Redbud 300 Top Race of 2010
By Ken de la Bastide
(Dec. 23, 2010) – There was plenty of exceptional racing at Anderson Speedway during the 2010 racing season with tight racing on a weekly basis in all the regular divisions that compete at the historic oval.

But there were several races that stood out in terms of either excitement or the strategy that brought a driver and team a victory.

Undoubtedly the best race of 2010 was the second running of the Redbud 300 in July.

Angola driver Scott Hantz opted for only two tires at the halfway break and went on to lead the final 150 laps, but that's only a part of the story.

For most of the second half of the race Hantz was pressed by Johnny Van Doorn, who gave up the second position with 20 laps remaining to Brian Johnson Jr. Both Van Doorn and Johnson attempted bump and run moves to force Hantz out of the low groove to no avail. On the final lap there was contact coming off the second corner behind Hantz who went on to score the victory.

Once again the Pay Less Little 500 for Sprint Cars offered plenty of excitement for the near capacity crowd with Eric Gordon recording his ninth win.

Kokomo's Shane Cottle was leading with 57 laps remaining when he made his final pit stop for fuel, which put Gordon in the lead for the first time. Cottle rejoined the race a lap down and with 10 laps remaining was able to pass Gordon but came up 11 seconds short.

The USAC Midget visit to Anderson Speedway provided the third best race of the year when Bobby East charged from the seventh position with nine laps remaining and passed Darren Hagen on the next to last circuit to record the victory.

The race was restarted on lap 91 after a two car tangle which allowed East and third place finisher Dave Darland to change tires, accepting the penalty of restarting from the tail of the lead lap cars. East used the outside groove to make his way to the front of the field with Hagen finishing second.

After the inversion put local driver Rob Allman on the pole position for the Champion Racing Association Street Stock feature, the team decided to use new tires in hopes of securing the win.

The strategy paid off for Allman and the Dave Hacker owned team as they led all 75 laps and turned back strong challenges from Rich Boyer, Rick Erwin and Brian Hopkins.
In some respects the best was saved for the last racing date of the year with Aaron Pierce passing Tim Cox on the final lap of the HOSS Winged Sprint feature to record the win.

Pierce chased Cox for 31 laps and was able to get inside entering the third corner when lapped traffic played a factor. Pierce was able to take the point exiting the fourth corner for the win at the checkered flag.