Roundup: SpeedFest 2013 Race Day Sunday
Jeff Choquette and Chase Elliott Split SpeedFest Feature Victories
January 27, 2012
The coast cleared for Jeff Choquette. When it did, the West Palm Beach, Florida driver went on to score his second career ARCA/CRA Super Series SpeedFest victory.
Choquette took the lead when Chase Elliott and David Ragan tangled at the front of the field with two laps remaining. Elliott and Ragan, two home state heroes at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia, both were knocked from a potential victory, but Choquette was ready to take advantage of their misfortune. Choquette then held off another Georgia racer, David Odell, on a final two-lap shootout to the checkered flag to earn SpeedFest victory number-two, adding to his SpeedFest win at the now-closed USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Florida in 2008.
The bad luck for frontrunners was not limited to just Elliott and Ragan, however. 2012 Snowball Derby winner Erik Jones dropped from the race after late-race contact with Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek ran out of fuel just a few laps short of a potential podium finish, while other drivers such as Austin Theriault, Johnny Sauter, Travis Satuer and more found themselves out of the race after being near the front throughout the 200-lap feature.
Odell's second-place finish was a feel-good story, as the longtime Georgia Late Model competitor had never had a finish as strong in a field as talented as SpeedFest 2013. Connecticut's Scott Heckert finished an impressive third, while 2012 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Rookie of the Year Anderson Bowen and Bubba Pollard rounded out the top five.
The day started off much better for 17-year-old Chase Elliott than it finished, however, as Elliott picked up his third-straight JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour SpeedFest feature victory in the Premier Building Systems 100 Sunday afternoon. Alabama Late Model standout Justin South had a strong runner-up finish in the JEGS Tour 100-lapper, while Pollard ran third. Alabaman Korey Ruble was fourth, followed by Mike Garvey.
The two non-points events during SpeedFest 2013 set the stage for the start of the regular season for both the ARCA/CRA Super Series and the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. The ARCA/CRA Super Series will start their 2013 points season on April 13th at the quarter-mile Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Indiana. The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour will start their points season one week earlier on April 7th at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Indiana.
Pos
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
DNS
DNS
Car #
29c
75
72
29
26
1
77
9
2w
9
51
83
29t
8
4
71
18
41
51n
5
8
19
84
129
6
1
41B
5s
39
97
23
47
98
Name
Jeff Choquette
David Odell
Scott Heckert
Anderson Bowen
Bubba Pollard
Mike Garvey
David Ragan
Chase Elliott
Donnie Wilson
Randy Gentry
Brandon Oakley
Scotty Ellis
Austin Theriault
John Hunter Nemechek
Erik Jones
Kyle Benjamin
Hunter Robbins
T. J. Reaid
Stephen Nasse
Travis Sauter
Jake Griffin
Zak Hausler
Jay Niewiek
Spencer Davis
Brandon Hermiller
Travis Braden
Wes Burton
Johnny Sauter
Andrew Morrissey
Jimmy Garmon
Eddie Van Meter
Allen Karnes
Russell Fleeman
Laps
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
198
195
195
184
184
172
170
169
150
150
150
136
129
102
101
97
11
2
DNS
DNS
Pos
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Car#
9
43
42
66
1G
18
41
1
79
12
29G
4
27
36
16
129
2
22
15
28
8
51
98
21M
61
5
23
8
5n
12w
21
17
Name
Chase Elliott
Justin South
Bubba Pollard
Korey Ruble
Mike Garvey
Hunter Robbins
Brandon Johnson
Cody Coughlin
Kyle Bryant
Harrison Burton
Allen Gordon
Jerrod Foley
Joe Ross
Rodney Benefield
David Hodges
Matthew Wragg
Kyle McCallum
Kevin Herbert
Mason Massey
Tom Schuette
Jake Griffin
Joel Anderson
Justin Ashburn
Chris McKeehan
T. W. Fisher
Alex Roberts
Dalton Grindle
Eric Stokes
Shane Nalley
Ronnie Whitlock
Eric Gerchak
Marty Wood
Laps
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
99
98
95
82
80
75
49
48
45
42
29
23
10
9
3
0
ARCA/CRA SUPER SERIES
SPEEDFEST 200
UNOFFICIAL FINISH
JEGS/CRA ALL-STARS TOUR
PREMIER BUILDING SYSTEMS 100
UNOFFICIAL FINISH
