ANDERSON, Ind. — James Robertson dominated the third-annual Ford Focus Nationals at Anderson Speedway on Sunday afternoon, using excellent restarts to secure the victory against some of the top drivers in the nation.
Robertson, the 2007 Midwest Ford Focus champion, started inside of the second row and had the top spot by the end of the first lap. The 30-lap championship run was halted three times for red flags and numerous others for caution periods.
The winner kept competitors guessing on the restarts, altering his technique each time the race resumed.
 “I have had a lot of work on those,” said Robertson. “I try to mix it up and try to find different ways to restart the race. I definitely didn’t do any one of them the same. There wasn’t any anticipating what I was going to do.”
Alison MacLeod, who won one of two 25-lap preliminary A mains, ran second  with Tanner Swanson third.
MacLeod ran fourth much of the race, but picked off third place and then second in the final 10 laps. She seemed poised to challenge Robertson when a late-race caution regrouped the field for a lap 23 restart. Robertson again had an excellent restart and finished several car lengths ahead of the racer from Canada whose car was setup for long green flag runs.
MacLeod’s chance to win actually ended with the many red flag and caution periods during the championship feature as her Bob East-prepared Beast ran low on fuel. She knew by the next to last red flag fuel conservation would be essential for a good finish. On the final restart, MacLeod could not get speed coming off the corner.
In the 25-lap Kenyon, Jacob Thompson led from green-to-checkered to collect his first win of the season. Although the Franklin, Ind., racer led wire-to-wire, Jacob Wilson, Tyler Cottongim and Cale Conley chased him across the finish line. Clint Wilson rounded out the top five.
The results:
Qualifications: 1. James Robertson Steele 1, 12.295; 2. P.J. Stergios, Stergios 57, 12.330; 3. Tanner Swanson,Trotter  2, 12.344; 4. Michael Sboro, Sboro 24, 12.349; 5. Chett Gehrke, Gehrke 93, 12.415; 6. Chris Lamb, Lamb 19L, 12.448; 7. Alison MacLeod, East 4, 12.452; 8. Craig Haack, Haack  8,12.467; 9. Andy Nock, RPN 51, 12.477; 10. Ryan Osborne, Osborne 38, 12.522; 11. Casey Riggs, Indiana Underground 37, 12.551; 12. Steven Intravaia, Intravaia 73, 12.584; 13. Caitlin Shaw, Shaw 89, 12.595; 14. Tyler Irwin, Irwin 21, 12.597; 15. Mario Clouser, Clouser 6, 12.606; 16. Michael Mohelski, Mohelski  12x, 12.630; 17. Robby Parish, Steele 1t, 12.683; 18. Eric Fehrman, Fehrman 67, 12.785; 19. Bill Kriegbaum, Kriegbaum 12, 13.316; 20. Jacob Moore, Stigall 03, 13.344; 21. Paul Crafton, Griffith/Horn 41, 14.566; 22. Scott Hunter, Brown/Miller 44, no time; 23. Steven Mathews, Mathews 88, no time.
First Heat (10 laps): Robertson, Nock,Shaw,  Gehrke, Parish, Crafton.
Second Heat (10 laps): Fehrman, Irwin, Stergios,  Lamb, Osborne, Hunter.
Third Heat (10 laps): Clouser, Swanson, MacLeod, Riggs, Kriegbaum,Mathews.
Fourth Heat (10 laps): Haack,  Pennington,  Intravaia, Sboro, Mohelski, Moore.
First A Main(25 laps): MacLeod, Robertson, Nock, Swanson, Clouser, Gehrke, Shaw, Parish, Riggs, Kriegbaum, Crafton.
Second A Main (25 laps): Pennington, Fehrman, Intravaia, Sboro, Stergios, Lamb, Mohelski, Moore,  Irwin, Haack,  Hunter.
Championship Feature (30 laps): Robertson, MacLeod, Swanson, Nock, Stergios, Intravaia, Hunter, Mathews, Lamb, Kriegbaum, Shaw, Irwn,  Fehrman, Parish,Crafton,  Pennington, Moore, Sboro, Gehrke, Riggs, Clouser, Mohelski,  Haack.