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Santos Romps In USAC Action At Richmond

Richmond, VA ? Bobby Santos drove superbly to win the USAC National Sprint Car Series 60-lap feature at Richmond International Raceway Friday evening. Taking the lead on the 44th lap, the Massachusetts native took his family-owned Santos Motor Sports Beast Gaerte to victory lane.

?I am so pumped to win this one. We built this car to come to this track,? Santos said in victory lane. ?This is a race I wanted to win. I feel like I should have won three times previously, and I made a mistake one year that cost me a win. My very first sprint-car race took place here, and this race means a lot to me. To finally get a sprint-car win at Richmond means everything to me.?

Regarding the race, he stated, ?At the beginning, I thought we were going to do pretty good, and we made adjustments that made us better. When I got to third, I got confident that I could win. And we did it with a new car.?

Santos started 13th and had gained fifth place when the mid-race intermission took place. At the restart, the talented driver moved rapidly through the field overhauling early leader Brad Sweet, Bobby East, Cole Whitt and Darren Hagen to gain the lead.

In the late going, Hagen took second place and closed in on Santos but could never get close enough to challenge the leader.

Hagen ended up second with Sweet third.

Said Hagen, ?We made a few adjustments during the pit stop, and the car came alive. But Bobby Santos is one of the greats, and it is hard to beat him.?

Sweet stated, ?It was a good race and I got to lead it for a while. I tried to set a good pace, but I started falling off pretty much and those other guys came on strong. We are happy to finish third.?

Whitt finished fourth with Jerry Coons Jr. fifth.

Sixth through 10th were East, Tracy Hines, Levi Jones, Dave Darland and Henry Clarke.

In the point standings, Jones holds the lead with 702 and Darland trails by two markers. Jesse Hockett is third with 647 ponts.

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