Backstretch Motorsports

"The Demon" Captures Gold in Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. (Jan. 12, 2008) –  Damion "The Demon" Gardner fought his way from taking the lead on the eleventh lap of  "A" Main racing to victory lane in Saturday night's 50-lap championship final event at Tulsa Expo Raceway's 22nd Annual Dodge Chili Bowl Midget Nationals

After winning Friday night's Qualifying feature, Gardner, overcoming a near flip, led the rest of the way to become the 16th different winner in event history in front of a packed house at Tulsa's QuikTrip Center and before a worldwide television audience on HBO Pay-Per-View courtesy of Lucas Oil. The victory provided a first-time owner's trophy for car owner and NASCAR Nationwide Series stand out Jason Leffler and the Pace Electronics/Team ASE No. 71g team.

Gardner, a California native , who now resides in Pittsboro, Indiana went on to say, "The car was really good when it was pretty tacky all the way across, but it was getting really slick to a curb.  And it was right after a yellow, I got in a little too hot and caught the edge of it and spiked it up.  I just tried to keep it straight, and when we landed Dave (Darland) was alongside me but he was on the slick and probably gonna get no traction.  From then on, I just entered a little lower and tried to put in good smooth laps rather than fast ones."

"I was just trying to keep the nerves down the whole time, and even during the race at the end it was tough to keep the nerves down and to put in the good laps," Gardner commented afterward.

Dave Darland, who finished a close second, responded that, "I was trying to keep his nerves up there a few times, it didn't work." Darland started fourth and then climbed to second to give Toyota a runner-up finish in Saturday night’s 22nd Annual Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.

“We’re happy with the second-place finish,” said Darland. “This is the first time that Steve Lewis and 9 Racing have had a team here in a while and to get this result, hopefully, he’ll let us come back next year.  The team really did a great job for me. The Toyota power was really good all weekend on the dirt. It was just hard to know what the track is going to do.  When we pushed out there, the track was really wet and we just missed the set-up by a little bit.  It wasn’t too bad, but it was just a little too tight.” With the runner-up finish, 9 Racing has logged a pair of victories and a second-place finish consecutively in the Copper World Classic, the Turkey Night Grand Prix and the Chili Bowl – three of the sport’s most prestigious events.  Tonight’s performance was even more impressive considering Darland’s 9 Racing team was racing in its first Chili Bowl in nine years.

Shane Cottle, bringing home a third place finish, closed in on Gardner's rear nerf bar on the final restart, but Gardner was once again able to open up an advantage of a half dozen car-lengths on both Cottle and Darland.

After starting twelfth, budding NASCAR star Bryan Clauson outdueled Jon Stanbrough over the final rounds to claim fourth in the Keith Kunz Motorsports Esslinger-powered No. 67 Bullet.

Last year's Chili Bowl winner Tony Stewart finished 8th.

  "A" Main Results –  1. #71G Damion Gardner, Pittsboro, IN; 2. #9X Dave Darland, Walton, IN; 3. #1ST Shane Cottle, Kokomo, IN; 4. #67 Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN; 5. #05S Jon Stanbrough, Avon, IN; 6. #39 Kevin Swindell, Germantown, TN; 7. #99 Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK; 8. #20 Tony Stewart, Columbus, IN; 9. #21 Tracy Hines, Newcastle, IN; 10. #12JR Nathan High, Goodyear, AZ; 11. #20J Levi Jones, Olney, IL; 12. #29L Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO; 13. #71 Cole Whitt, Alpine, CA; 14. #73 Josh Ford, Oxnard, CA; 15. #33 Davey Ray, Loves Park, IL; 16. #7F Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie, WI; 17. #71K Jason Leffler, Long Beach, CA; 18. #11 Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, AZ; 19. #11W Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA; 20. #12W Billy Wease, Noblesville, IN; 21. #49JR Bobby Michnowicz, Torrance, CA; 22. #91 Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA; 23. #71X Brad Kuhn, Avon, IN; 24. #67A Gary “Bubba” Altig, Mechanicsburg, IL