2006 Winchester 400

The thirty-fifth annual Winchester 400 was held under Champion Racing Association sanction on October 16, 2006, at the Winchester Speedway.

After a two-year hiatus, Winchester Speedway owner Charlie Shaw; track promoters R.J Scott and Glenn Luckett; and the Champion Racing Association, resurrected on of the crown jewels of pavement short track racing, with the running of the 35th “Winchester 400.”

Coming from a lap down, Scott Hantz of Angola, Indiana, won the 35th Annual Ed Martin Auto Group Winchester 400 on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway. Hantz was in third-place, a lap behind the leaders, when the top-two tangled and crashed out of the event on lap 381 of the 400-lap grind. Going from a lap down to the leaders, to suddenly find himself with a one-lap lead on the remainder of the field, Hantz took the lead on lap 382 and cruised to the victory, his first with the CRA Super Series at Winchester Speedway.

"This is the biggest win of my career," stated Hantz in victory lane. "This is the Daytona 500 for guys like me, to be mentioned with names such as Mark Martin, Mike Eddy, and the others that have raced and won here is an honor. We didn’t have the fastest car here this weekend, but we survived and got a little luck to get the win."

Hantz claimed the 2006 CRA Super Series points’ championship just by starting the race. It was his second championship with the 10-year-old series. Starting 20th in a 33-car field, Hantz steadily worked his way to the front, and lead the event for the first time on lap 209. After giving up the lead when he pitted on lap 303, Hantz was working his way to the front again when he spun to avoid the car of Jeff Lane, who had slowed with a broken rear end. Hantz’s car suffered some damage but he also flat-spotted his tires, which affected the cars handling, causing him to lose a lap to the leaders.

Hantz stayed on the track trying to survive until the end, his plan worked when leader Chris Gabehart and second-place Clay Jones wrecked while battling for the lead on lap 380. Jones had made up two laps and worked his way into second inside of 50 laps to go in the event. Gabehart and Jones battled side-by-side for several laps with Jones visibly faster in the turns, but Gabehart being faster in the straight. Jones car seemed to slip in turn two on lap 380 making contact with Gabehart’s car, which sent both cars hard into the back stretch retaining wall. Both cars were totally destroyed, but both drivers were unhurt.

Birmingham, Alabama, native Augie Grill finished in second, despite making contact with the turn two retaining wall several times during the event. Grill was making his first ever start at Winchester Speedway. Tommy St. John of Indianapolis, Indiana, finished in third to clinch a runner-up finish in the 2006 CRA Super Series points. Jim Crabtree Jr. of Muncie, Indiana, finished in fourth place and Indianapolis native John Heck finished in fifth. 1999 “Winchester 400” winner Brian Ross was eliminated in a lap 48 accident. Brian Rievley looked to be the car to beat until his motor expired on lap 215 after leading 130 of the first 215 laps. Teammate Eddie Van Meter lost several laps in the pits making repairs after leading 39 laps of the event. Van Meter finished in 8th place 18 laps down. 2006 CRA Super Series Rookie of the Year Danny Jackson set a new track record to earn the pole for the “400.” In 2003, his father, Dave Jackson, set on the pole of the most previous running of the “Winchester 400.” The young Jackson would survive several altercations to get a sixth-place finish.

External links

* [http://www.winchesterspeedway.com/ Winchester Speedway website]
* [http://www.craracing.net/ Official CRA Website]