in qualifying, but the driver got a little overzealous. I
guess I thought I was in my Late Model and drove a little
too hard. Instead of gaining two tenths [of a second], we
lost two tenths. [Finishing 10th] wasn’t what we were
looking for. But after getting punted, losing a lap and
popping the wall twice, coming home 10th wasn’t bad."
Dig Dug
Billy Bigley never quits, but digging out from early-season
struggles does get tiresome. Fortunately, for Bigley, he
won’t have to worry about that this season after his
top-five finish in the Sears Auto Center 200 at USA Int’l
Speedway.
"It feels awesome," Bigley said of his fifth-place
effort. "The last few years we’ve always dug
ourselves in a hole. Then we’d run good and end up in
somebody else’s wreck. Coming out of here with a top five
is a godsend."
Un-Rattled Rookie
Hunter Robbins’ first Hooters Pro Cup event was anything
but smooth. The rookie lost an engine in the first few laps
of practice. USAR officials gave Robbins five laps to shake
down the new powerplant before qualifying, but that, too,
went awry. Robbins and Trevor Bayne, who was also given five
laps to check his transmission, tangled during the shakedown
session. Eventually, things did get better for the rookie.
"We had a hotrod in the race," said Robbins,
driver of the No. 6s Goodson Consulting Ford. "Our pit
strategy worked out and got us up front. Somebody missed a
shift on the restart and I tore the right front off. But we
did the best we could and salvaged a good finish. We’re
just tried to get as many rookie of the year points as we
could."
Robbins got more than points. His eighth-place finish was
tops among rookies and netted him a $1,000 bonus.
"That’ll make the car owner happy," said
Robbins.
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