TULSA, Okla. — Damion Gardner passed his car owner, Jason Leffler, with three laps remaining to win Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Qualifying event at Tulsa Expo Raceway’s Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals.
Starting from the pole, Leffler paced the initial two laps before Cory Kruseman took the lead. Kruseman led Leffler, Don Droud, Jr. and Gardner at the midway point. Dave Darland, one of the few drivers running the cushion, moved from 14th to seventh place. One lap later, Australian Mark Brown, running fifth, came to a stop. Darland inherited fifth.
The turning point in the event occurred on the 19th lap, when Leffler passed Kruseman for the lead exiting turn two. Gardner drew even with Kruseman exiting turn four and the pair made contact, causing Kruseman to spin on the front stretch. Fourth-place Droud slid to a stop, making contact with Kruseman.
On the restart, Leffler held off Gardner for three circuits before being passed by the 30-year-old driver from Concord, Calif. A frantic final lap saw all the transfer positions behind Gardner change hands. Darland passed Leffler for second, while Kasey Kahne, who started in the sixth row, passed Ron Shuman for fourth.
For Shuman, it was the first race since November 1997, when he won the SCRA Sprint Car Series Championship in the season finale on the final lap. Shuman was shuffled back to eighth.
“I was itching to go upstairs and make a pass. I thought, ‘I’ll be a hero or zero,’ and it worked tonight,” Gardner said. 
Kevin Swindell, who charged from the last chance race, finished fifth, followed by Billy Wease, Bubba Altig, Shuman, Trey Robb and Steve Buckwalter.
The summary:
First Heat: Austin Mero, Joe Boyles, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Bob Ream, Jr., Steve Newman, Jason Dull, Travis Berryhill, Ryan Smith.
Second Heat: Mark Brown, Gary Altig, Billy Wease, Anthony Peterman, P.J. Jones, Brett Miller, Kevin Swindell, Josh Richards.
Third Heat: Steve Buckwalter, Ron Shuman, Danny Stratton, Jeff Davis, Tracy Hines, Tracy Miller, Brent Beauchamp, Rich Camfield.
Fourth Heat: Dave Darland, Caleb Armstrong, Tim Siner, Johnathon Henry, Kyle Rayburn, Scott Winters, Terry Goodwin.
Fifth Heat: Dex Eaton, Nick Knepper, Kasey Kahne, Jason Meyers, Darren Stewart, Doug McCune, Andy Martin.
Sixth Heat: Cory Kruseman, Damion Gardner, Don Droud, Jr., David Prickett, Mason Moore, Bill Allen, Tony Rossi.
Seventh Heat: Jason Leffler, Dakoda Armstrong, Trey Robb, Daniel Adler, Jason Holt, Hunter Schuerenberg, Mike Spencer.
Eighth Heat: Gregg Bragg, Randi Pankratz, Randy Monroe, Jr., Terry McCarl, Kenny Morris, Glenn Styres, Wayne Johnson.
Ninth Heat: Jeff Bland, Jr., Travis Rilat, Darren Hagan, Kyle Larson, Shane Hollingsworth, Blake Fitzpatrick, Josh Most.
First Last Chance Race: Morris, Richards, Styres, Spencer, Miller, Beauchamp, Rayburn.
Second Last Chance Race: Darren Stewart, Rich Camfield, Scott Winters, Blake Fitzpatrick, Terry Goodwin, Hunter Schuerenberg, Wayne Johnson.
Third Last Chance Race: Swindell, Moore, McCune, Dull, Martin, Most.
Fourth Last Chance Race: Holt, Rossi, Allen, Smith, Berryhill, Miller.
First A Qualifier: Droud, Leffler, Boyles, Buckwalter, Mero, McCarl, Monroe, Peterman, Knepper, Larson, Morris, Richards.
Second A Qualifier: Gardner, Altig, Wease, Rilat, Hines, Ream, Hollingsworth, Stewart, D. Armstrong, Eaton, C. Armstrong, Camfield.
Third A Qualifier: Shuman, Kruseman, Swindell, Darland, Pankratz, Stratton, Hafertepe, Bland, Henry, Moore, Newman, Meyers.
Fourth A Qualifier: Hagen, Kahne, Brown, Robb, Bragg, Siner, Jones, Davis, Adler, Rossi, Holt, Prickett.
First B Main: Hines, Stratton, Siner, Knepper, Bland, Hafertepe, Eaton, Davis, Richards, Mero, Henry, Meyers, Rossi, Peterman, Larson, Morris.
Second B Main: Robb, D. Armstrong, McCarl, C. Armstrong, Jones, Moore, Monroe, Camfield, Holt, Ream, Prickett, Pankratz, Newman, Hollingsworth, Adler, Stewart.
Feature: Gardner, Darland, Leffler, Kahne, Swindell, Wease, Altig, Shuman, Robb, Buckwalter, Hines, Stratton, Siner, Knepper, D. Armstrong, Droud, McCarl, Bragg, C. Armstrong, Rilat, Brown, Kruseman, Boyles, Hagen.