Chase Elliott Wins All American 400; Daniel Hemric Southern Super Series Champion
Hemric Ekes Out Inaugural Series Title by One Point (Special from Southern Super Series)
Nashville, Tennessee (November 2, 2013) – Saturday night, November 2nd, Super Late Model
drivers Chase Elliott and Daniel Hemric added to the long and storied racing history of
Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville. The historic track in Tennessee's capital city has seen
some of stock car racing's greatest achieve success in the past. By winning the All American
400 Saturday in Nashville, Chase Elliott cemented his place as one of the greatest short track
racers of all time, while Daniel Hemric made history of another kind in the Southern Super
Series presented by Sunoco.
Elliott won the 300-lap Southern Super Series All American 400 to complete the sweep of four
of Super Late Model racing's most prestigious events, adding to his Snowball Derby,
Winchester 400 and World Crown 300 victories in recent seasons. Hemric eked out the
Southern Super Series championship in the final race of the series' inaugural season by just
one point after point leader Bubba Pollard was involved in a late-race crash.
It was a historic night that will forever be a part of Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville's lore.
" I don't know what to say," said a humbled Elliott, 17, in victory lane at Nashville. "A big
thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far. This means a lot."
Elliott, the son of NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, was close to winning the All American 400
back in 2010, but finished second to TJ Reaid. Saturday night, he got his redemption by
charging to the front in the final 70 laps of the race with fresh tires.
"We were so close back in 2010 and we had a really good race with TJ, but we just came up
a little bit short. To come back and get the job done means a ton to me and my family. We put so much effort into this and it's great for it to pay off."
Hemric finished second to Elliott on the track, then had to wait as Southern Super Series officials crunched the numbers that decided the championship. When the green flag fell to start the race, Hemric was 53 points behind point leader Bubba Pollard. The two traded the championship lead throughout the race with one having time up front when the other was at the back of the pack.
On lap 283, Pollard was involved in a crash in turn one that took out several other frontrunners, including Eddie Hoffman, Erik Jones and Kyle Benjamin. Pollard's night was done, leaving the title up for grabs. Hemric made a late pit stop for fresh tires that allowed him to climb up to second at the checkered flag, while Pollard was scored 20th. That gap earned Hemric, a 22-year-old from Kannapolis, North Carolina, the inaugural Southern Super Series championship.
"I never thought it would turn out like it did," said Hemric. "I hated to see Bubba Pollard get taken out like that. It's horrible and heartbreaking for everyone on that team. That's kind of how his year went. He was really good, but he had a lot of bad luck. I hate to win it like that, but we were just in the right place at the right time all season. That's key to running for the championship. We were able to do that throughout the whole series.
"It's hard to say that I'm disappointed in winning the championship and running second, but I just really wanted to win that All American 400 and hold that guitar trophy. Still, the championship is pretty sweet."
For Pollard, his turn-one incident not only sealed his fate on his championship efforts, it also closed a roller-coaster Southern Super Series season.
" I guess it wasn't meant to be. I just hate it for my guys that worked hard all year. We've gone through a lot this year and had to make some changes. It's been an up and down year, but they were the ones that put in the hard work and stuck behind me. They get more out of this than I do. He's a good driver and he's as good as they get. He deserves it. Congratulations to him. We just had too many problems this year."
Hunter Robbins, Johnny VanDoorn and Augie Grill followed Elliott across the stripe to finish the All American 400.
Series officials are currently assembling the 2014 Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco schedule. Dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
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This event was also a non-points race for the ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS while it was the 2013 Series Championship race for the Southern Super Series.
The 2013 racing season for the ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS is Complete as 2014 Information will be made available throughout the off-season. Congratulations go out to 2013 Series Champion, 19-year-old Travis Braden of Wheeling, West Virginia as well as 2013 Rookie of the Year, 20-year-old Ali Kern of Fremont, Ohio.
The first official event of 2014 for the ARCA/CRA Super Series will be on Saturday-Sunday, January 25-26th, 2014 as the one of the premier Super Late Model Series' in the country will share the stage with the premier Template Bodied / Crate Motor tour in the country; their CRA counterparts within the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance as part of SpeedFest 2014 at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia. '
SpeedFest 2014 is a non-points event for both series' and has kicked off the new season for the ARCA/CRA Super Series, at different venues, since the 2005 season and for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour since the 2012 campaign.
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 and search for "Champion Racing Association" as well as Twitter at www.twitter.com/CRAracing
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the entire country. 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.
