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Van Meter Sweeps IOFS Action
By Ken de la Bastide
(July 5, 2012) – In what might have been the most impressive drive
of the season to date, Eddie Van Meter recorded his second sweep of the year
in International Outlaw Figure-8 Series competition.
Eddie Van Meter battled his way back from the eighth spot to win the IOFS
feature at Anderson Speedway on Marsh Figure 8 Madness Night.
“We had a really good car,” Van Meter said following the win. “We had a
little problem that we needed to fix.”
Eddie Van Meter set fast time and led the first 23 laps of the 50-lap
feature. He was slowing noticeably which allowed second place running
Charlie Hargraves to close.
On lap 23 Hargraves spun in turn three and Van Meter pulled off into the
lower pits with a bent tie-road. After some quick pit work, he rejoined the
field in eighth place.
That gave the lead to point’s leader Jeremy Vanderhoof, chased by Johnny
Hargraves and Ronnie Rose.
Rose got inside of Hargraves on the restart, with VanMeter climbing his way
back to third with 19 laps remaining.
On lap 36 Van Meter got inside of Rose entering turn one to claim the second
spot and three laps later passed Vanderhoof coming off the fourth corner.
Charlie Hargraves, unveiled a new car and took the second spot from Rose on
lap 37 and passed Vanderhood with less than ten laps remaining.
Van Meter scored the victory followed by Charlie Hargraves, Vanderhoof, Rose
and Johnny Hargraves.
With Van Meter pulling away from the field in the early stages of the race
second place running Charlie Hargraves several times had to slam on his
brakes to miss fifth place running Ronnie Rose in the cross—over.
Jeff Hizer, who was third in the national point standings, failed to
complete a lap in the 50-lap feature. On the start he made contact with the
turn one wall, which caused heavy suspension damage.
At the same time Kenny Boggs and Shawn Cullen mixed it up coming off the
turn four and were finished for the night when IOFS officials decided both
drivers were guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct.
During the first heat race, Hizer took the early lead chased by Rose and Van
Meter. It took Van Meter six laps to slip inside of Rose entering turn one.
A lap later he used the outside line on the front straight to take the lead
and score the win.
Preston Maxwell Jr. grabbed the point in the second heat race and appeared
headed on the way to a victory when smoke started pouring from the back of
his. That resulted in a trip to the pits and gave Jeff Swinford the lead.
Swinford was chased to the checkers by old nemesis Shawn Cullen with Boggs
coming off in third.
Van Meter set fast time during qualifications with a lap of 16.350-seconds
followed by Charles and Johnny Hargraves.
For additional information on Anderson Speedway, visit
www.andersonspeedway.com or contact Anderson Speedway at (765) 642-0206.
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