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Mansfield Speedway hosted the fifth Northern Division race of the season on June 11, 2005. The highlight of this very exciting contest was the win of Joey Logano.
Joey Logano not only became the youngest winner in Pro Cup history with his victory in the Mansfield 250, but his win was the first by rookie driver this season. Last year, Gary St. Amant and Brad Rogers went to victory lane during their first seasons in Pro Cup.
While most of the attention, with good reason, was given to Joey Logano after the Mansfield 250, Glenn Gault, driver of the No. 32 American Title & Trust Chevy, made a statement for the middle-age contingent. Gault, 56, picked up his best finish of the season by coming home third.
"The crew did a wonderful job tonight," said Gault. "The car just got real, real, real tight at the end, but we did the best we could with it. As long as I kept it on the bottom, we were good. It just all worked out for us."
Gault is a scheduled guest on kgkiradio.com with KARNAC publisher Jack Smith and Bill Green this thursday at 7-9 PM.
By moving from 23rd to third at the finish, Gault split the Mr. Gasket Hard Charger Award with D.J. Kennington for advancing 20 positions.
On more than several occasions, the Mansfield 250 saw plenty of bumper tag. Mart Nesbitt got punted by Benny Gordon. Mardy Lindley door-slapped Shelby Howard, and Howard later hooked A.J. Frank. D.J. Kennington mixed it up with Howard coming to the stripe for the final time. However, the most noticeable bump came between Jeff Agnew and Shane Huffman, mostly because it was for the lead.
"Obviously, I hated what happened," said Huffman, driver of the No. 81 Knight's Companies Ford. "Jeff and I have raced each other hard for a lot of years. I got a good run off [Turn] two and going into [Turn] three. I don't know if he didn't gas up or just hesitated. We're dealing with inches out here not feet. I hate that he didn't get a chance to win the race."
Clay Rogers, driver of the No. 44 Johnny's Suzuki/Baird Transport Ford, competed in the Craftsman Truck Series event at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday. Driving the No. 65 Glynn Motorsports Dodge, Rogers finished eighth in just his second NCTS start, but there was no time for celebrating, Rogers had to get to Mansfield for Saturday's Pro Cup race. Rogers made it to Mansfield, but was late for the driver's meeting, relegating him to the rear for the start of the race after he qualified third.
Rogers carefully navigated his way through the pack and moved into the top five by Lap 129 of the Mansfield 250. However, after a late-race pit stop, Rogers dropped to ninth at the finish.
Four of the top-six drivers in Southern Division points showed up for the Mansfield 250, trying to gain valuable seat time for the Championship Series race in October. They may have gathered notes, but their finishing positions weren't what they were looking for.
Toby Porter finished 33rd, Jody Lavender finished 32nd, Mark McFarland finished 26th, Michael Ritch finished 25th, Shane Huffman finished 12th and Clay Rogers finished ninth.
For the 12th time this season, the Team Hooters Challenge and the Tucson "Win from the Pole" Award went unclaimed. Mark McFarland, driver of the No. 32 WINFUEL Chevy, was chosen by a lucky fan to win the Mansfield 250 as part of the Team Hooters Challenge. Unfortunately for McFarland and the fan, the JR Motorsports entry was sidelined with mechanical failure on Lap 135.
Shelby Howard, who won the Advance Auto Parts Pole Award, was unable complete the first-to-first run. Howard, driver of the No. 20 Tony Stewart's Smoke Bar-B-Que Sauce Pontiac, led 59 laps, but a last-lap crash dropped him to 15th at the finish.
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