From Dick Jordan and Anderson Speedway, image courtesy of David Sink
ANDERSON, Ind. (April 3, 2011) – After finishing third in the past two runnings of the Glen Niebel classic, Bobby Santos III finally recorded the win in the 11th edition of the USAC Sprint Car classic at Anderson Speedway on Sunday.
Santos qualified sixth and started from the pole position following the inversion and jumped into the lead at the start. For the first 30 laps Kody Swanson and Bobby East challenged for the point looking high and low in an attempt to make the pass.
Daleville’s Aaron Pierce, quick qualifier, started sixth and moved outside of East on lap 18 to momentarily move into third place. But he was forced high in lapped traffic and lost two positions.
Pierce moved into fourth on lap 26 with an outside pass of Chris Windom in turn three, but his race ended 14 laps later as he was challenging East for third with a flat right front tire.
Santos took advantage of a restart on lap 30 to open a gap between himself and Swanson and East. He was able to stretch the lead following the last restart on lap 40. At the checkers it was Santos winning by 1.13 seconds over Kody Swanson, East, Windom and A.J. Fike.
“I had a great car and it was a lot of fun,” Santos said. “I did a good job in qualifying this time and we were in a position to lead at the start. I love coming here.”
Alexandria’s Donnie Adams Jr., who captured a win in a heat race, completed only one lap when he was collected by Mario Marietta, who spun coming off turn two. New Castle’s Tracy Hines day ended on lap 26.
Peru’s Russ Gamester drove to an eighth place finish.
Franklin’s Travis Young used the outside line on lap 10 to pass Issac Chappel and went on to lead the rest of the way to capture the opening event for the United States Speed Association Kenyon Midget opening event.
Young, who set quick time during qualifications, survived three restarts to hold off Chappel. Cordy Horn finished third followed by Justin Peck and Tyler Cottongim.
The first caution flag waved on lap 14 when Jessica Bean, running fourth at the time got loose on the front straight and collected Mario Marietta near the start-finish line. Marietta’s ride suffered right front suspension damage. Nine laps later Bean lost a right rear tire and came to rest near the fourth turn wall.
Peck passed Cottongim on the restart to move into the fourth position and on lap 29, Cottongim spun in turn one bringing out the fourth and final caution. On the final restart Cottongim passed Damon Harris for the fifth position.
Anderson Speedway returns to racing action on Saturday, April 9 with the racing program showcasing the season debut for Street Stocks, Front Wheel Drive Figure 8’s, Legends, Last Chance Wrecker Thunder Roadsters and Bandoleros.
For additional information on Anderson Speedway, visit www.andersonspeedway.com or contact Anderson Speedway at (765) 642-0206.
USAC NATIONAL PAVEMENT SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 3, 2011 – Anderson, Indiana – Anderson Speedway – “Glen Niebel Classic”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-11.500; 2. Tanner Swanson, 17T, TK-11.514; 3. Bobby East, 5, Klatt-11.608; 4. Chris Windom, 17, Windom-11.623; 5. Kody Swanson, 75, TK-11.666; 6. Bobby Santos III, 98, Santos-11.763; 7. Russ Gamester, 35, Gamester-11.772; 8. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-11.773; 9. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-11.816; 10. Mario Marietta, 85, Marietta-11.837; 11. Jimmy McCune, 88, McCune-11.877; 12. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-11.883; 13. Troy DeCaire, 10, Koehler-11.895; 14. Brian Gerster, 27, Davis/Gerster-11.922; 15. Donnie Adams, 17a, Adams-11.955; 16. Shane Hollingsworth, 25, Nolen-12.017; 17. JoJo Helberg, 7, Helberg-12.150; 18. Brian Olson, 59, Powell-12.279; 19. Dave Baumgartner, 8, Wood/Baumgartner-12.372; 20. Kevin Atkins, 159, Powell-12.402; 21. Jim Sheets, 18, Bunner-12.423; 22. Ron Koehler, 10k, Koehler-12.467; 23. Joe Swanson, 7s, Swanson-13.177.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. DeCaire, 2. Hollingsworth, 3. Marietta, 4. Pierce, 5. Gamester, 6. Windom, 7. Baumgartner, 8. Koehler. 2:01.69
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. McCune, 2. Gerster, 3. K.Swanson, 4. T.Swanson, 5. Fike, 8. Atkins, 7. J.Swanson, 8. Helberg. 2:03.03
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Adams, 2. Wilson, 3. East, 4. Olson, 5. Hines, 6. Santos, 7. Sheets. 2:01.23
FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Bobby Santos III, 2. Kody Swanson, 3. Bobby East, 3. Chris Windom, 5. A.J. Fike, 6. Jacob Wilson, 7. Brian Gerster, 8. Russ Gamester, 9. Tanner Swanson, 10. Jimmy McCune, 11. Troy DeCaire, 12. Shane Hollingsworth, 13. JoJo Helberg, 14. Ron Koehler, 15. Aaron Pierce, 16. Joe Swanson, 17. Jim Sheets, 18. Brian Olson, 19. Tracy Hines, 20. Kevin Atkins, 21. Dave Baumgartner, 22. Mario Marietta, 23. Donnie Adams. NT
—————————-
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-50 Santos.
NEW USAC PAVEMENT SPRINT POINTS: 1-K.Swanson-65; 2-Santos-64; 3-East-64; 4-Windom-57; 5-Fike-52; 6-Wilson-52; 7-Gerster-49; 8-T.Swanson-46; 9-Gamester-43; 10-McCune-41.
NEXT USAC NATIONAL PAVEMENT SPRINT RACE: May 12 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis – “Thursday Night Thunder”
Photo Gallery
