Pat Sharpe got off to a great start in defense of his Enduro championship at Speedway 660 on Saturday night. Sharpe claimed the first Enduro 200 of the racing season with a dramatic win. The Woodstock driver was leading late in the race when second place Chuck Mercer spun him out and rolled him over with just two laps to go. The red flag came out, Sharpe’s car was rolled back onto its wheels and went into the pits where a windshield was replaced and a flat tire replaced. The defending Enduro champ had a five lap lead on the field at the time and got back on the track in time to claim the first Enduro of the year.
“My pit crew is an amazing group, they never give up and when I went into the pits they flew into action and got me back on the track for the win” said a jubilant Pat Sharpe. “We are going for our fourth Enduro championship in a row and this is a great way to start the season.”
Mercer settled for second place, while Nathan Gallant came home third. Mercer led the first 75 laps segment, while Sharpe led at the 150 lap mark.
“I was just trying to spin Pat out, I had no intention of putting him on his roof” said Mercer. “I was really happy he was OK, although I would have liked to have gotten the win and the trip to the Speedway 660 Victory Lane.”
A special $150.00 bonus was up for grabs to the driver who spun out the most other competitors. Brody Seveck put the bumper to six other drivers to claim that cash award. The next Enduro is scheduled for Sunday, August 12th at 2PM. The third and final Enduro of the 2012 season goes on SpeedWeekend Monday.
Next Saturday night Speedway 660 welcomes what is expect to be a strong field of pro stock cars. The Best of the Best 150 goes at 7PM, with the winner of the race getting a guaranteed staring position in this year’s Auto Value 250 on SpeedWeekend.
