Eric Gunderson Wins INEX National Qualifier Race at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Photo Courtesy of Jim Stewart
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring – April 11, 2010 Eric Gunderson won the INEX National Legends Qualifier Race at the LVMS Bullring.After qualifying 7th, Eric steadily worked his way forward to win this highly competitive 50 lap event.
Each year INEX holds a series of races to determine the starting field in the INEX National Championship race at the end of the season.The winners of these “qualifying races” are guaranteed a starting spot in the main event of the National Championship to be held in October in Langley, Virginia.Eric will be representing the Texas and North Carolina based Speedway Legends Team in the event this fall. The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 3/8 mile track located in Las Vegas, Nevada.The track features steep banking and is very fast.The weekend drew a field of 38 of the strongest Legends cars from throughout the western United States and Canada.Racers competed in a 15 lap feature on Friday and 25 lap feature on Saturday, and the 50 lap qualifier race on Sunday. Eric ran strong all weekend.He finished the Friday night main event in 3rd place.He was running in 4th place in the Saturday night main event when he was involved in an on-track incident that broke the rear bumper off his car.He was black flagged and left the track.His crew replaced the bumper and got him back on the track where he was able to finish on the lead lap in 24th position.These earlier races helped Eric and his crew prepare for the Sunday afternoon qualifier race. “We have a very good car here this weekend,” said Eric on Sunday morning.“My crew has been working very hard in the past few weeks improving this car which is our 2008 season car.We will debut our new car next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.The car you see today will become our back up car at that time.But it is what we have to race today and we intend to do the best we can with it.” Eric qualified in 7th position, electing to use qualifying and practice to try out his race setup.“We have learned from experience that fast in qualifying is not always the best in the race,” said Eric after qualifying.“We will need a car today that is “racey”, that I can put in any position on any line on the track to work through traffic.This is going to be a tough race, and I am confident we can do well.” The green flag finally dropped on what would prove to be a long, grueling race.Eric fell back early on to 9th while his tires warmed up, but then began to steadily force his way toward the front.The event was marred by numerous cautions.Several cars were damaged, spilling oil on the track.This caused extended cautions and one red flag period where the cars were stopped while the track crew worked to clean up the mess.“I began to really worry about fuel towards the end,” said Eric after the race.“I knew we began with nearly a full tank and if the race had run normally we would have a good reserve at the finish.But this was turning out to be anything but a normal race and I just didn’t know how much was left in the tank.” Eric’s concern about fuel was well founded.He worked himself up to 2nd position with 4 laps to go, right behind his team mate in the number 6 car. The race was stopped while the track crew cleaned up a major oil spill.“When we went to re-start, Kyle could not get his car running,” said Eric after the race.“He was towed off the track – out of fuel.That was a tough break for him because he had a better car today and probably would have won.” The final green flag waved with 4 laps to go.It was a wild finish.Eric led the field into the first turn with a pack of very fast cars right on his rear bumper.He was able to hold off the competition and crossed the finish line less than a car length ahead of the second place number 56 car.“That was an unbelievable finish,” said Eric after the race.“I wasn’t sure I could hold them off but we brought it home in 1st place today.We will be ready for the nationals this fall in Virginia.”A check after the race showed less than ½ gallon of fuel left in the car.
Eric thanked Michael Harper and car chief Jarod Carpenter for their support throughout the race weekend.“Michael and his team really have helped us improve this car,” said Eric after the race.“We are really looking forward to beginning to work with our new car.” Eric thanked his sponsors Maxima Racing Oil, Oakley Inc, Vitalyte, Mechanix Wear, MLP Imaging, Nomad Slot Racing, Organic Food Bar, and Koolin’ Klothz for their support.
