Gardner makes is four straight at Skagit in USAC-CRA
Andrew Kunas

Alger, WA ? There?s no stopping Damion Gardner when he?s at Skagit Speedway.

Coming from the back of the field following an incident on the initial start, the California driver relentlessly worked his way back through the field, taking the lead from local star Jayme Barnes on lap 18 of the 30-lap main event, en route to his fourth straight USAC-CRA wingless sprint car feature race at Skagit.

Gardner, the defending USAC-CRA champion and current point leader, was involved in one of two red flags that halted the start of the main event, and was forced to restart at the rear of the field, along with fellow stars Cory Kruseman and Rip Williams, among others. He wasted no time passing cars, moving back into the top ten by lap three. In the span of two laps, the sixth and seventh, Gardner bolted to the seventh position, even motoring around second points man Cory Kruseman. Gardner then inherited sixth place when Brock Lemley spun out in turn two.

Meanwhile, Josh Ford held the lead over Barnes, who pulled off the classic slide job exiting turn two on a lap 10 restart. Gardner moved his way into third place, and then on lap 13 he got by Ford for second.

Barnes, who is used to driving with a pair of wings on his sprint car, held a sizeable lead, but hit the turn two wall, allowing Gardner to close in. On lap 18, Gardner caught Barnes. Barnes, as he had done all race, drove around turns one and two high, while Gardner went low, completing the pass on Barnes exiting turn two.

On lap 20, New Mexico?s Rick Ziehl passed Ford for third, while Kruseman moved into the sixth spot. Gardner would take the checkered flag, followed by Barnes, Ziehl, Ford, and Kruseman. J Hicks, Rick Becker, local racer Robby Vaughn, Evan Suggs, and Idaho racer Michael Harris rounded out the top ten.

After Kruseman won the first ever USAC-sanctioned dirt sprint car race in Washington at Skagit in 2004, Gardner won the next night that year. Last year, Gardner made it a sweep, winning both nights at Skagit.

Gardner paced the 32-car field in qualifying with a time of 13.373 seconds around the 3/10-mile, high-banked, clay oval. Winning four tight, action-packed heat races were Williams, Lemley, Mike Spencer, and Suggs. John Tharp won the 12-lap B-Main event.

Saturday?s event will be a repeat of Friday?s, with the exception of the A-Main event, which will start 24 cars and run 40 laps in length.

United States Auto Club ? CRA Sprint Cars
Skagit Speedway - Alger, WA
July 28, 2006

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

32 cars

Fast qualifier: 50 Damion Gardner, 13.373 seconds

Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 3 Rip Williams, 2. 73 Josh Ford, 3. 50 Damion Gardner, 4. 66 J Hicks, 5. 99e Alex Hantell, 6. 10c Cory Chamberlain, 7. 1 Tony Thomas, 8. 9f Ernie Seager. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.

Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 40 Brock Lemley, 2. 38b Jason Bloodgood, 3. 4 Tony Jones, 4. 18 Danny Sheridan, 5. 69 John Tharp, 6. 44h Michael Harris, 7. 5sp Shawn Rice, 8. 19x Terry Foster. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.

Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 44 Mike Spencer, 2. 7s Rick Ziehl, 3. 4x Robby Vaughn, 4. 59 David Cardey, 5. 6 Colton Heath, 6. 75 Roy Blumenhagen, 7. 3v Dave Mead, 8. 1x Jimmy Dietz. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.

Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 33e Evan Suggs, 2. 9 Jayme Barnes, 3. 67 Rick Becker, 4. 16 Nadine Keller, 5. 42 Alan Munn, 6. 38 Jason Bloodgood, 7. 3x Chris Rogers, DNS ? 94 Blake Miller. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.

B-Main (12 laps): 1. 69 John Tharp, 2. 10c Cory Chamberlain, 3. 5sp Shawn Rice, 4. 99e Alex Hantell, 5. 42 Alan Munn, 6. 44h Michael Harris, 7. 38b Jason Bloodgood, 8. 1x Jimmy Dietz, 9. 1 Tony Thomas, 10. 75 Roy Blumenhagen, 11. 19 Terry Foster, 12. 9f Earnie Seager, 13. 3x Chris Rogers, 14. Dave Mead, DNS ? 6 Colton Heath, 94 Blake Miller. Top six finishers transfer to A-Main.

A-Main (30 laps): 1. 50 Damion Gardner, 2. 9 Jayme Barnes, 3. 7s Rick Ziehl, 4. 73 Josh Ford, 5. 38 Cory Kruseman, 6. 66 J Hicks, 7. 67 Rick Becker, 8. 4x Robby Vaughn, 9. 33v Evan Suggs, 10. 44h Michael Harris, 11. 42 Alan Munn, 12. 10c Cory Chamberlain, 13. 18 Danny Sheridan, 14. 5sp Shawn Rice, 15. 16 Blake Miller, 16. 40 Brock Lemley, 17. 3 Rip Williams, 18. 99e Alex Hantell, 19. 59 David Cardey, 20. 4 Tony Jones, 21. 44 Mike Spencer, 22. 69 John Tharp. Note: Blake Miller substituted for Nadine Keller in car #16.

Skagit Speedway ? Alger, WA
www.skagitspeedway.com

United States Auto Club
www.usacracing.com