LAKELAND, Fla. — Benny Gordon has always said that USA Int’l Speedway was the one Hooters Pro Cup track that he struggled with.
So, after Gordon won the Sears AutoCenter 200 that opened the season for the series Saturday night at the three-quarter-mile asphalt oval, one would think his opinion had changed.
Well, guess again.
“I still can’t drive here,” said Gordon, driver of the No. 66 Samuel Metals Ford.
“On 90 percent of the tracks we go to, I know where to pick up the throttle, and I can be spot-on and dial my car in. I’m still kind of erratic here, but I’m getting better.”
Gordon used an unorthodox pitting strategy to get the lead in the Greased Lightning Southern Division opener. While most leaders waited to pit on lap 64, Gordon elected to take his BFGoodrich Tires g-Force radials on lap 26 and cycled into the lead on lap 88.
Gordon held the lead until lap 152, when Mark McFarland moved to the point. McFarland inched away from Gordon over the next 20 laps, but smoke began to billow from underneath his machine at lap 175.
“When Mark started smoking, I knew I was racing for the win,” said Gordon. “I knew if I could get out front we’d be tough to beat.”
Matt Hawkins nearly had Gordon passed before the caution waved. But over the final laps, Gordon slowly crept away from Hawkins, denying the youngster his second win at USA Int’l Speedway.
“I thought I had him, I really did,” said Hawkins. “That’s why I’m so disappointed. I was passing four cars per restart. But when I got to him, I couldn’t do anything. I was trying to not let him know what I was doing, but he did a heck of job and pulled out more than we had.”
James Buescher seemed to carry his late-season momentum of a year ago into the 2008 campaign. For the third race in a row, Buescher came home third.
Caleb Holman and Billy Bigley, Jr. rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Showing driver, car, laps completed and money won: 1. Benny Gordon, Ford, 200, $11,000; 2. Matt Hawkins, Ford, 200, $6,400; 3. James Buescher, Chevrolet, 200, $5,000; 4. Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, 200, $4,400; 5. Billy Bigley, Jr., Ford, 200, $3,000; 6. Travis Kittleson, Chevrolet, 200, $2,600; 7. Kirk Leone, Ford, 200, $2,600; 8. Hunter Robbins, Ford, 200, $3,400; 9. Scotty Crockett, Ford, 200, $2,300; 10. Drew Herring, Ford, 200, $3,150; 11. Tom Hessert, Chevrolet, 200, $2,100; 12. John Townley, Ford, 200, $2,000; 13. J.P. Morgan, Chevrolet, 200, $1,900; 14. Wade Day, Ford, 200, $2,200; 15. Michael Phelps, Chevrolet, 200, $2,200; 16. Frank Deiny, Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $2,000; 17. Don Satterfield, Chevrolet, 196, $1,600; 18. John Gibson, Ford, 195, $1,950; 19. Trevor Bayne, Chevrolet, 193, $2,800; 20. Bryan Silas, Ford, 189, $2,400; 21. Dusty Williams, Ford, 186, $1,400; 22. Bobby Gill, Ford, 180, $2,400; 23. Carl Long, Ford, 179, $1,400; 24. Matt Lofton, Chevrolet, 178, $1,400; 25. Mark McFarland, Chevrolet, 177, $3,000; 26. Joey Coulter, Ford, 177, $1,200; 27. Woody Howard, Chevrolet, 135, $1,600; 28. Michael Ritch, Ford, 131, $2,700; 29. Johnny X, Ford, 89, $1,200; 30. Bill Plemons, Jr., Ford, 60, $1,200; 31. Derrick Kelley, Ford, 23, $1,200; 32. Dange Hanniford, Ford, 4, $1,200.