Woody Howard Wins Third Race of Season

Photo Courtesy of Kathy Bond www.usarfans.com

Joe Gibbs development driver Woody Howard, the driver of the No.55 Dean Motorsports Chevrolet won his third race of their rookie season at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, VA this past Saturday night.

Woody is the first rookie in the USAR ProCup Series to win more than 2 races in his rookie season. Brian Vickers and Benny Gordon, each had two wins.

SouthBostonSpeedway.com had this to say:

Woody Howard of Chesapeake, Va. stole the show Saturday night in the Lucas Oil 250 at South Boston Speedway and made a bit of history in the process. Howard became the first rookie competitor in the USAR Hooters Pro-Cup Series to gain three victories in his initial campaign. And, he did so in impressive fashion.

Howard, who has won two consecutive USAR Hooters ProCup Series events, started from the pole position in the 32-car field with a qualifying lap of 16.063 seconds and 89.647 miles per hour. He then proceeded to lead 147 of the 256 laps run on the way to earning the victory. "That's what we came here to do," Howard, who pocketed a total of $12,000 for the night, said. "The pit crew did a great job for me tonight. We went in first [during a pit stop] and they got us out first."

Due to a pair of late cautions and red-flag periods, the race was extended to 256 laps in order to have a green-flag finish. In all, the race was slowed by nine caution flag sessions. Howard led the first 89 laps of the race before making a mandatory pit stop during a caution period. Despite pitting, Howard made it back out on the track in the third position after posting the quickest time among the cars that headed in for pit stops under the yellow flag.

Howard grabbed the second-place position on the track on lap 132 when Joe Gaita of Yorktown, Va. headed in for his pit stop, allowing Mardy Lindley of Greenville, S.C. to inherit the lead position. Lindley held the first-place spot on the track until the 198th circuit when Howard used the high side of the track to motor into the lead, a position he held for the final 58 circuits.

Prior to getting around Lindley, Howard had tested the waters several times on the high side of the four-tenths mile asphalt oval. "I had talked to some of my buddies that race down here and I had read some of the write-ups about the races here this season," Howard said. "I knew that some people had won some races this year by running that high line. "I knew I didn't have any other choice," Howard added. "I wasn't going to get by Mardy any other way. The car wouldn’t turn on the bottom of the track when I was behind him. I found some grip up there on the high side and, I have to thank Mardy, he drove me clean."