Gardner dominates “bubba army sprint nationals” opener

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Race Results
Tampa, Fla…2.8.10….Damion (The Demon) Gardner of Concord, Calif. took advantage of first-lap spins by both front-row starters Monday night and ended up leading all 30 laps of the 2010 Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series opener at East Bay Raceway Park. The “Bubba Army Sprint Nationals” continue Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the third-mile dirt oval. Gardner was slated to start fourth but a spin by rookie pole starter Ricky Williams on the first lap and a subsequent spin by outside-front row starter Shane Hmiel on the restart left Shane Cottle and Gardner lined up on the revised front row. Gardner fought off Cottle’s challenge to lead the first lap and stretched his lead in his Pace Lighting Eagle/Shaver to a full straightaway before the field bunched up under the yellow flag at lap 23. Gardner then pulled away in the closing laps to win the race over Bryan Clauson, fast qualifier Brady Short, Cottle and Jon Stanbrough. Defending series champion Levi Jones finished seventh after starting 14th. The finish left Gardner and Clauson tied for the series point lead after the opening race.




Damion Gardner wins USAC Sprint Opener at
East Bay Raceway Park Monday night 2-8-10….Mike Horne Photo



USAC Podium finishers opening night at East Bay Raceway Park
2-8-10 left to right Brady Short – 3rd, Damion Gardner – 1st, Bryan Clauson –3rd
Photo by Mike Horne



Brady Short sets an Automatic Track Record of 15.027 at East Bay Raceway Park
When USAC opened its 2010 season on Monday night 2-8-10
Photo by Mike Horne

AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: February 8, 2010 – Tampa, Florida – East Bay Raceway Park - “Bubba Army Sprint Nationals”
STATS – USAC SPRINTS - EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK – MONDAY, 2/8/10

1. 36 Brady Short – 15.027 ATR; 2. 2B Bryan Clauson – 15.115; 3. 71 Damion Gardner – 15.275; 4. 10E Shane Cottle – 15.395; 5. 37 Casey Riggs – 15.437; 6. 4G Thomas Meseraull – 15.483; 7. 11 Chris Windom – 15.589; 8. 7 Caleb Armstrong – 15.590; 9. 17 Shane Hmiel – 15.596; 10. 53 Jon Stanbrough – 15.672; 11. 11W Ricky Williams – 15.809; 12. 69 Jerry Coons, Jr. – 15.818; 13. 67K Dave Darland – 15.828; 14. 38 Jeff Bland, Jr. – 15.951; 15. 20 Levi Jones – 15.982; 16. 81 Robert Ballou – 16.055; 17. 24 Tracy Hines – 16.128; 18. 4U Kyle Cummins – 16.297; 19. 5B Justin Grant – 16.303; 20. 2 Hunter Schuerenberg – 16.323; 21. 1C Kent Christian – 16.329; 22. 67 Henry Clarke – 16.360; 23. 17B Brett Burdette – 16.437; 24. 39W Alex Shanks – 16.439; 25. 5 Bobby East – 16.513; 26. 1X Curt Gross – 17.061; 27. 22W Mike Weber – 17.226; 28. 14 Eric Smith – 17.415; 29. 66 Shane Wade – 17.427; 30. 9X Rob Chaney – 17.460; 31. 20X Frank Carlson – 17.738; 32. 71S Dwayne Spille – 18.154

1ST Heat – 1)Shane Hmiel 2)Tracy Hines 3)Kent Christian 4)Brady Short 5)Dave Darland 6)Bobby East 7)Shane Wade 8)Casey Riggs
2nd Heat – 1)Henry Clarke 2)Bryan Clauson 3)Jeff Bland, Jr. 4)Kyle Cummins 5)Jon Stanbrough 6)Thomas Meseraull 7)Curt Gross 8)Rob Chaney
3rd Heat – 1)Justin Grant 2)Ricky Williams 3)Levi Jones 4)Damion Gardner 5)Brett Burdette 6)Chris Windom 7)Mike Weber 8)Frank Carlson
4th Heat – 1)Hunter Schuerenberg 2)Jerry Coons, Jr. 3)Robert Ballou 4)Shane Cottle 5)Caleb Armstrong 6)Alex Shanks 7)Eric Smith 8)Dwayne Spille

Semi (12 Laps) – 1)Casey Riggs 2) Chris Windom 3)Jon Stanbrough 4)Caleb Armstrong 5)Dave Darland 6)Brett Burdette 7)Bobby East 8)Curt Gross 9)Eric Smith 10)Rob Chaney 11)Alex Shanks 12)Shane Wade 13)Mike Weber 14)Frank Carlson 15)Dwayne Spille 16)Thomas Meseraull

A – Main (30 Laps) – 1)Damion Gardner 2)Bryan Clauson 3)Brady Short 4)Shane Cottle 5)Jon Stanbrough 6)Casey Riggs 7)Levi Jones 8)Robert Ballou 9)Dave Darland 10)Shane Hmiel 11)Tracy Hines 12)Jerry Coons, Jr. 13)Henry Clarke 14)Chris Windom 15)Justin Grant 16)Kent Christian 17)Hunter Schuerenberg 18)Brett Burdette 19)Caleb Armstrong 20)Bobby East 21)Kyle Cummins 22)Ricky Williams 23)Jeff Bland, Jr.


Kent Christian hauls it into turn one at East Bay Raceway Mon. night. Max Dolder

Damion Gardner wins round one of the USAC Sprints at East Bay. Bryan Clauson was second and Brady Short rounded out the top three. Dennis Krieger Imagery

Teaming up with Scott Benic this season, Bryan Clauson will be one to watch this season as they attack the USAC Sprint division in 2010. Dennis Krieger Imagery

The USAC Sprint A-Main winning crew from the opening show at East Bay Speedway as celebrating in victory lane are (left to right) Kris Kirchner, Larry Davidson, Warren Beard, car owner Pat Kehoe, driver Damion Gardner, Kevin Brisco, and Vince Lattner............ANOTHER HEIN BROTHERS' "ACTION" PHOTOGRAPH

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Hoseheads Sprint Car Photos & News

Caleb Armstrong throwing in the Clauson Sprinter during qualifying at East Bay Winternationals USAC SPRINT EVENTS. A great car count and kewl temps made for some great racing. Dennis Krieger Imagery c. 2010 Click image for larger view

Teaming up with Scott Benic this season, Bryan Clauson will be one to watch this season as they attack the USAC Sprint division in 2010. Dennis Krieger Imagery c Click image for larger view

The USAC Sprints goes four abreast prior to the start of the 30 lap A-Main at East Bay Speedway............ANOTHER HEIN BROTHERS' "ACTION" PHOTOGRAPH

Kent Christian hauls it into turn one at East Bay Raceway Mon. night. Max Dolder Click image for larger view