by John Gibson on February 18, 2011

Damion Gardner would steal the victory in the closing laps of the USAC 2011 Season Opener. (Image Credit: R.E. Wing Photo)

Thursday night kicked off the 2011 season for the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series, and it did not disappoint. Damion Gardner and Jon Stanbrough would put on an amazing race for the Ocala fans, with Gardner eventually ending up on top. Lapped cars proved to be the deciding factor as Gardner was able to use the slower cars to his advantage. This was the 2nd year in a row for Gardner to win the season opener.

For more information on the USAC Amsoin National Sprint Car Series visit their homepage at usacracing.com, also visit OcalaSpeedway.com for the remaining Winter Nationals schedule.

The fans had a perfect night for racing, and the Ocala track crew did a fantastic job providing the USAC drivers with a smooth racing surface. Qualifying saw Hunter Schuerenberg end up on the pole with a time of 14.801. 4 heat races and a b-main set the 22 car field, the heat race winners were Chris Windom, Tracy Hines, Jerry Coons Jr, and Shane Cottle.  The night wasn’t without its fair share of incidents either as the A-main was red-flagged to attend to a small flip by Casey Riggs. Riggs would actually stay in the event after the flip and eventually finish 17th.

image credit R.E. Wing Photo

 

 

image credit: R.E. Wing Photos

The full results can be seen below:

Bubba Army Sprint Car Nationals, Night 1

1- 71 Damion Gardner

2- 53 Jon Stanbrough

3- 7 Bryan Clauson

4- 20 Levi Jones

5- 29 Bud Kaeding

6- 36 Brady Short

7- 5 Bobby East

8- 14 Coleman Gulick

9- 10T Bill Rose

10- 35 Hunter Schuerenberg

11- 5X Chris Windom

12- 81 Robert Ballou

13- 69 Jerry Coons Jr.

14- 4G Casey Shuman

15- 39 Dave Darland

16- 1G Scotty Weir

17- 37 Casey Riggs

18- 4 Tracy Hines

19- 83 Wes McIntyre

20- 10 Blake Fitzpatrick

21- 40 Justin Grant

22- 10E Shane Cottle

http://www.onedirt.com/news/damion-gardner-wins-usac-opener-for-2nd-straight-year/