July 10 – ANDERSON – Prior to the sixth edition of the Don and Mel Kenyon Classic, there had never been a repeat winner.
That all changed on Saturday at Anderson Speedway as defending winner Colin Grissom led the 75 home runs to become the first two-time winner of the CB Fabricating night presented by the USAF.
Grissom clocked a quick time in qualifying just ahead of points leader Jack Macenko and Ryan Huggler.
On the initial start, Dameron Taylor spun into Turn 3 and therefore had to start at the back of the 14-car field.
Grissom took the lead, chased by Macenko, Huggler, John Robbins and Kyle Ford.
At the 12th circuit, Taylor was running sixth and Huggler and Macenko had traded second several times before the end of the 25 laps.
Taylor and Clayton Gaines both passed Huggler on the 31st homer to move up to third and fourth.
The warning flag was waved on Lap 69 when Tanner Tecco made contact with the wall at Turn 2 after a strong performance up to that point.
On the restart, Huggler swung to the front just after contact with Dave Osborn’s car. Huggler is unharmed.
Taylor got around Macenko on lap 70 but had to settle for second, finishing 0.3 seconds behind Grissom with Macenko, Gaines and Robbins rounding out the top five.
After Grissom learned he had the opportunity to compete in the Kenyon Classic, his goal was to become the first repeat winner.
“With five laps to go, I didn’t know how far behind everyone was,” Grissom said in the Riley & Son Victory Lane. “We unloaded the car well, and it was good all night.
“I didn’t want to see the warnings and especially the red flag. I was a bit worried that I had run out of tyres.”
Grissom earned K&K Marketing Fast Qualifier honors and Gaines was named Advance Racing Suspension Hard Charger for moving up seven positions.
In the National Midget feature, Kyle O’Gara passed early leader Bobby Santos III on lap 9 with an inside move out of Turn 4.
O’Gara had three straight National Midget wins at Anderson, with Santos and Kody Swanson rounding out the top three.
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.
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