 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Steele Gets 61st Pay Less Little
500 Victory After Classic Battle
With Gordon |
From
www.andersonspeedway.com:
Florida driver Dave Steele won a
classic battle with Eric Gordon
to visit victory lane in the
61st running of the Pay Less
Little 500 at Anderson Speedway
on Saturday.
With 185 laps remaining most of
the front-runners in the Little
500 field were eliminated either
through accidents or mechanical
problems leaving Steele and
Gordon, the eight-time Little
500 champion, to battle for the
victory.
Although only 11 cars were
running at the mid-point, all
eyes were on the pitched battle
between Steele and Gordon. Both
knowing the chess match between
the two veterans would determine
the winner.
Gordon opted to make his second
mandatory pit stop at lap 315
when pole sitter Tony Elliott
brought out the 11th caution
when his engine expired.
That left Gordon in second, one
lap behind Steele. For almost
100 laps Gordon tried both high
and low to get around Steele and
back on the lead lap to no
avail. With Steele still having
to make a second stop that would
give Gordon the advantage.
On lap 412 Steele bumped the
rear of Alexandria driver Donnie
Adams Jr. causing him to spin in
turn four and giving the Florida
driver the opportunity to pit.
Steel changed the right rear
tire.
As Steele was emerging from pit
road there was controversy. With
Steele exiting the pits it
appeared he would beat the pace
car to the blend line and be on
the same lap as Gordon. Gordon
pulled down below the pace car
and blocked Steele from
remaining on the lead lap.
Race officials determined that
Gordon intentionally blocked
Steele ad ordered Steele to the
end of the field, the only other
car on the lead lap.
Following the restart Gordon
opened a straight away lead, but
with fresher tires Steele was
closing the gap. When Gordon got
caught in lapped traffic, Steele
dove to the inside to make the
pass for the lead entering turn
one with 33 laps remaining.
From there Steele cruised to his
second Little 500 title by 9.091
seconds followed by Gordon.
Adams finished third, three laps
down followed by Jacob Wilson
and Ryan Litt.
Steele, who won the Little 500
in 1996, has come close to
visiting victory lane several
times since but always came up
short.
“It seems like 50 years since I
won here before,” Steele said.
“This win is a little better.”
On the tight racing with Gordon,
Steele said the two veterans
have sliced and diced against
each other over the years.
Gordon believed he should have
been declared the winner and
denied blocking Steele.
“The blend line is in the middle
of the corner,” he said. “I was
not ahead of the pace car.
Steele and the push truck were
behind me. I was hosed.”
Gordon said his car got loose
and he was unable to move off
the bottom of the track without
spinning the tires.
Adams said the team gambled on
their second pit stop and took
fuel only and didn’t change
tires.
“I had too many laps on the
second set of tires,” he said.
“I’m happy that I finished the
race.”
California driver JoJo Helberg
drove to a sixth place finish to
earn the Herald Bulletin’s
Rookie of the Race honors.
Helberg tangled with Jacob
Wilson on lap 161 on the front
straight, but both continued to
finish the race.
Daleville’s Aaron Pierce was
leading on lap 239 when the
lapped car of Mike Koss broke a
suspension part and drove up the
track collecting Pierce in the
third corner.
Brian Tyler, the 2006 Little 500
champion, grabbed the lead on
lap 114 with an inside move on
Elliott, but four laps later the
motor failed in his Contos
Racing entry.
Two other former winners Jeff
Bloom and Chet Fillip were
eliminated from the event by lap
50 because of accidents.
Last year’s winner Shane Cottle
driving for Contos Racing failed
to complete a lap when he made
contact with Jimmie McCune at
the start/finish line and came
to rest against the inside
barriers.
There were 12 cautions for 133
laps and five different drivers
swapped the lead a total of
eight times. There were 10 cars
running at the finish. |
|
|
|