Bobby Santos III Takes Rotondo Weirich Showdown

Bobby Santos prevailed in a three-way battle for the lead with about 20 laps to go and held on to win tonight’s USAC Sprint Car Rotondo Weirich Showdown at Richmond International Raceway.
Santos of Franklin, Mass., finished less than .4 of a second ahead of Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif., to win the 60-lap race on the 3/4 -mile oval.
Santos jousted with Brad Sweet and Bobby East for the lead for several laps and finally moved ahead on lap 44 and led the rest of the way. Sweet, who led the first 43 laps, finished third, East faded to sixth at the finish.
Richmond International Raceway will host the SunTrust Indy Challenge IndyCar Series race on Saturday night. Dario Franchitti is on the pole for the 300-lap race set to begin at 8:30 p.m.
The USAC Silver Crown Series James River Grounds Management 100 will be run prior to the Indy Car race, starting at 6:15 p.m.
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.