Rogers Etches His Name Into "The Rock"
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Rockingham, NC ~ The second major event at the newly reopened Rockingham Speedway rolled off Sunday afternoon with the running of the "American 200", the finale to the 2008 Hooters Pro Cup series. There were many stories coming into the day, the series championship battle, the rookie points race, and the uncertainty of what 2009 will hold for the series, Hooters, who has been the series sponsor since it's inception in 1997, is leaving after 2008. Two of those questions were answered on Sunday, and more importantly, a race was run. The title contenders fought all day, but in the end it was the rookie of the year Drew Herring running off into the sunset for his first win. Or so it seemed.
The day started off beautiful, great weather, an awesome crowd, and one of the most unique tracks in America. Former Late-Model standout Woody Howard locked up the pole position the day before with a speed of 150.088, and at the drop of the green flag he set sail on the field. Throughout the race there were great battles, almost every lap cars were 3-wide, as Rockingham has nearly 4 distict grooves. The action was halted twice for red flags, once for a hard crash involving Woody Howard and Carl Long, and then once again for a spectacular accident with Matt Merrell sliding down the backstrech on his top.
The championship contenders seemed to be around each other the entire day. And every time they were, contact was made, but cooler heads prevailed and each drove on. It looked as if it was going to come down to the wire for the championship, but McFarland got a piece of the Merrell accident and the championship was Gordons to take. Benny Gordon did what he needed and rode cautiously the last 20 laps, securing a 5th place finish and the 2008 Hooters Pro Cup Championship.
While the series title race was interesting, things were picking up at the front of the field for the race win also. Rookie Drew Herring got the jump on the final restart, and was well on his way to a sure victory. The only problem was 2 lapped cars and a very hungry 2-time series champion running 10 car-lengths behind. Clay Rogers was up front the entire day, and at this point in the race he was in the right spot at the right time. 4 laps to go and Herring runs up on the lapped cars side-by-side, they get off the gas causing the 2008 Rookie of the Year to check up, and Rogers floored it and went on to collect his 17th win in Hooters Pro Cup competition.
The day started off beautiful, great weather, an awesome crowd, and one of the most unique tracks in America. Former Late-Model standout Woody Howard locked up the pole position the day before with a speed of 150.088, and at the drop of the green flag he set sail on the field. Throughout the race there were great battles, almost every lap cars were 3-wide, as Rockingham has nearly 4 distict grooves. The action was halted twice for red flags, once for a hard crash involving Woody Howard and Carl Long, and then once again for a spectacular accident with Matt Merrell sliding down the backstrech on his top.
The championship contenders seemed to be around each other the entire day. And every time they were, contact was made, but cooler heads prevailed and each drove on. It looked as if it was going to come down to the wire for the championship, but McFarland got a piece of the Merrell accident and the championship was Gordons to take. Benny Gordon did what he needed and rode cautiously the last 20 laps, securing a 5th place finish and the 2008 Hooters Pro Cup Championship.
While the series title race was interesting, things were picking up at the front of the field for the race win also. Rookie Drew Herring got the jump on the final restart, and was well on his way to a sure victory. The only problem was 2 lapped cars and a very hungry 2-time series champion running 10 car-lengths behind. Clay Rogers was up front the entire day, and at this point in the race he was in the right spot at the right time. 4 laps to go and Herring runs up on the lapped cars side-by-side, they get off the gas causing the 2008 Rookie of the Year to check up, and Rogers floored it and went on to collect his 17th win in Hooters Pro Cup competition.
