– In only his sixth start with the
Howe CRA Late Model Sportsman series Brett Robinson found himself with
his first Top Five finish and his first trip to Victory Lane. The
Anderson 75 at Anderson Speedway Saturday night started with John Heck
on the pole after the invert. Heck took an early lead and held it
until the sixth lap when he and Terry Cater came together causing Heck
to spin and both he and Cater were sent to the tail. Joe Beaver then
took the lead with Keith Sterkowitz in second. They raced nose to tail
for over 30 laps until Sterkowitz drove under Beaver in the second
turn, but came up into him causing Beaver to spin, sending both cars
to restart on the tail, leaving Robinson on the point. Robinson then
held off a hard charging Charlie Hanna fort the last 35 laps as Hanna
looked under and on the outside of Robinson, but Hanna could not
finish the pass giving Robinson the win. Hanna finished second, Mark
Lambert third, Eldon Wright fourth and Sterkowitz fifth.
"I want to thank God for this win. My Dad really
worked hard on this car and I need to thank him also." Robinson
stated. "I really like the way these guys race with me. They all raced
me clean; it was a good race from where I sat. I have to thank Charlie
Hanna he raced me clean there at the end of the race."
Hanna set a new track record breaking Nick Lay’s two
year old record by turning a lap at 13.071 seconds to win the Allstar
Performance Fast Qualifier Award only a minute or so after Sterkowitz
had broken Lay’s record. Hanna then drew an eight for the invert
putting Heck on the pole with Rick Rinehart on the outside.
The first of 11 cautions happened on the second lap
when Rinehart’s car lost his gas cap and he was spraying fuel out of
his car. Rinehart retired early on the 39th lap after
getting tangled up in the aftermath of the Beaver spin. Scott Neal
also was knocked out at that time while running third when he dove
down to the infield to avoid the spinning car and was struck in the
rear by the rear of Beaver’s car as he slide off the track.
Jason Atkinson started the day running in second
place in the Howe CRA Late Model Sportsman points race with a 21 point
cushion over third place Sterkowitz. During practice he broke a piston
forcing him to drive a borrowed car for qualifying and the race. With
his 10th place finish and Sterkowitz’s fifth place finish
Atkinson stayed in second but it tightened to less than a five point
margin.
Robinson took the Howe Racing Award, the McGunegill
Engine Performance Award and for leading the most laps the Turn One
High Performance Steering Award. Lambert started 13th and
with his third place finish earned the AFCO Hardcharger Award and the
Racing Electronics Hard Charger Award.
To learn more about the Howe CRA Late Model Speedway
see www.craracing.net.
Official Results
Qualifying Results
Lineup
