Chad Finley Scores One At Home; Wins At Owosso Speedway In The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour
Historic Central Michigan speed plant hosts premier template body / crate motor series for third time
Ovid, Michigan (September 6, 2014) – The cars and starts from the JEGS/CRA All-Stars
Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance made the trip north to the fast 3/8s (0.375) mile
high-banked paved oval of Owosso Speedway (MI), located north of Lansing in Ovid,
Michigan. The Big 'O' Classic 100 Presented by JEGS.com was on Saturday, September
6th. The series had last visited the Central Michigan speed plant in 2013 only to see
Mother Nature sweep the program as a rain out forced series and track officials to cancel
the race.
So the 2014 version of the event would be the first official appearance by the Salem,
Indiana based series since the 2012 season and third overall in series history. At the end
of 100 grueling laps around the multi-grooved oval, one driver finally captured that coveted
win he had been long seeking. Chad Finley, from just 20 minutes down the road in
DeWitt, Michigan who came into the weekend with three career JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour
victories, put on a dominating display at his home track in front of a partisan hometown
crowd to secure his fourth career triumph.
"We haven't had the best year and we hadn't won a race yet coming into this one.
Tonight, everything just came together. To win here at Owosso Speedway in front of all
these people, family and friends is really special," The emotional 22-year-old stated in
victory lane surrounded by his crew, family and friends. "The car was so fast right off the
truck. We never put new tires on it all day until qualifying and we were able to break the
track record. In the race, the car was flawless. I could go anywhere I want and that's a
testament to this entire team." Added the driver of the #42 AutoParts2020.com / Air Lift
Company / Chevrolet.
After Finley blistered the track record in Boyne Machine Company Qualifying, he then
drew a nine for an inversion which place 16-year-old Hunter Baize and Howie Lettow
Memorial Rookie of the Year points leader, 15-year-old Grant Quinlan on the front row for
the Big 'O' Classic 100 Presented by JEGS.com. On the initial start, Baize spun his tires,
which allowed Quinlan as well as a slew of others competitors to careen around the pole-
sitter as Quinlan would then go ahead and pace the field for the first 23 circuits.
Finley, who started ninth, had methodically worked his way through the field and was
quickly in second spot. He began to challenge Quinlan for the top spot and took the lead
on lap 24. A lap later, Quinlan recoiled and shot back out in front of Finley to lead the next
two laps. It was then Finley's turn to return the favor as he would make what would be the eventual winning pass on lap 26. From there, Finley would inch out ahead of Quinlan and the rest of the field to maintain the point that he would never relinquish.
Despite several cautions which bunched up the field with the most serious occurring with 18 laps to go when 16-year-old rookie, Tristan Van Wieringen slammed the front stretch wall and came to rest in turn one. He was ok, but his night was over. Through it all, Finley would be able to stay out in front of the rest of the field and in the end, would cross the start / finish line first to become the 10th different winner in 10 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour points events in 2014. His fourth career win has him locked into third all-time in career wins, just one triumph behind Chase Elliott and Trent Snyder, who are tied for second with five wins apiece. 2012 series champion, Daniel Hemric is the all-time wins leader with eight.
"We've ran a lot of different stuff this season, pavement, dirt, Super Late Models, NASCAR K&N stuff, you name it. We're just trying to learn as much as we can in all that we do and I really believe that has helped the entire Chad Finley Racing Team and me," Finley continued. "This is a big win for all of us and I hope it'll steer our momentum in a positive direction for the rest of the year." By winning the race, he also took over the all-time career lead in two all-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour statistical categories; He now leads in career top five finishes with 15 and in career laps led with 439 orbits as the leader of a JEGS/CRA event. Finley passed Hemric in both categories.
In addition to the paycheck and the trophy, Finley would leave the track with a plethora of other awards including the Boyne Machine Company Fast Qualifier Award for breaking the track record in Qualifying. The AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award for his winning pass on lap 26. He also captured the D.T.S. Drive Train Specialists Halfway Leader Award for leading lap 50 and finally the VDL Fuel Systems Hot Lap of the Race Award by turning in the quickest lap of the race.
Quinlan fell to as far back as sixth in his #28 Quinlan Incorporated / Ford before charging back towards the front to score a second place finish and extend his points lead in the Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year title chase. The 15-year-old also had a large contingent in the crowd as he resides in near-by Harrison, Michigan. Quinlan collected his fifth Howe Racing Enterprises Rookie of the Race Award as well as the FLUIDYNE High Performance Cool Under Pressure Award and remains in contention for the overall JEGS/CRA championship. He's 67 points out of the overall lead.
Veteran, Steve Dorer secured his fifth consecutive top four finish in five total appearances in 2014. The Lakeland, Florida resident in his #10 Racecar Engineering / Chevrolet has been stellar in infrequent appearance in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour this season with his worse finish being a fourth place showing at Auto City Speedway (MI) back on August 9th. The 44-year-old, originally from Coldwater, Michigan was making his first appearance at Owosso Speedway since running an Outlaw Super Late Model back in the 1994 season.
Points Leader coming into the weekend, Dan Leeck returned to one of the tracks he used to run weekly before joining the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour and came away with a fourth place finish. The 24-year-old former weekly competitor in the tracks Pro Late Models division would leave Owosso extending his points lead in the chase for the 2014 championship in his #12 Mr. Asphalt / Chevrolet. The Birch Run, Michigan driver now has a 52-point advantage over Josh Nelms who finished fifth in the race in his #0 LisaThomasSalon.com / Ford. Nelms scored the Five Star Racecar Bodies Hard-Charger Award as well as the first Great Lakes Tire / Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award with his 14th to fifth place run. The 38-year-old Lockport, Illinois veteran has three races to make up ground on Leeck for the 2014 JEGS/CRA title.
Another veteran, Eric Lee came home with a sixth place finish while Kyle Hayden picked up the second Great Lakes Tire / Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award after starting 12th and finishing seventh. Modifieds standout, Travis Eddy, the son of seven-time ASA National Champion, Mike Eddy, scored a career high eighth place finish in only his second career start and picked up the Hedman Hedders Husler Award after going to the rear of the field early in the event. Another Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie, Dalton Armstrong, who was involved in the incident with Eddy, finished in ninth as a third rookie, 17-year-old Cole Rouse completed the top 10.
Earlier in the afternoon in Boyne Machine Company Qualifying, Finley broke the Track Record by 0.203 seconds when he turned an impressive 15.328 which measures out to 88.704mph. The JEGS/CRA Track Record was a 15.531 set back on September 3rd, 2011 when 2011 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Champion, Erik Jones set the mark at his home track. His record stood for over three years before Finley eclipsed the mark.
There are just three races left in the chase for the 2014 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Championship and the first of those three events will also serve as the last appearance in the state of Michigan for CRA in 2014. The 3/8s (0.375) mile semi-banked paved oval of Springport Motor Speedway (MI), located north of Jackson and south of Lansing in Springport, Michigan will host the JEGS/CRA teams for the second and final time of the year. The Michigan Cup 100 Presented by JEGS.com is set for Saturday, September 20th with an optional Practice Day reserved for Friday, September 19th.
In the 2014 season opener for points for the Tour back on May 4th, 15-year-old rookie, J.J. Haley notched his first career win in a Late Model in the Cabin Fever 100 Presented by JEGS.com. In two other appearances in Springport, Michigan, 2012 Tour Champion, Daniel Hemric scored the victory in the inaugural appearance for the Tour during his championship run while in 2013, Chad Finley picked up the win during the tracks season ending Michigan Cup Weekend.
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 Springport Motor Speedway, the host facility for the 13th race of the 2014 racing season for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance, go to the track website at: www.springportmotorspeedway.com
