Richmond, VA – Bobby Santos III of Franklin, Mass. continued his “hot streak” Friday night at Richmond International Raceway, winning the “Rotondo Weirich Showdown” USAC National Sprint race at the 3/4-mile paved oval.
Santos, who won last week’s USAC Sprint race at Kalamazoo, Mich. and USAC Midget race at Newton, Iowa, came from 13th starting position to fifth in the first 30 laps, then following a 10-minute halfway halt, resumed his charge to the front in his Santos Motor Sports Beast/Gaerte.
He took fourth on lap 31, third on lap 33 and second on lap 43, then passed leader Brad Sweet in turns three and four on lap 44. From there, his only late-race challenge came from Darren Hagen, who finished second, ahead of Sweet, Cole Whitt and Jerry Coons Jr.
Levi Jones, who finished eighth, emerged with a two-pooint lead over Dave Darland in the new series standings. Sweet was the fastest qualifier with a speed of over 134 mph.
FEATURE: (60 laps) 1. Bobby Santos III, 2. Darren Hagen, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Cole Whitt, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Bobby East, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Levi Jones, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Henry Clarke, 11. Brian Tyler, 12. Jacob Wilson, 13. Eric Gordon, 14. Jesse Hockett, 15. Troy DeCaire, 16. Shane Hmiel, 17. Damion Gardner. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-43 Sweet, Laps 44-60 Santos.
NEW USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Jones-702; 3-Darland-700; 3-Hockett-647; 4-Coons-636; 5-Whitt-630; 6-Hines-545; 7-Gardner-538; 8-Sweet-508; 9-Hagen-442; 10-Chris Windom-412.
NEXT USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE: July 2 – Winchester (IN) Speedway – “Thursday Night Thunder”
What an awesome race. I would have to say this was definitely worth the 600-mile drive to see this spectacular race. Keep up the good work Bobby. ;-)