Trent Snyder Conquers The High-Banks Of Winchester; Wins Second Consecutive World Stock Car Festival
Famed 1/2 mile in Eastern Indiana hosts JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance for seventh time
Winchester, Indiana (August 31, 2014) – The prestigious Labor Day Weekend World
Stock Car Festival was at the legendary 1/2 (0.500) mile high-banked paved oval of
Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana on Sunday-Monday, August 31-September
1st. The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance kicked off the
weekend on Sunday night, August 31st with the running of the Winchester 100 Presented
by JEGS.com. The century distance race was the tour's seventh all-time appearance at
the famed high-banks, the most in the series' four-year history.
The JEGS/CRA teams were joined by their CRA families within the ARCA/CRA Super
Series Powered by JEGS, the Vore's Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series and
Stealth Trailers CRA Street Stock Series Powered by JEGS who all raced in their main
events the following day, Labor Day Monday, September 1st. As for the main event under
the lights on a beautiful Sunday night, a repeat winner emerged as Trent Snyder defended his World Stock Car Festival crown in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour by
collecting his fifth career Tour victory, tying him for second all-time with NASCAR
Nationwide Series rookie sensation, Chase Elliott.
"This is amazing; this track is just so bad ass. To win here again, for the second year in a
row, in this race is just unbelievable." Stated the driver originally from Ironton, Minnesota
who now resides in Glen Ellyn, Illinois after the race. "I really wish we could run full-time with this series. It is so much fun. We just need a few more sponsors to make that happen. But the races we are able to come too, we're as prepared as we possibly can and it shows. To tie Chase Elliott for anything is a really big accomplishment for all that he's done and is doing now." The driver of the #88 Great Deals Savings Magazine / Medwest Associates / Chevrolet added.
A pair of 16-year-olds, Hunter Baize and Corey Deuser, the 2013 Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year, brought the 22-car field down to the green flag to officially kick off the 2014 Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival. After several intense laps of side by side battling, Deuser finally emerged with the lead as Baize and the rest of the field jockeyed for position behind them. Deuser held the point until lap 43 when he slapped the turn two wall ending his night early after pacing the field from the onset.
This gave the lead to Snyder, who started 13th and had a hard-charging Jack Smith, who started 15th, on his back bumper. The two veterans battled it out all over the 1/2 mile high-banks amidst a few cautions. One of the yellows proved to be Smith's downfall as with 30 laps to go while the field was circling due to the final yellow of the race, Smith's car suddenly shut off and he would be unable to get his machine re-fired, thus ending his night. This put Baize into second place and next to Snyder on what would be the final restart of the race.
Snyder and Baize took off and pulled away from the rest of the pack on that last restart and Baize did manage to stay with Snyder briefly. However, the 30-year-old Snyder would slowly but surely pull away from Baize and in the end, would take the checkered flag first for his first win of 2014. By scoring the victory, Snyder is now the only driver in the series four-year history to win a race in each year of the tours existence. In only his 15th start, this is his fifth career triumph to boast one of the highest winning percentage of those with multiple starts in series history.
"We sincerely would love nothing more than to run the full schedule in 2015 and compete for a championship. But the funding just isn't there, so we do the best we can and prepare as much as possible for the races we do get to compete in," Continued Snyder, who was a 2007 champion in the old Varney (ASA) Late Model Northern Series. "We'll be back here in October and see if we can pull off the sweep." He ended, Snyder walked out of Eastern Indiana with a slew of awards including the Five Star Racecar Bodies Hard-Charger Award as well as the first Great Lakes Tire/Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award. He also scored the D.T.S. Drive Train Specialists Halfway Leader Award and finally the VDL Fuel Systems Hot Lap of the Race Award.
Baize continued his recent streak of strong runs in his #13 Mountaineer Firewood / Ford. The 16-year-old from Bremen, Kentucky picked up a runner-up finish after starting on the pole. The Blue Grass State teenager fell back during the early stages of the race, but would rally back to a second place effort. With his finish, Baize would secure the FLUIDYNE High Performance Cool Under Pressure Award. He also moved up the ladder in the season long points chase as he is now fifth in the standings with four races remaining.
Completing the podium finishers would be Davison, Michigan driver, Jon Beach who scored a career high third place finish in his #1 Beach's One-Stop Performance / Chevrolet. The 24-year-old driver, making only his fourth career start, went to the back of the pack early in the race after a pit stop and would steadily work his way back through the field to post his third place effort. The driver, who now calls Watervliet, Michigan home, was a regular during the 2014 season at Berlin Raceway (MI) in the tracks Template Super Late Model division.
15-year-old rookie, J.J. Haley collected the Howe Racing Enterprises Rookie of the Race Award in his #99 Braun Ability / Chevrolet as the Winamac, Indiana teenager scored a fourth place finish. His finish came after a battery change was needed halfway through the race. Current points leader, Dan Leeck overcame multiple pit stops, earning the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award as well as the Hedman Hedders Husler Award in his #12 Mr. Asphalt / Chevrolet to complete the top five. The 24-year-old driver from Birch Run, Michigan was still able to extend his points lead by a few markers heading into the final four events.
Josh Nelms also pitted multiple times and came back to finish sixth to keep pace with points leader, Leeck. Nelms also scored the second Great Lakes Tire/Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award. 16-year-old Kody Evans was seventh in the rundown as 17-year-old rookie Cole Rouse posted a career high eighth place effort. Marc Jacobs grabbed ninth place while Colin Nickolai, in his first start of the 2014 season, completed the top 10.
Earlier in the afternoon in Boyne Machine Company Qualifying, Colin Nickolai surprised the 23-car field by winning his first career Fast Qualifier Award. Nickolai went a 16.107 which measures out to a fast 111.753mph. The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Track Record in Winchester, Indiana remains a 15.731 set back on October 12th, 2012 when 2012 Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year, Anderson Bowen set the mark.
There's a very short time span for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Teams before they have to prepare for the next race on the schedule. Just six days after Winchester, the teams are heading back north to the fast 3/8s (0.375) mile high-banked paved oval of Owosso Speedway (MI), located north of Lansing in Ovid, Michigan on Saturday, September 6th for the running of the Big 'O' Classic 100 Presented by JEGS.com. The series visited the Central Michigan speed plant last season only to see Mother Nature sweep the program as a rain out forced series and track officials to cancel the race for 2013.
In two other appearances at Owosso for the premier template bodied / crate motored tour in the country; 2011 series champion, Erik Jones scored the win on his home track in the tours' inaugural appearance there, which came during his championship run. Brian Campbell picked up the victory in the only other appearance at the track, which was also the last JEGS/CRA race there, which occurred during the 2012 season.
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' all season long on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ChampionRacingAssociation and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CRAracing Finally for more information about Owosso Speedway, the host facility for the 12th race of the 2014 racing season for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance, go to the track website at: www.owossospeedway.com
