AMA: Hansen Outsmarts St. Amant For Jennerstown Win
7 August 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Late Race Decision Paves Road to Win for Wisconsin Veteran
Jennerstown, Penn.-- Gary St. Amants decision to pit for fresh BFGoodrich Radial Tires on lap 277 initially cost him the lead and likely the win, giving American Speed Association ACDelco Series veteran Scott Hansen his 26th career victory and second in three races in Sundays rain-delayed Pennsylvania 300 at Jennerstown Speedway.
"I looked behind me in the mirror to see what everyone else was doing on that caution," said Hansen. "If Mike (Garvey) would have dropped down to come into the pits, I would have went, but when I knew he was staying out, I decided to get back onto the track and try for the victory."
With the late decision to pull back onto the track after St. Amant was committed to entering pit lane, Hansen used tricky restarts and several late race cautions to stay ahead of the rest of the field, picking up the victory. It was the second race in the $50,000 Ricart Ford Summer Shootout. If Hansen can pick up the win at the season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 200 at Gateway International Raceway, Hansen will pick up an extra $10,000 from Ricart Ford of Columbus, Ohio.
Starting from the outside of the front-row, Mike Garvey brought his Tecumseh Chevrolet home to his fourth podium of the year, finishing second. Garvey hung near the front all day, but along with Hansen, decided to stay out during the lap 276 caution.
"We just missed the setup today," said Garvey. "I saw Gary drop down to pit and I was a little surprised. I knew we had to stay out, as it was out only chance to win that race. We were lucky to bring this car home second today."
Current points leader St. Amant was not happy with the late race decision not to pit as the veteran wanted to pick up his first win at the Pennsylvania half-mile. St. Amant had the dominating car for most of the day, leading 190 laps. With the podium finish, his eighth of the year, St. Amant remains the points leader.
Hansen collected $16,650 of the 195,550 posted awards and lead 39 of the 300 laps. Seven drivers swapped the lead on five occasions, and 10 caution flags slowed the field for 79 laps. One of the cautions early in the event took out several top runners including Mike Miller, Mike Eddy and Kevin Cywinski.
St. Amant extended his point lead to 300 over both Kevin Cywinski and Tim Sauter heading into the series next race, August 12 at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. The Iowa 250 is scheduled to take the green Saturday at 2 p.m. (Central) and will be telecast LIVE on TNN Sports.
JENNERSTOWN, PA The unofficial finish from Sundays American Speed Association ACDelco Series $195,550 Pennsylvania 300 at the .522-mile Jennerstown Speedway. Listed is finishing position, starting position (in parenthesis) driver, make of car, lap compl eted and reason out, if any.
1)(15) Scott Hansen, Ford, 300
2)(2) Mike Garvey, Chevrolet, 300
3)(1) Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 300
4)(17) Rick Beebe, Pontiac, 300
5)(6) Scott Fraser, Chevrolet, 300
6)(3) Joey Clanton, Chevrolet, 300
7)(11) Glenn Allen Jr., Pontiac, 300
8)(27) Brandon Sperling, Chevrolet, 300
9)(4) Tristan Dupuis, Pontiac, 300
10)(22) Ricky Johnson, Chevrolet, 299
11)(12) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 299
12)(10) Greg Stewart, Pontiac, 297
13)(29) J.C. Beattie Jr., Chevrolet, 296
14)(31) Paul Dallenbach, Ford, 296
15)(26) Tom Harrington, Chevrolet, 296
16)(32) David Bonnett, Chevrolet, 293
17)(25) Larry Foyt, Pontiac, 293
18)(30) Jason Krohn, Chevrolet, 292
19)(8) Robbie Pyle, Chevrolet, 291
20)(5) Butch Miller, Pontiac, 288
21)(7) Tim Sauter, Chevrolet, 283, accident
22)(16) Tim Taylor, Chevrolet, 282
23)(13) Mark Dismore, Chevrolet, 279
24)(21) Jack Landis, Ford, 256
25)(19) Kevin Cywinski, Chevrolet, 235
26)(18) Tom Jones, Pontiac, 232
27)(24) Dave Sensiba, Pontiac, 89, handling
28)(23) Russ Tuttle, Pontiac, 77, accident
29)(9) Mike Eddy, Chevrolet, 77, accident
30)(20) Mike Miller, Pontiac, 77, accident
31)(28) Alec Pinsonneault, Chevrolet, 77, accident
32)(14) Neil Brown, Pontiac, 10, accident
RACE STATISTICS:
Time of Race: 2 hours, 30 minutes, 13 seconds
Average Speed: 62.550 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.450 seconds
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders: St. Amant, 1-79; Garvey, 80-123; Hansen, 124-138; Fraser, 139-169; St. Amant, 170-210; Johnson, 211-216; St. Amant, 217-276; Hansen, 277-300.
Cautions: 10 for 79 laps
Unofficial ASA ACDelco Series point standings after 12 of 20 events: 1) St. Amant, 1,127; 2) Sauter, 1,827; 3) Cywinski, 1,827; 4) B. Miller, 1,710; 5) Hansen, 1,706; 6) M.Miller, 1,705; 7) Garvey, 1,689; 8) Wimmer, 1,688; 9) Beebe, 1,598; 10) Johnson, 1,586.
Text provided by Jeremy Troiano
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