18-Year-Old Chase Elliott Continues Adding To His Short Track Legacy; Scores Zaxby's SpeedFest 200 Victory
ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS Officially Begins 18th Year of Competition
Cordele, Georgia (January 26, 2014) – The premier traveling series within Champion
Racing Association (CRA) Powered by JEGS, the ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by
JEGS kicked off their 18th season of competition with the traditional non-points season
opener; the 10th Annual Zaxby's SpeedFest 2014 over the weekend of January 24-26th at
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.
The headlining event of the weekend; the SpeedFest 200 on Sunday, January 26th for the
foremost template bodied Super Late Models touring series in the country would see a
stellar 29-car field take the green and when all was said and done, 18-year-old Chase
Elliott, who will make a run at the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
title, marked another notch on his short track legacy as the Dawsonville, Georgia star
picked up his second SpeedFest victory of his career to add to his three Pro Late Model
SpeedFest triumphs for an impressive five career wins in the event.
"That was a lot of fun out there. We're real happy to start the year off with a win that's for
sure," Elliott stated in victory lane after his fifth career ARCA/CRA Super Series victory,
"We didn't even decide to run this race until late this week and I'm glad we did. Really
proud of the effort this weekend by everybody that helped out. That was some really hard short track racing for the win with Johnny (Sauter) there." He added.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star and home track favorite from near-by Unadilla, Georgia; David Ragan would start p1 due to the seven car inversion along-side fellow Georgian, Scotty Ellis. Ragan paced the field for the first nine laps before Elliott, who started fourth, grabbed the lead for the first time on lap 10. Ragan held onto second spot for the majority of the first half of the race before VDL Fuel Systems Fast Qualifier and New Track Record Holder; NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series star, Johnny Sauter got around Ragan on lap 87 and trailed Elliott going into the Lap 100 halfway break.
A thrilling battle for lead and eventual win began back on lap 107 when Sauter and Elliott both slipped past Bubba Pollard, who rolled the dice at the 10 minute halfway break by not taking on any new tires in exchange for track position and the lead. From there, the intense battle ensued between Elliott and Sauter as the two drivers touched several times during the thrilling fight when on lap 184, the two drivers collided one last time in turns three and four resulting in Sauter going around while Elliott continued on and eventually crossing the start/finish line first under the checkered flag.
"It was a tough race. Johnny's one of the best short track racers in the country. I felt we both raced each other really hard." Elliott continued while his Bill Elliott Motorsports Team led by his Father, long-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series Star and 1988 Champion, Bill Elliott continued celebrating their drivers' win. "I feel like if you ask him, he may or may not tell you it was my fault, but ultimately it was just a hard racing deal." He ended. In addition to the $7,000 check that comes with the victory, Elliott also took home the Dubz Thermal Products Lap Leader Award for leading the most laps (110) as well as the PitBoxes.com Halfway Leader Award.
Bringing home a second place finish would be Daniel Hemric, the 2013 Southern Super Series Champion in his #98 Jack Link's Beef Jerky / Ford. The 23-year-old (On Monday, January 27th) was hoping to give himself an early birthday present after grabbing second place with 15 laps to go and tried mounting a late charge at Elliott. But in the end, the 2012 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Champion from Kannapolis, North Carolina, who started fifth, would settle for the runner-up position. He did pick up the Racing Electronics Second to None Award for his run.
Finishing an impressive third was Fort Kent, Maine's Austin Theriault as the driver of the #57 Mulkern Excavation / Toyota started the race in 11th and steadily progressed through the field and was running as high as second after the Elliott / Sauter exchange. Despite Hemric getting by for second, the 20-year-old (On January 23rd) was able to hang on for the final podium finishing position in third. A career high finish in 10 all-time ARCA/CRA Super Series starts for the driver who now resides in Cornelius, North Carolina.
Despite a late race spin, Ragan's #77 Skuttle Tight / Ford would fight his way back into the top five and post a fourth place finish as the home time favorite made the partisan crowd on hand happy when he led the first nine laps of the race. Rounding out the top five was Kouts, Indiana driver, Jeff Cannon, as the Illiana Motor Speedway (IN) regular and former Track Champion at his home track, made the long trip from the Hoosier State worthwhile in his #33 Govert Auto Body / Chevrolet after starting 14th on the grid.
Ellis, who started on the outside of the front row, was able to hang on for a solid sixth place finish ahead of another NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series driver and also full-time ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards competitor, John Wes Townley who was seventh. NASCAR Whelen All-American Series veteran, Lee Tissot finished eighth in his ARCA/CRA Super Series debut with Kyle Grissom, the son of NASCAR veteran, Steve Grissom, grabbing ninth in his first series start. A third driver making his maiden start in the series, Garrett Campbell earned the Racing Electronics Hard-Charger Award and the C.V. Racing Products Hard-Charger Award by finishing off the top 10 after starting 26th.
The previous afternoon in VDL Fuel Systems Qualifying, Johnny Sauter picked up the bonus $500 by breaking the ARCA/CRA Super Series Track Record with an impressive 15.562, which averages out to 92.533mph. Sauter's record eclipsed the old mark by 0.047 seconds. The previous record was set back on January 28th, 2012 when David Ragan turned a 15.609.
The chase for the 2014 ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS Championship begins on Friday-Saturday, April 11-12th as the fast 1/2 (0.500) mile high-banked paved oval of Toledo Speedway, located south of the Michigan / Ohio state line in Toledo, Ohio will host the Border Wars 7-Up 150. The ARCA Midwest Tour will make the trip East and join the ARCA/CRA teams for the first of two combination races between the two Super Late Model tours sanctioned by ARCA.
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 Toledo Speedway, the host facility for the first points race of the 18th season of ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS racing, go to the track website at: www.toledospeedway.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.
