SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — All Benny Gordon needed to do was beat Gary St. Amant to claim his fourth Hooters Pro Cup Sears Auto Center Northern Division title. Gordon did that and more Saturday night at South Boston Speedway.
Gordon, driver of the No. 66n Samuel Metals Ford, led a season-high 222 laps en route to his victory in the Miller Lite 250.
With Gordon’s fourth triumph of the season, he clinched his fourth Northern Division title in the last five years.
“I’m just proud of the effort my team put in tonight and, actually, all year long,” said Gordon, who picked up $20,000 and a 25-point bonus heading into the Championship Series. “Obviously, you want the money, but we really wanted the bonus points because the big money comes in the Championship Series.”
After late-race pit stop, Gordon lined up fifth for a restart with 50 to go. Gordon needed just 11 laps to make his way back to the top spot. But as the laps clicked off, Gordon’s lead — and fuel — was dwindling.
Jeff Agnew caught Gordon with 20 laps to go and looked high and low for a way around.
On two occasions, Agnew was able to get a nose under Gordon for the lead.
“I know he was driving like crazy to catch me, but I was driving like a mad man to stay ahead of him,” said Gordon. “He’s always good at South Boston, but we were a little better tonight.”
After Gordon staved off Agnew’s lead bid, the only question was if Gordon, who never pitted for fuel, could make it all the way. But Gordon not only made it the scheduled distance, he made it to lap 253 after a late-race caution set up a green-white-checkered finish.
“We work on fuel mileage all the time,” said Gordon, who took home $12,200.
“We made a fuel run in practice, and we knew we weren’t going to stop for fuel tonight. This team is spot-on right now.”
Agnew finished second, with Jason Sarvis, Mark McFarland and St. Amant rounding out the top five.
The finish:
Showing driver, car, laps completed and money won: 1. Benny Gordon, Ford, 253, $12,200; 2. Jeff Agnew, Ford, 253, $6,500; 3. Jason Sarvis, Chevrolet, 253, $5,400; 4. Mark McFarland, Chevrolet, 253, $5,000; 5. Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 253, $4,500; 6. Derek Kale, Chevrolet, 253, $3,200; 7. Jay Fogleman, Ford, 253, $4,000; 8. Allen Purkhiser, Ford, 252, $2,400; 9. Mikey Kile, Chevrolet, 252, $4,100; 10. Jonathan Cash, Ford, 251, $2,200; 11. Sam Fullone, Chevrolet, 251, $2,500; 12. Dave Quackenbush, Chevrolet, 250, $2,166; 13. Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 249, $2,300; 14. Ronnie Souders, Chevrolet, 247, $1,966; 15. Larry Barrett, Chevrolet, 242, $1,700; 16. Joe Hoarrison, Jr., Chevrolet, 233, $1,766; 17. Matt Merrell, Chevrolet, 221, $1,600; 18. Ray Love, Jr., Chevrolet, 199, $1,600; 19. Tim Bainey, Jr., Ford, 84, $1,600; 20. Tim Kerr, Ford, 77, $1,600; 21. Michael Kidd, Chevrolet, 62, $1,400; 22. Derrick Kelley, Ford, 61, $1,400; 23. Danny Abold, Chevrolet, 51, $1,400; 24. Brett Butler, Ford, 18, $1,400; 25. Mart Nesbitt, Ford, 18, $1,400; 26. A.J. Frank, Chevrolet, 2, $1,200.