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Gallagher Garners Season Opener at I-30
Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (March 10, 2007) Veteran Memphis hotshoe Eddie Gallagher added some additional hardware to his collection by opening the 2007 season in style with a triumph in Saturday night's 25-lap feature at I-30 Speedway.
Gallagher earned the pole position for the feature by racing fourth to win the evening's first heat race, then wired the field in the feature event aboard the AMC Plumbing No. 1 J&J. While Gallagher has compiled approximately 200 feature victories over the course of his career, Saturday's victory was just his tenth atop I-30 Speedway's Ό-mile clay oval and the first since April of 1998.
After the initial start was waved off when front row outside starter Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., slid off the top of turn two, California native Steven Tiner assumed the front row slot beside Gallagher. Gallagher gunned into the lead at the outset, with Jan Howard and Tim Crawley relegating Tiner to fourth
Gallagher survived three cautions over the first half of the race before charging to a comfortable victory in front of Howard, who held off Crawley's bids for the runner-up position.
Tiner held on for fourth, with defending track champion Justin Sturch advancing a half dozen positions to round out the top five. Terry Gray crossed the stripe sixth, with Dale Howard in seventh. Stenhouse rebounded from his opening lap miscue to claim eighth, with Rick Pringle and Dude Garrett completing the top ten.
Gallagher's victory made it a sweep of the evening for Memphis area drivers, as Ben Reed of Atoka, TN, topped the $1,500-to-win Modified feature event in front of Crawley, Tater Hyde, Minnesota's Steve Arpin and David Mitchell.
I-30 Speedway Sprint Car Results (3/10/07):
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 1-Eddie Gallagher, 2. 47-Dale Howard, 3. 87-Tim Crawley, 4. 45-Josh Howard, 5. 8z-Zack Pringle, 6. 1g-Cody Gardner, 7. 31-Michael Craddock, 8. 92-Rusty Gallion.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 40R-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2. 10-Terry Gray, 3. 57g-Dude Garrett, 4. 66-Kenny Taylor, 5. 5k-Jerry Kamer, 6. 00-Calvin McIntyre, 7. 58-Wade Oliver. DNS: 12m-Greg Merritt.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 20-Jan Howard, 2. 94-Steven Tiner, 3. 44-Ronny Howard, 4. 4T-Justin Sturch, 5. 38-Rick Pringle, 6. 12T-Joe Young, 7. 1s-Wes Michael, 8. 4-Tommy Snellgrove.
B Feature (15 Laps Top 6 Advance to "A" Main): 1. 38-Rick Pringle, 2. 58-Wade Oliver, 3. 00-Calvin McIntyre, 4. 31-Michael Craddock, 5. 1s-Wes Michael, 6. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, 7. 12T-Joe Young, 8. 92-Rusty Gallion, 9. 12m-Greg Merritt. Disqualified: 1g-Cody Gardner (weighed in below the minimum after finishing third).
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 1-Eddie Gallagher, 2. 20-Jan Howard, 3. 87-Tim Crawley, 4. 94-Steven Tiner, 5. 4T-Justin Sturch, 6. 10-Terry Gray, 7. 47-Dale Howard, 8. 40R-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 9. 38-Rick Pringle, 10. 57g-Dude Garrett, 11. 58-Wade Oliver, 12. 5k-Jerry Kamer, 13. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, 14. 00-Calvin McIntyre, 15. 31-Michael Craddock, 16. 66-Kenny Taylor, 17. 8z-Zack Pringle, 18. 45-Josh Howard, 19. 44-Ronny Howard, 20. 1s-Wes Michael.
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