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ASA: Clanton Wins ASARacing.com 300 at St. Augustine

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Georgia native dominated from front row starting position

St. Augustine, Fla. --Joey Clanton, the 2000 American Speed Association Rookie of the Year, took the lead on lap 121 and never relinquished it, dominating the ASA season opening race, the ASARacing.com 300 at St. Augustine Speedway on Saturday night.

Clanton of Stockbridge (GA) passed race pole sitter Johnny Sauter during a caution period and never looked back, picking up his second career ASA victory. He won last season at Memphis Motorsports Park. The team pitted once during the race to outlast all c ompetitors.

“My pit crew did an awesome job and made all the right calls tonight,” said Clanton. “We worked really hard on this car all off-season. I knew that late in the race, as long as I held my line, I could take the win.”

Clanton beat Scott Hansen to the line by 0.641 seconds. The Wisconsin veteran, Hansen, collected the 44th podium finish of his career. He came on late in the event, but couldn’t get around Clanton in the final stages.

“This is a great finish considering the fact we didn’t know a week ago that we were going to be here,” said Hansen. “I has a good race with everyone tonight. It doesn’t matter who it was though, no one had anything for Joey (Clanton). It was an overall goo d evening.”

The race was slowed by 16 cautions and featured only two lead changes in front of a standing room only crowd. Clanton’s win netted him $16,830 of the $186,000 purse.

A large accident on lap-two eliminated only two cars, but set the tone for the evening. Rookie Brian Schwartz among others got into a front stretch accident that saw Schwartz car get completely airborne before coming down into the path of oncoming cars.

The American Speed Association will now venture to the West Coast, as the series makes its first visit to the state of California on March 9-10 for the Tires.com 300 presented by BFGoodrich Tires at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale (CA). The event is schedu led for 9 p.m. (Eastern), 6 p.m. (local) start time.

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA – The unofficial results from Saturday’s $186,810 American Speed Association ACDelco Series ASA Racing.com 300 at the half-mile St. Augustine Speedway. Listed is finishing and starting position (in parenthesis), driver, make of car, laps completed and reason out, if any.

  • 1)(2) Joey Clanton, Chevrolet, 300
  • 2)(13) Scott Hansen, Ford, 300
  • 3)(16) Mike Garvey, Chevrolet, 300
  • 4)(1) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 300
  • 5)(4) Kevin Cywinski, Chevrolet, 300
  • 6)(10) Tristan Dupuis, Pontiac, 300
  • 7)(9) Mark Dismore, Jr., Chevrolet, 300
  • 8)(27) Tim Taylor, Chevrolet, 300
  • 9)(12) Butch Miller, Pontiac, 300
  • 10)(7) Toby Porter, Chevrolet, 300
  • 11)(21) Mike Miller, Pontiac, 300
  • 12)(3) Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 300
  • 13)(23) Johnny Spaw, Chevrolet, 298
  • 14)(22) Chris Wimmer, Chevrolet, 298
  • 15)(8) Ryan Hemphill, Chevrolet, 298
  • 16)(11) Tommy Grimes, Chevrolet, 298
  • 17)(29) Ed Brown, Chevrolet, 298
  • 18)(20) Mike Cope, Chevrolet, 296
  • 19)(19) Chad Wood, Ford, 293
  • 20)(28) Glenn Allen Jr., Chevrolet, 291
  • 21)(26) Travis Kittleson, Chevrolet, 290
  • 22)(33) Mark Cole, Pontiac, 284
  • 23)(24) Kenny Phillips, Chevrolet, 282
  • 24)(34) Tully Esterline, Ford, 270
  • 25)(25) Greg Stewart, Pontiac, 254
  • 26)(30) Matt Sielsky, Chevrolet, 246
  • 27)(31) Dennis Lampman, Chevrolet, 236, accident
  • 28)(5) Pat Kelly, Chevrolet, 235, accident
  • 29)(14) Scott Fraser, Chevrolet, 221, accident
  • 30)(6) Ricky Carlton, Chevrolet, 220, electrical
  • 31)(17) Scotty Lagasse Jr., Chevrolet, 152, rear end
  • 32)(18) Doug Stevens Jr., Ford, 102, rear end
  • 33)(32) Francesco Gaudesi, Chevrolet, 1, accident
  • 34)(15) Brian Schwartz, Chevrolet, 1, accident

RACE STATISTICS:

  • Time of Race: 2 hours, 27 minutes, 55.064 seconds
  • Average Speed: 60.845 mph
  • Margin of Victory: 0.641 seconds
  • Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers
  • Lap Leaders: Sauter, 1-120; Clanton, 121-300
  • Cautions: 16 for 107 seconds

Unofficial ASA ACDelco Series point standings after 1 of 20 events: 1) Clanton, 204; 2) Hansen, 185; 3) Sauter, 185; 4) Garvey, 180; 5) Cywinski, 172; 6) Dupuis, 165; 7) Dismore, 160; 8) Taylor, 155; 9) B. Miller, 150; 10) Porter, 145.

Text provided by ASA

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.