16-Year-Old John Hunter Nemechek Scores Second JEGS/CRA Win Of The Season; This Time At Milwaukee Mile
First ever appearance by CRA in Wisconsin & biggest track in CRA's 18-Year History
West Allis, Wisconsin (June 8, 2014) – The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by
Chevrolet Performance made the first ever appearance by Champion Racing Association
(CRA) Powered by JEGS in the racing hotbed of Wisconsin. The Salem, Indiana based
tour also raced on the biggest track in CRA's 18-year history. The premier template body
/ crate motor series in the country was a part of the 3rd Annual ARCA Fest Weekend at
the famed one mile (1.017) semi-banked paved oval of the famed Milwaukee Mile. The
historic facility located within the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds and west of Milwaukee in
West Allis, Wisconsin was the site of the non-points JEGS 100 on Sunday afternoon,
June 8th.
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour was on hand at the famed
mile in support of the Swiss Colony Howie Lettow Memorial 150 for the headlining ARCA
Midwest Tour Presented by SCAG Power Equipment. The 100-lap main for the JEGS/
CRA teams kicked off the afternoon and at the end of 100 miles it would be 16-year-old
John Hunter Nemechek who would keep the Van Wieringen siblings, 18-year-old
Dominique and younger brother, 16-year-old Tristan a safe distance behind him en route
to his second Win of the 2014 racing season.
"This car was just so good all weekend long. We didn't have to change much at all from
Friday when we unloaded and it was so fast the whole time," The jubilant driver stated after climbing from his #8 Mision El Faro-Guatemala / NEMCO Motorsports / Chevrolet. "I can't say enough about this whole team. We've been fast all weekend long in not only this car, but the ARCA Midwest Tour car as well. It's hard to do double-duty on any weekend, but the guys on this crew made things pretty easy for me all weekend long." He added.
After Boyne Machine Company Fast Qualifier, 16-year-old Anderson Bowen drew a seven for an inversion; it would place Phil Bozell and Dave Gentile Jr., on the front row for the 100-lap main. Due to having to pull his car out of impound after Qualifying, Bozell was relegated to the rear of the field which moved Justin South to the inside front row starting spot. South would beat Gentile Jr., to the first corner to take the early lead while the rest of the field jockeyed for position behind him.
The first of four cautions flew on lap four when Bowen and Gentile Jr., made contact going into turn one resulted in Gentile Jr., sliding hard into the turns one and two wall. He was ok, but his afternoon was over and Bowen had to pit for repairs. In the meantime, South resumed the lead, but would have Nemechek on his back bumper. Nemechek would make what turned out to be the winning pass on lap nine to take the lead and brought the Van Wieringen duo with him and the battle was on.
Through four more restarts, including the lap 50 halfway break restart, both Van Wieringen's had troubles on those restarts and lost several positions each time. However, they would both muscle their way back into second and third respectively and would also have to deal with a hard-charging Bowen who had roared through the field after his pit stop due to the lap four incident. While the Van Wieringen's battled with Bowen and later in the race with each other, Nemechek set sail and would cross the start/finish line first to score the win.
"I'm really happy to get the win for Mision El Faro-Guatemala who came on board for this race." The Mooresville, North Carolina teenager continued. "It's a really good cause and I'm proud to have them on the car this weekend." He ended. In addition to visiting A.J. Foyt Victory Lane at the Mile and collecting $5,000, Nemechek also picked up the D.T.S. Drive Train Specialists Halfway Leader Award for leading the field into the 10 minute break at halfway. This was Nemechek's second non-points JEGS/CRA victory of the season to go with his first during SpeedFest 2014 at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA) back on January 26th.
Coming home in second place would be the 2013 Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year Runner-Up, 18-year-old Dominique Van Wieringen who scored her season high finish in her sophomore campaign. The Amherstburg, Ontario teenager in her #5 DuroByte Motorsports / Ford battled with her younger brother for most of the race before settling for the runner-up spot. The Canadian driver wouldn't leave the Milwaukee Mile empty handed though as she would pick up the FLUIDYNE High Performance Cool Under Pressure Award
Finishing a career high third in only his fourth ever start in a Late Model, Dominique's younger brother, 16-year-old Tristan Van Wieringen was impressive throughout the weekend in his #81 DuroByte Motorsports / Ford. The Amherstburg, Ontario driver battled tooth and nail with his older sister throughout the majority of the race before securing the final podium position in an impressive run for the only 2014 Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year candidate in the field. He did collect the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award for a daring three-wide pass for second on his sister and Anderson Bowen during the race.
Bowen recovered from his lap four incident with Gentile Jr., to finish fourth in his #29 Copper Creek Hardware / Chevrolet. The 16-year-old from Suwanee, Georgia worked his way back up to as high as second at one point, but lost positions to the Van Wieringen's at the 3/4s mark and couldn't recover. Jeff Cannon finished off the top five after starting in ninth in his #33 Govert Auto Body / Chevrolet. The Kouts, Indiana veteran has been impressive in two non-points JEGS/CRA appearances in 2014 with finishes of a fifth and an eighth back on January 26th during SpeedFest 2014 at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA).
South, who led the first nine laps of the race, collecting the VDL Fuel Systems Hot Lap of the Race Award in the process to finish sixth while David McManus earned the Five Star Racecar Bodies Hard-Charger Award with his 13th to seventh place run. Jack Smith returned to competition for the first time since the 2012 season and finished in eighth with Robbie Johnson overcoming a green flag pit stop for a flat tire, losing two laps in the process. He earned two 'free passes' to get back on the lead lap and fought for a ninth place finish and picking up the Hedman Hedders Husler Award for his efforts. Bozell came back from his relegation to the rear of the field at the start of the race to complete the top 10.
Earlier in the morning in Boyne Machine Company Qualifying, Anderson Bowen established the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Track Record around the famed fairgrounds speed plant measuring out to a 1.017 mile semi-banked paved oval with a 29.085. His lap would measure out to a fast 123.939mph. The fastest lap ever recorded in the JEGS/CRA All-Star Tour's four-year history.
The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance returns to the chase for the 2014 championship with race #4 of the season. The historic 0.555 mile high-banked paved oval of Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery, located just north of the Indiana / Kentucky state line in Salem, Indiana will host the running of the John Jones Auto Group 100 Presented by JEGS.com on Saturday, June 21st. The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour has made a single appearance at the Southern Indiana speed plant with 2013 series champion, Cody Coughlin visited victory lane after his win in 2013. There is an optional Practice Day scheduled for the day before on Friday, June 20th from 5:00-8:00p.m.
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.comYou can also follow along with all of CRA's touring series' on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ChampionRacingAssociation as well as on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CRAracing Finally for more information about Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery, the host facility for the fourth points race of the 2014 campaign within the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, please go to the track website located at: www.salemspeedway.com
