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Benny Gordon Wins Sears
Auto Center 200
Theory of Three holds true for Northern Champ
USAR ProCup, Paul Warner (May 27, 2007)
(Click Here for Original Article)
Madison, WI. - During his Hooters Pro Cup career, Benny Gordon has averaged a win
in about every three events. Not wanting to see that average drop,
Gordon promptly won the third race of the Sears Auto Center Northern
Division season on Saturday night.
Gordon, driver of the No. 66 Samuel Metals Ford, cycled into the
lead on Lap 76 and led to the finish of the Sears Auto Center 200
presented by BFGoodrich Tires at Madison Int’l Speedway.
"Racing is a momentum sport, and we started out behind this year,"
said Gordon, who took home $13,750 for his win. "We made some big
steps tonight, and I think we’re back in the battle. We just need to
buckle down and work hard."
Most of Gordon’s hard work on Saturday night came from shifting as
he had to hold off rookie Brandon Ward on a bevy of late-race
restarts. The final restart came with just three laps remaining, but
Ward couldn’t close on Gordon and finished .484 seconds behind
Gordon.
"Benny was just exceptional on the short runs," said Ward, driver of
the No. 93 SupplyOne Ford. "I felt like our car was good on the long
runs, but we just couldn’t get them in the second half of the race."
And that was mainly because of 10 caution periods that slowed the
event in the final 100 laps.
"I don’t usually complain, but the lapped cars were the worst I’ve
ever seen," said Matt Carter, who finished seventh.
Early leader A.J. Frank can echo Carter’s sentiment.
After leading the first 56 laps, Frank, driver of the No. 56 Camping
World Chevrolet, was navigating his way around the lapped car of
Sean Sauer when the two made contact. Frank spun in Turn 2 and lost
the lead. But that would be the least of his problems. Frank
continued on only to be swept into two more accidents and finished
24th.
With Frank out of the fray, Jeff Agnew, driver of the No. 73 Mark IV
Suzuki/Team 7 Pontiac, took over the lead on Lap 57. But, despite
having one of the fastest cars on the track, Agnew still needed to
come to pit road for service. The 1998 Pro Cup champion finally gave
up the lead to Gordon on Lap 75 and came to pit road. After the
stop, Agnew charged back to the front of the field. But on Lap 176,
Agnew tangled with Jody Lavender while battling for third place and
ignited a seven-car accident along the frontstretch.
"I think Jeff may have had something for Benny, if he’d a been a
little more patient," said Gary St. Amant, who picked his way
through the carnage.
Agnew was hit with a rough-driving penalty for his part in the
incident, dropping him from contention. A.J. Frank, Johnny Rumley,
John Gibson and Mike Held all retired from the event after being
involved in the multi-car crash.
While many frontrunners were caught up in the melee, St. Amant, Jack
Bailey and Shane Wallace made it through unscathed.
St. Amant made several bids to wrestle second place from Ward in the
final laps, but the veteran racer had to settle for third when the
checkered waved.
"I’m starting to figure out why we’re building a new car," said St.
Amant, who took over the Northern Division point lead with his
podium finish. "This old girl here is a top-five car night in and
night out, but Benny had a better car than we did. To be able to
come out of the first three races with three top-five finishes
tickles me to death. As long as we keep getting those top-three
finishes, the points will take care of themselves."
Gordon took matters into his own hands in the point race. By picking
up bonus points for leading the most laps, the halfway lap and
advancing the most positions, Gordon jumped from 22nd into a tie for
third in the standings.
"I was just happy to get us some points," said Gordon. "Samuel
Metals, Johnny Dangerfield and Greased Lightning got us going this
year and I’m happy to get them and my team to victory lane. We’ve
got one good car and another one being built. We’ve just got to keep
building and we’ll be there at the end."
While it’s too early to start counting points, St. Amant’s
third-place finish pushed him into the outright lead in Northern
Division points by 46 markers over Jody Lavender.
Clay Rogers, driver of the No. 29 Bowen Family Homes Chevrolet, was
tied with St. Amant coming into the event, but Rogers, who was
competing in the Craftsman Truck race at Mansfield Motorsports
Speedway, was unable to make it to Madison Int’l Speedway when rain
delayed that event. By not showing, Rogers dropped to 15th in
points.
Jack Bailey, driver of the No. 11 Hour Homes/Bullet Racing
Chevrolet, continued to shine in his second start with Bullet
Racing. Bailey backed up his runner-up finish at Shenandoah by
finishing fourth on Saturday night. With his second top-five finish
in as many starts, Bailey jumped into 13th in the standings.
Shane Wallace, driver of the No. 38 Sears Auto Center Ford, rallied
from a mid-race accident to finish fifth.
Ben Stancill, Matt Carter, Jody Lavender, Jeff Agnew and Jim
Crabtree completed the top 10.
The Sears Auto Center 200 featured three lead changes among three
drivers and was slowed 17 times for 82 laps of caution.
Sears Auto Center 200 Notebook
In a Better Place
While Benny Gordon’s win pushed him to third in points, his $13,750
in winnings vaulted him closer to the $1,000,000 mark in career
earnings. After 72 starts in the Hooters Pro Cup Series, Gordon has
22 wins and is averaging $12,828 per event in winnings. Later this
season, Gordon should become the fifth driver to surpass $1,000,000
in winnings in the series.
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