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Atkinson Records CRA Sportsman Victory, Caldwell gets first Bandolero
Win
(May
14, 2011) – New Castle’s Jason Atkinson turned the table on Keith
Sterkowitz to lead from start to finish to capture the Champion Racing
Association Sullivan RV Sportsman Late Model feature at Anderson Speedway.
During the first visit of the CRA Sportsman at Anderson earlier this year
Atkinson finished second to Sterkowitz in a race that was slowed by numerous
cautions.
Atkinson took advantage of the invert of the fastest ten cars in qualifying
to jump into the lead and was first chased by Mark Parker. Parker was passed
by Nick Lay on the third lap with Sterkowitz moving into the third spot on
lap seven.
Sterkowitz moved into the second spot on the first of two restarts on lap 14
with an inside move on Lay. He was able to close on Atkinson, but in the
final laps lapped traffic gave Atkinson a comfortable win.
The second caution flag waved on lap 21 when Chris Parker and David Campbell
tangled coming off the second corner with Campbell’s car vaulting over the
front of Parker’s stopped machine.
Nick Moore finished third followed by Lay and Terry Cater.
It was Atkinson’s second win of the young season, having won earlier in the
year at Plymouth Speedway.
“We didn’t have the best car in qualifying, but kept working on it during
the heat race,” he said.
The field of Late Model Sportsman cars were evenly matched with the fastest
six qualifiers all within one-tenth of a second. Charlie Hanna led the with
a lap at 12.288-seconds, which was one one-thousandth of a second quicker
than Mark Lambert. Nick Moore was third quick.
Nick Lay captured the first of the two heat races for the division leading
the entire distance chased by Keith Sterkowitz, the winner of the first CRA
Sportsman feature at Anderson.
Behind the two front runners, Nick Moore used the outside line to move into
the third position and Terry Cater passed Hanna on the sixth circuit to
finish fourth.
In the second heat race, Dean Baker jumped into the early lead and then held
off KC Spillers for the win. Spillers used the outside line on lap three to
pass Randy Hoppes and two laps later went inside of Danny Trent to claim the
second spot. Trent finished third followed by Mark Livesay and Mark Parker.
Randy Caldwell broke the existing track record for the Bandoleros division
in time trials and led from start to finish to capture the victory.
Caldwell, who captured his first feature win, was followed to the checkers
by Jarrett Alexander and Kyle Donahue. The driver on the move was Jack
Dossey II who moved from the sixth starting spot to finish fourth, with
passes of Walter Thomas III and Chris Hacker.
Caldwell turned a lap of 16.493-seconds to break the mark set by Alexander
of 16.783-seconds set on Aug. 28, 2010.
The remaining events were postponed by rain. Those divisions not completing
feature events will be running double features the next time they compete at
Anderson Speedway.
On Saturday, May 21, spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with the racing
beginning at 8. Admission is $10 for adults and $4 for kids ages 6-12.
Children five and under get in free.
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