TERRE HAUTE —
In highly-competitive non-wing sprint car racing, no one factor can loom larger in determining the final outcome of a race than track position.
Just ask the top two finishers of Saturday’s Don Smith Classic at the Action Track.
With the laps winding down, Jon Stanbrough had it. Damion Gardner was doing his best to gain it. Your classic battle to the checkered flag.
As fate would have it, time literally ran out on Gardner’s efforts to overhaul the fleeing Stanbrough.
Conditions out of the control of either driver ultimately determined the final outcome of the race as a potential NASCAR-like green-white-checkered finish was silenced before it had the opportunity to unfold.
The event was halted by curfew before the 24-car field had the chance to make a dash to finish the scheduled 30-lap feature.
Stanbrough walked away with the unique winners trophy that carried the stark likeness of the man in whom the race was named. Gardner was left wondering what if.
Stanbrough admitted he had the advantage being at the front of the field most of the night.
“I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t started out front. Racing in traffic was a whole lot different than racing yourself,” voiced the now 10-time Action Track feature winner.
“My car was tight and the racing surface pretty narrow. I didn’t have much choice where I could put the car.”
Even before they unfurled the green flag Saturday night, drivers knew that rain earlier in the day was going to make for a muddy racing surface, creating a visibility nightmare.
True to form, drivers battled mud clogs throughout the curfew-shortened affair. Even though he prepared for the impending challenge long before he strapped himself in the race car, Gardner conceded it was a losing battle trying to dodge the mud clogs while simultaneously attempting to overtake Stanbrough.
“I knew at the beginning of the race the outcome would come down to saving the tear-offs for the end. Making sure you didn’t run out,” explained Gardner moments after the race.
Caught in a spirited battle with a front-running four-car pack of Stanbrough, Robert Ballou, Daren Clayton and Bryan Clauson, the Gardner did his best to conserve those precious tear-offs.
“There for a while I was running with Clauson and Ballou I was tearing off two at a time. It was that bad. In my head I was saying don’t rip another one,” Gardner said.
“That while I was blocking the mud with my hand. At the same time not making an error because I didn’t pull that tear. I tried him several times. I just couldn’t get it done there early,” he recalled.
In the end, the tear-off factor became incidental as a red flag incident brought an early end to the long night of racing.
Vigo County Sheriff officials figured the racers had been given ample time to run the scheduled distance and shortly after midnight enforced the curfew.
While he was on the short side of the receiving end of the call, Gardner did his best to take the disappointment in stride but not before venting his displeasure on what led to the decision.
“Whether I would I have got [Stanbrough] or not was not the issue. The issue is I should have got the chance to get him. I didn’t get that,” fumed Gardner.
“The disappointing thing, if we stick around and help them pack the track, waste our fuel, wear out our parts, they ought to give us a full night of racing. I’ll go to bat for them if they go to bat for us. I’ll pack their track for three, five hours. All I’m asking for is give us a full feature.”
The Stanbrough-Gardner duel is sure to continue in the upcoming May 27 Hulman Classic — the next program on the Action Track slate.
n Locals shine — A high attrition rate and early ending played into the hands of several area drivers who were rewarded with well-deserved top 10 finishes at morning’s end.
Terre Haute’s Brandon Mattox survived his own bout with the tear-offs to come home with a career best fifth place finish.
The strong effort has Mattox leaning towards running in the Hulman Classic. It could be a costly and overwhelming venture, but one every hometown driver races for.
Eric Krockenberger was one spot back of Maddox and West Terre Haute’s Blake Fitzpatrick finished ninth after running up front with the leaders during much of the early going of the event.
Overall, despite its late running, the Classic served up some excellent racing on a day many would have thrown the towel in on early. To the credit of local officials, the event went on as scheduled even though they knew the threatening weather was going to cut into what was expected to be a strong opening night crowd.
Joe Buckles can be reached at jbuckles4@verizon.net
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