The All American 400 is one of the most prestigious races in all of short track racing, going back to 1981 when the event was first run at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Today, we look at the final part of the history of the All American 400.
Part No. 2 – The 21st Century
After two years, the Champion Racing Association and Southern All-Star Asphalt Series brought the All American 400 back to the newly-renamed Music City Motorplex in 2003 – sort of. The 2003 race was called the Patriot 200 and was a support race for the ASA National Tour’s BFGoodrich Traction T/A Tires 300 the next day. It was retroactively considered an All American event after the full 400 was resurrected a year later after the strong field of cars and the sanctioning help.
Nearly 60 made the trip to Nashville for the race that year, with 40 taking the green for the main event. Wayne Willard led more laps than anyone else at 52, but an engine failure ended his day on lap 122. Wisconsin driver Brian Hoppe took the lead with 41 to go and won the Patriot 200 over Ricky Turner and Russell Fleeman.
The All American was officially resurrected in 2004 by what’s now the ASA/CRA Super Series as a 300-lap non-points race. Willard led over 100 laps yet again, but a trailing arm failure took him out of the race early for the second-straight year. That year’s series champion Chuck Barnes Jr. led 132 laps on the day and won in a green-white-checkered finish over 1997 ARTGO Challenge Series champion Eddie Hoffman and Jason Hogan, who lost the lead to Barnes with ten laps to go.
While Hogan lost the lead late in 2004, the roles were reversed the next year. The Georgia driver passed race-long leader Ryan Mathews with 13 laps to go and won the 2005 All American over Boris Jurkovic and Charlie Bradberry. It was the only 13 laps he led all race after leading 52 the year before.
2006 would see the All American 400 be split into two races, with two different drivers being listed as All American winners every year through 2010. CRA and the local Pro Late Model division had separate 200-lap races in 2006-2007 and 2010, while the ASA Late Model Series sanctioned the Pro late Model race in 2008.
A 100-lap qualifying race was needed for the drivers who were outside the top-25 in qualifying just to get into the Super Late Model portion of the All American 400. After a dominating run by Chris Gabehart ended with mechanical issues, Boris Jurkovic passed Jake Ryan with three laps to go to win his biggest race to date. In the Pro Late Model event, Eddie Hoffman passed race dominator Derek Thorn with 28 to go to pick up the win.
The 2007 event would be named the Adam Petty Memorial All American 400, as well as in 2008. Months removed from a shocking win at the Redbud, 17-year-old Johnny VanDoorn went to Nashville one year after not making the race and won the CRA portion of the All American 400. He led the most laps that day, but had to pass former winner Jason Hogan with eight to go to seal the deal. Meanwhile, Hoffman went back-to-back in the Pro Late Model race after leading the final 51 laps and winning over Jacob Goede and Keeton Hanks.
After dominating the race in 2006, Chris Gabehart found retribution two years later in 2008 in the Super Late Model portion of the All American 400. He took the lead from Donnie Wilson with eight to go and survived multiple green-white-checkered restarts to claim a guitar ahead of Boris Jurkovic. The Pro Late Model race also featured a late pass as Michigan driver Brian Campbell got by Chris Wimmer with 13 to go to take the win.
After the 2009 All American was rained out, two All American 400 winners were crowned in the same year for the last time in 2010. While the 2008 races featured late passes, the two races two years later featured one lead change altogether. Driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, TJ Reaid led all 200 laps to win the Super Late Model portion of the event over Chase Elliott and Ross Kenseth, the last driver to win a Super Late Model-contested All American after leading more than 100 laps. Dillon Oliver took the lead on lap 55 and dominated the rest of the Pro Late Model race to win over Mason Mingus and Tyler Miles.
After the 2011 race was canceled, the Pro All Stars Series came in and sanctioned the All American 400 for the first and only time. For the first time since 2000, the All American 400 would be a true 400-lap race, but rain would end the race at lap 220. Despite the shortened distance, there were still 18 lead changes in the shortened event among nine drivers. Ross Kenseth took the lead on lap 205 after Kyle Busch wrecked while leading, and would hold it until the rain came and ended the race. He would go on and win the Winchester 400 the next weekend.
The 2013 All American 400 returned to 300 laps and was the season finale for the inaugural ASA Southern Super Series season. The battle for the championship was just as good as the battle for the win, with Daniel Hemric and Bubba Pollard in the mix for the title. Future NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott led the final 30 laps and checked off the final crown jewel Super Late Model event left on his list before moving up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series and winning the championship the next year. Meanwhile, Pollard was involved in a wreck with 17 to go that would knock him out of the race, finishing 20th. Hemric finished second and beat Pollard for the Southern Super Series championship by just one point.
The All American would become a 300-lap Pro Late Model event in 2014 and 2015 with no sanctioning. John Hunter Nemechek led all but six laps and won the race in dominating fashion over Willie Allen and 2004 winner Chuck Barnes Jr. Just over a month later, he would win his first-career Super Late Model race in the biggest one of them all, the Snowball Derby.
The 2015 race saw Daniel Hemric use an off-weekend in the NASCAR Truck Series to win the All American in his now-wife Kenzie’s car over Bubba Pollard and defending race winner John Hunter Nemechek. He took the lead from local favorite Cole Williams with 71 to go and went on to win. Cole Rouse led 145 laps, but could only muster a fifth-place finish.
Super Late Models returned to the All American 400 in 2016, with the full 400-lap distance being completed for the first time since 2000. Casey Roderick led 141 laps, but his race would end with 68 to go. The race saw 13 lead changes, with the last one coming with 29 to go when Bubba Pollard took the lead from Stephen Nasse and went on to win over Derek Thorn and Raphael Lessard.
As was the 2016 race, the 2017 and 2019 races were also unsanctioned Super Late Model races. The 2017 All American 400 saw seven different drivers lead laps and no driver lead more than 99. That driver would be Donnie Wilson, who led the final 60 laps but had to hold off a late charge from Spencer Davis for the biggest win of his driving career.
Casey Roderick made a late charge through the field, passing several cars in the final five laps and getting by the leader out of turn four. The only thing is he was three laps down. After not finding out he was racing that weekend until the Thursday before, Mason Mingus won the biggest race of his career at his home track ahead of Chandler Smith and Boris Jurkovick. He made up a lap during the race and took the lead with 27 to go after Stephen Nasse wrecked out of the lead after tangling with Smith following a restart.
The All American went back to a 300-lap Super Late Model race in 2020 as the ASA Southern Super Series, ASA/CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, and CARS Super Late Model Tour all joined forces to sanction the event. The Southern Super Series and CARS Tour both crowned champions, while it was a non-points event for CRA and the Midwest Tour.
Derek Thorn dominated much of the race, leading 202 of the first 206 laps. The race would get turned on its head however when he and runner-up Carson Hocevar made contact following a restart, knocking them both out of the race. Corey Heim would lead for just over 30 laps before he had an engine expire. The race would then come down to Casey Roderick and Chandler Smith, with the former taking the lead for the final time with 23 to go to claim the All American 400 victory and redemption from the year before. Stephen Nasse (SSS) and Matt Craig (CARS) claimed championships that day.
The ASA/CRA Super Series and ASA Southern Super Series co-sanctioned the two most recent All American 400’s. Chandler Smith found himself in the mix for the third year in a row in 2021, but would once again come up empty after a mechanical issue knocked him out of the race with 20 to go after leading 190 laps. It opened up the door for Matt Craig, who passed Derek Griffith with 14 to go and outdueling former Pro Late Model track champion Jackson Boone for the win.
The All American 400 is scheduled for Friday November 1st through Sunday November 3rd. Friday night features 6 exciting divisions on the small track. Saturday is Go Fas Pole Qualifying day along with the CRA JEGS All Star Tour All American 100, CRA Street Stocks and the Vore’s Compact Tour. It all leads to Championship Sunday for the 40th All American 400.
Sunday’s festivities will start with an on-track autograph session at 11:30 AM with driver introductions at 12:30 PM and racing action at 1:00 PM.
Advance sale discounted tickets are available online at bit.ly/40thAA400Tix , with the best bargain, a 3-day pass available for just $50. Single day tickets are also available online or at the gate on race day.
For the full ASA STARS National Tour schedule, plus Super Late Model rules and other information, please visit the series website at starsnationaltour.com, or be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: STARS National Series | Twitter: @racewithstars | IG: @starsnational).
ASA STARS National Tour
Founded by Track Enterprises President Bob Sargent, The ASA STARS National Tour for pavement super-late model stock cars debuted in March 2023 for Super Late Model racing in America.
The ASA STARS National Tour is a ten-race championship series, offering a $100,000 point fund. The tour will visit ten different race tracks in 7 states in 2024, with the season beginning in February during Florida Speedweeks, and concluding in early November at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Track Enterprises (TE) is a racing Promotions Company based in Illinois, which owns and operates the ASA STARS National Tour. In addition to the STARS National Tour, Track Enterprises owns and operates Championship Racing Association (CRA) and the ASA Midwest Tour. TE also has a strategic alliance with the ASA Southern Super Series.
ASA Branded Tours
ASA Branded Tours encompasses four (4) pavement super late model racing series operating under the Track Enterprises banner, and under the ASA Brand via a licensing agreement for logo and IP Rights. ASA Branded Tours include the ASA STARS National Tour; the ASA CRA Super Series; The ASA Midwest Tour and the ASA Southern Super Series.
