19-Year-Old Travis Braden; Officially Crowned 2013 ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS Champion
Wheeling, West Virginia Driver Debunks 'Sophomore Slump' Myth on the way to first CRA Title
January 12, 2014
Indianapolis, Indiana (January 11, 2014) – The 2013 Champion Racing Association
(CRA) Powered by JEGS Awards Banquet was held on Saturday, January 11th at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel Union Station in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana as the 2013
Series Champions within the ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS, JEGS/
CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance, Top Speed Fabrication CRA
Late Model Sportsman Series Powered by JEGS and Stealth Trailers CRA Street
Stocks Series Powered by JEGS were honored, along with several special award
recipients.
Highlighting the evening was the crowning of the 2013 ARCA/CRA Super Series
Champions; 19-year-old Travis Braden and Travis Braden Motorsports officially
received their accolades for their successful championship winning season in the
premier template bodied Super Late Models tour in the country. The Wheeling, West
Virginia driver showed no signs of a 'sophomore slump' after winning the 2012 Rookie
of the Year title as he steered his #01 West Virginia University / Chevrolet into victory
lane four times en route to his first CRA Championship by an impressive 212 markers.
Braden's four wins included his first career ARCA/CRA triumph at Winchester
Speedway (IN) on June 29th. He then backed that victory up with victories at Auto City Speedway (MI) on August 16th, Kil-Kare Speedway (OH) on September 15th and Lucas Oil Raceway (IN) on September 29th during the 2013 Fall Brawl to officially clinch the title with one race remaining on the schedule. The Mountaineer State driver, who turns 20 on March 5th, also collected season highs of eight top fives and 10 top 10 finishes as well as a season high four EDCO Welding Fast Qualifier Awards (Auto City, Flat Rock, Kil-Kare and Lucas Oil) on his way to the Championship.
2013 Boyne Machine Rookie of the Year, Ali Kern secured the freshman title while also grabbing the Runner-Up finish overall in the final ARCA/CRA Super Series Points Standings for Lorz Motorsports. The Fremont, Ohio driver in her #28 Crown Battery / Ford picked up three top five finishes including a season and career high finish of second twice, both came during the CRA Michigan Weekend at Auto City Speedway (MI) and Flat Rock Speedway (MI) on August 16-17th. The 20-year-old also racked up five top 10 showings during her freshman campaign.
Inaugural Series Champion from the 1997 season, Kenny Tweedy was the final driver standings on the podium as the Greenfield, Indiana veteran in his #2 Muller Waste Equipment Sales / Chevrolet finished just a single point behind Kern in the final points tallies with three top five finishes including a season high of fourth coming at Anderson Speedway (IN) on May 4th. He also garnered five top 10 finishes as well.
Another Hoosier State veteran, Rick Turner finished fourth in the final standings as the Yorktown, Indiana driver was only eight points back of Tweedy in his #26 T.J. Racing Lubricants / Ford with two top fives including a season high third at Flat Rock Speedway (MI) on August 17th to go with four top 10 finishes. 19-year-old Brandon Oakley completed the top five in the final overall standings and was also the 2013 Rookie of the Year runner-up in his #51 Dayton International Airport / Ford. The Beavercreek, Ohio driver managed one top five finish, a podium showing of third at Auto City Speedway (MI) on August 16th as well as two top 10s.
Nick Gullatta finished sixth in the final tallies while three-time ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion, and 2013 JEGS Triple Crown Series Champion, Johnny VanDoorn (4 Wins: Toledo Speedway (OH) on April 20th, Berlin Raceway (MI) on June 15th, Anderson Speedway (IN) on July 20th and Winchester Speedway (IN) on September 2nd) was seventh ahead of Brandon Hermiller who was eighth. Brian Campbell (2 Wins: Berlin Raceway (MI) on August 3rd and Memphis International Raceway (TN) on October 26th) finished ninth as Terry Fisher Jr., completed the top 10.
Also picking victories during the season who finished outside of the top 10 in points were; Jeff Choquette-Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA) on January 27th, T.J. Reaid-Anderson Speedway (IN) on May 4th, Ross Kenseth-Lucas Oil Raceway (IN) on July 26th, Travis Sauter-Madison International Speedway on August 11th, former three-time ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion, Scott Hantz-Flat Rock Speedway (MI) on August 17th, Erik Jones-Winchester Speedway (IN) / Winchester 400 on October 13th and Chase Elliott-Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville (TN) on November 2nd.
In addition to VanDoorn winning the 2013 JEGS Triple Crown Series Championship and Kern winning the 2013 Boyne Machine Company Rookie of the Year title, more special awards included Kern also winning the A.T. Performance / Acro-Tech Sportsman of the Year Award while Oakley won the Speed51.com Most Popular Driver Award. Tim Bennett was the recipient of the prestigious Darrell Teal Dedication Award as the Anderson, Indiana Car Owner finished sixth in the ARCA/CRA Super Series Owners Points Standings utilizing four different drivers (Joe Beaver, Derrick Griffin, Bret Miles Jr., and Trent Snyder) during the season.
Tweedy won the 2013 Cometic Gaskets Hard-Charger of the Year Award snapping Jay Niewiek's stranglehold on the award at three years while Travis Braden (100-125 Lap Events) and Johnny VanDoorn (150+ Events) were the Winners the Harris Racing Products Lap Leader Awards. Special Drawing award winners were; Bennett-Four (4) Aero Race Wheels and a ButlerBuilt Seat, Turner would win a Miller Welder while Kern got a Five Star Racecar Body.
The 2014 Racing Season begins for the ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS on Saturday-Sunday, January 25-26th as the fast 4/10s (0.400) mile semi-banked paved oval of Watermelon Capital Speedway, located south of Macon and north of the Florida / Georgia state line in Cordele, Georgia will host the Zaxby's SpeedFest 2014. The premier template bodied Super Late Models tour in the country will head south to kick off the New Year with the non-points SpeedFest 200. An optional Practice Day has been reserved for Friday, January 24th.
For more information about all four touring series’ within Champion Racing Association Powered by JEGS, please go to the series website at: www.cra-racing.com You can also follow CRA on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ChampionRacingAssociation as well as Twitter at www.twitter.com/CRAracing Finally for more information about Watermelon Capital Speedway, the host facility for the first race of the new season for the ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS, go to the track website at: www.watermeloncapitalspeedway.com
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the United States. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards as well as the ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing is held at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
