The HammerDown! Poll: Future Superstar
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...Gordon started from the center of the front row in the 33-car, 3-abreast lineup in his PayLess Supermarkets/Print Express Gaerte/J & J. He led the first 69 laps before yielding to Dave Steele, the pole starter. Eric's initial pit stop around lap 170 resulted in loss of a lap to Steele, but on lap 293 Steele brushed the wall on the frontstretch attempting to get by Michael Lewis.
On lap 349 Steele, with the race in hand, spun after Dave Osborn and Kevin Newton tangled in turn three. Steele tried to keep the engine running while spinning through the grass but stalled. He restarted but was a lap behind Gordon. On lap 358 Gordon and second-place Tony Hunt pitted, along with Steele, but Steele re-entered the race two laps behind.
On lap 369 Steele's car broke a front suspension and retired from competition, leaving Gordon and Hunt as the leaders. Nine laps from the finish, Gordon got by Hunt to put him a lap down. Hunt, USAC's 2001 Western Sprint Car Champion from Fair Oaks, Calif., finished second, while Michael Lewis of Noblesville, Ind. claimed the "Rookie of the Race" award with his third-place finish.
Rounding out the "top-10" were Gary Fedewa, Jason McCord, Brian Tyler, Tony Elliott, Bentley Warren, Troy Lowery and Denny England. Wendy Mathis, the Florida driver who became the second female in race history, finished 11th, one spot better than Kelly Braithwaite's 1984 finish.
USAC SPRINT CAR SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: May 22-24, 2002 - Anderson, Indiana - Anderson Speedway - 55th PayLess/Delco Remy "Little 500"
QUALIFICATIONS: (Held May 22-23 - 4-Lap Times) 1. Dave Steele, 19, Gratton-44.964; 2. Eric Gordon, 2, French-45.280; 3. Tony Hunt, 14, Pierson-45.325; 4. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-45.733; 5. Bentley Warren, 5G, Goacher-45.775; 6. Aaron Pierce, 81, Blake-45.838; 7. Brian Tyler, 62, BWB-46.201; 8. Michael Lewis, 11, Walker-46.277; 9. Matt Westfall, 6, BWB-46.446; 10. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-46.463; 11. Tony Elliott, 66, Nowling-46.494; 12. Chris Hayes, 11x, Carman-46.496; 13. Dave Durnwald, 19x, Durnwald-46.537; 14. Gary Fedewa, 42, T & T-46.578; 15. Brad Armstrong, 99, Armstrong-46.633; (TOP 15 ON MAY 22 LOCKED IN), 16. Bobby Smith, 8, Epperson-45.838; 17. Denny England, 84, England-46.695; 18. Doug Berryman, 1R, Rebman-46.876; 19. Brandon Petty, 30, Petty-46.908; 20. Don Townsend, 77, Rebman-46.916; 21. Rick Baker, 4B, Julian-46.930; 22. Thomas Briggs, 7, Briggs-46.941; 23. Troy Lowery, 40, T & B-46.966; 24. Mike Ling, 20, Katz-47.033; 25. Gene Lee Gibson, 0, Gibson-47.102; 26. Marv Carman, 22, Carman-47.253; 27. Ryan Katz, 35, Katz-47.349; 28. Jeremy Dickerson, 7x, Rebman-48.151; 29. Dave Osborn, 48, Stapp-47.778; 30. Kevin Newton, 99x, Stickney-47.814; 31. Steve Surniak, 3G, Gibson-47.829; 32. Wendy Mathis, 80, Mathis-47.974; 33. Chris Jagger, 27, Jagger-47.998; 34. Chet Fillip, 5, Nolen-48.150; 35. Robert Smith, 40x, B & D-48.844; 36. Ron Koehler, 10x, Koehler-49.074; 37. Doug Fitzwater, 14x, Fitzwater-NT; 38. Ron Koehler, 10, Koehler-NT; 39. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-NT; 40. Tracy Hines, 69, Dynamics-NT; 41. Kevin Feeney, 98, Hanks-NT; 42. Eric Butze, 09, Butze-NT. (NOTE: Robert Smith also in car #40). (Fastest single lap: 11.178 - Dave Steele). (ALSO: Kaeding, Hines & Feeney practice May 22 only).
FEATURE: (500 laps - Held May 24) 1. Eric Gordon, 2. Tony Hunt, 3. Michael Lewis, 4. Gary Fedewa, 5. Jason McCord, 6. Brian Tyler, 7. Tony Elliott, 8. Bentley Warren, 9. Troy Lowery, 10. Denny England, 11. Wendy Mathis, 12. Don Townsend, 13. Mike Ling, 14. Doug Berryman, 15. Brad Armstrong, 16. Dave Steele, 17. Kevin Newton, 18. Chris Hayes, 19. Dave Osborn, 20. Brandon Petty, 21. Marv Carman, 22. Dave Durnwald, 23. Matt Westfall, 24. Rick Baker, 25. Aaron Pierce, 26. Ryan Katz, 27. Steve Surniak, 28. Gene Lee Gibson, 29. Thomas Briggs, 30. Chris Jagger, 31. Jeff Bloom, 32. Bobby Smith, 33. Jeremy Dickerson.
