RICHMOND, Va. — Jerry Coons, Jr. won the 60-lap USAC National Sprint Car Series Showdown at Sundown at Richmond Int’l Raceway Friday night.
He started outside the front row, only to see former NASCAR racer Shane Hmiel grab an early lead. Coons came back to take the lead just before the half-way mark and held on through the second 30-lap portion of the race.
Coons, driving the Hoffman No. 69 sprint car, said, “My car was really good. I made an air pressure adjustment at the break and I had a real consistent car throughout the race.”
It was the 70th USAC sprint-car victory for the Hoffman team, which is the winningest operation in series history.
Tracy Hines finished second after starting sixth in his No. 21 Tony Stewart Racing Beast.
“We didn’t have the best car,” Hines said. “I didn’t know if we had anything for Jerry. We made a little adjustment during the break. The car went from tight to loose. I was just hanging on at the end. We thought some guys were running way too hard early. Sixty laps are tough on tires, here.”
Damion Gardner, Levi Jones and Mike Murgoitio rounded out the top five, as only 15 cars, many of them visitors from Florida, were on hand for the event at the three-quarter-mile oval.
Jones regained the point lead in part because of the absence of Cole Whitt, who stayed in Indiana and won the sprint-car feature at Gas City I-69 Speedway.
The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Brady Bacon, Kahne 99, 19.667; 2. Jerry Coons, Jr., Dynamics 69, 19.727; 3. Brad Sweet, Kahne 9, 19.747; 4. Shane Hmiel, Kunz 67k, 19.751; 5. Jacob Wilson, Wilson 07, 19.762; 6. Tracy Hines, Stewart 21, 9.778; 7. Levi Jones, Stewart 20, 19.903; 8. Damion Gardner, Leffler 71, 19.942; 9. Brian Gingras, Ram 50m, 19.981; 10. Darren Hagen, Kunz 67, 20.042; 11. Shane Cottle, Contos 4, 20.120; 12. 20.240; 12. Mike Murgoitio, Murgoitio 80, 20.240; 13. Mario Marietta, Marietta 85, 20.925; 14. David Slawiak, McDole 79, 21.491; 15. Wayne Reutimann, Jr., Reutimann 00, no time.
Feature (60 laps): Coons, Hines, Gardner, Jones, Murgoitio, Bacon, Gingras, Cottle, Slawiak, Wilson, Hmiel, Sweet, Hagen, Marietta, Reutimann.