Indianapolis, IN -- Heading into Monday evening's running of the Ansell Protective Gloves 150, 2010 and defending champion in the SuperCar series, Tyler Tucker, had yet to put a W on the board. Heading into LORP, Tucker had put up a best finish of 2nd with 3 top 5's in 6 starts, yet again no win. Could he pull it off in Indy?
Matt Leach earned his first CASCOR career pole but CASCOR officials ruled his qualifying lap was not up to par with CASCOR rules and was shown the black flag on the start, Austin Grams would start on the outside heading to the green flag.
Austin would pull away quickly over Pete Engelmanas, however, a little less than 10 laps in, Wesley Hoag and Mike Husby would get together, this would send Husby into the wall and tearing the rear bumper off his Chevrolet.
n the restart, Austin Grams would start over Pete Engelmanas, Thomas Mohl Jr., Ben Althen and Mike Husby but when the green flag drop, Engelmanas got into fourth gear but turned into a rolling grenade as his #4 Mobil 1 sponsored Chevy blew up. The points leaders mechanical issues would bring out the second and what would be the final caution of the night, Engelmanas would be forced to park for the remainder of the race.
On the restart, Grams to pull away to a healthy distance from 2nd place Thomas Mohl Jr. who was saving tires, as he would decide to go around lap 20 he began to slowly catch Grams tenth by tenth, however on lap 26 coming off of turn four, Mohl Jr. would lose grip and spin making hard contact with the inside wall, ending his night. No caution would be thrown and the field would continue.
No cautions fell after lap 15, which allowed for strategy to be played into hand. Austin Grams went with the fuel strategy while Tyler Tucker decided to pick up new tires and fuel.
With less than 20 laps to go, Austin Grams had a large 7 second lead but Tucker had the advantage of fresh tires. With a 7 to go, Tucker would reach Grams' bumper and begin to setup for the winning pass. 3 laps to go, Tucker would get by and pull away onto his first win of 2011 and declared winner of the Ansell Protective Gloves 150! Austin Grams 2nd, Mike Husby 3rd, Ben Althen with a solid 4th place run and Wesley Hoag would come in 5th, rounding out the top 5.
Austin Grams leaves LORP with the points lead for the first time in 2011, 10 points over Engelmanas and 35 over third place Mike Husby. The championship hunt has definitely tightened up and gotten more interesting, who is going to win the 2011 SuperCar Title? See the next chapter Monday in Pocono!
