Ickler outlasts Lavender in Camping World East race at GPS

By Reese Fant • CONTRIBUTING WRITER • GreenvilleNewsOnline.com

Greenville, SC (04/19/09) - Brian Ickler came all the way from California to show his dominance in the season opener of the Camping World East Series, but Hartsville's Jody Lavender was the driver putting on the show Saturday.

"What we had was a once-in-a-lifetime race car when everything was just perfect," Ickler said in victory lane at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. "We've run good here before, but this is a great way to start this season. We are happy to be here, and these fans are the greatest."

Lavender was involved in an early accident and went to the pits. From there, he worked his way to second.

"If I had a little better tires at the end, maybe we had something for Brian, but I'm just happy with our finish," Lavendar said. "My 5-month-old daughter got to see me race tonight, and I'm delighted with the car."

Lavender started 13th and steadily worked his way through the pack of 29 cars that started the race. By the time the race was two-thirds over, Lavender was third and poised to make more moves.

But cautions bred cautions as mid-pack cars stacked up on the restart, then Kristin Bumbara came to a half- right halt at the start-finish line on the next restart.

More debris on the track called for additional caution laps before the race was successfully restarted on lap 132.

On lap 134, Lavender moved up to second, just in time for another caution flag. The race restarted on lap 148, but by then the glue was set.

Ickler led all but one lap, as Eddie MacDonald managed to get by on a restart, but Ickler passed MacDonald on the following lap.

Lavender's second-place finish was his career best.

It was not a particularly good night for younger siblings. Ryan Truex, the younger brother of NASCAR Sprint Cup drive Martin Truex Jr., finished 14th, and Jarit Johnson, defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson's younger brother, finished 24th.

James Johnson started in the front in the first Charger main event, and stayed right there to take the victory. Tyler Stephens took his first victory of the season in the second Charger main event, with Bryan Davis in second. Andy Norris came up from last to take third.

In the first Renegade race, Scott Smith came up from his fourth starting position to take the win, And Matt Hale came from the back to win the second Renegade race, getting by Zach Dillon with just a few laps remaining.

RESULTS

Camping World East: 1. Brian Ickler; 2. Jody Lavender; 3. Eddie MacDonald; 4. Josh Richards; 5. Britt Moffitt; 6. Patrick Long; 7. Steve Park; 8. Matt Kobyluck; 9. Alan Tardiff; 10. Matt Dibenedetto; 11. Jason Pattison; 12. Dakota Armstrong; 13. Dustin Delaney; 14. Ryan Truex; 15. Ryan Duff; 16. Todd Peck; 17. Alex Kennedy; 18. Rich Gould; 19. Jonathon Smith; 20. Matthew Kurzejewski; 21. Jeff Anton; 22. Kristin Bumbera; 23. John Salemi; 24. Jarit Johnson; 25. Jesus Hernandez; 26. Scott Bouley;. 27. Jason Cochran; 28. Dominick Casola; 29. Tom Hessert, III.

For more information, go to www.jodylavender.com, www.jbrracing.com, www.eastseries.com, and www.localracing.nascar.com.
 

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