Entry List Continues to Grow With Top Drivers
Salem, IN (October 10, 2018) – The ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS will conclude its 22nd season of competition with this Sunday’s running of the prestigious 47th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented by Vore’s Welding & Steel on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway. This will be the 14th Winchester 400 that the ARCA/CRA Super Series has sanctioned since the 2003 season at Winchester Speedway.
2018 was the second season CRA has used the Chase for the Championship format to crown their Champions in all four of its series. Six drivers were locked into the final four ARCA/CRA Super Series Chase for the Championship events this season, after three of those events, Greg Van Alst and 2017 series Champion and Senneker Performance Rookie of the Year Logan Runyon were eliminated, giving four drivers a shot to win the 2018 series Championship. The four include Josh Brock, Austin Kunert, Hunter Jack and Jon Beach. The driver finishing the highest in Sunday’s Winchester 400 will be crowned the 2018 Champion.
After having to stop racing last year when on top the ARCA/CRA Super Series season Championship points because of an illness, Corbin, Kentucky’s Josh Brock is ready to race in Sunday’s Winchester 400 to try and take his place among the great drivers who call themselves ARCA/CRA Super Series Champions. Brock started the season off hot with a fifth place finish at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, then got his first ever ARCA/CRA Super Series win at Anderson Speedway on May 5th as well as his first EDCO Welding Fast Qualifier Award of the season in the same event. Brock has eight top 10 finishes out of the 10 series events so far this season, and five top five finishes including a third place finish at Kalamazoo Speedway.
Kunert has had a stellar rookie season with the ARCA/CRA Super Series, after three seasons competing with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. The Batavia, Illinois native leads the Senneker Performance Rookie of the Year points heading to Winchester over fellow rookie Beach. Kunert finished second to Brock at Anderson, and then picked up his first ever ARCA/CRA Super Series win at Kil-Kare Raceway on June 2nd. Kunert has six top 10 finishes to date, with four to five finishes including third place finishes at Baer Field Motorsports Park and the Labor Day Weekend event at Winchester Speedway.
Hunter Jack missed the final four in the 2017 Chase for the Championship with the ARCA/CRA Super Series, his goal for the 2018 season was to make that final four, which he has accomplished and now has his shot at the 2018 series Championship. The 2018 season started off rough for the Auburn, Indiana native, but he bounced back with a seventh place finish at Toledo Speedway in June, and has been competitive in every series event through the rest of the season to date. Jack has two top five finishes, both fourth place finishes, one at Baer Field and one on Labor Day Weekend at Winchester. Jack has five top 10 finishes to date as well.
Jon Beach had never raced a full season in any CRA division prior to the 2018 season. He had competed in select Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman, JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour and ARCA/CRA Super Series over the past couple of seasons. The Watervliet, Michigan native decided to change that up for 2018, dedicating himself solely to the ARCA/CRA Super Series in a run for the series Championship and Senneker Performance Rookie of the Year Award. The smallest team of the final four, Beach has come to many races throughout the season with just two crew members to help him. Beach has five top 10 finishes to date with the series including three ninth place finishes, his best finish with the series to date at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kil-Kare, and in the series last event at Toledo Speedway.
The entry list has continued to grow for Sunday’s 47th Annual Winchester 400, there are 34 drivers entered to date, topped by 2016 event winner Travis Braden, he is the only previous event winner entered. Other top drivers entered include Steve Wallace, Donnie Wilson, Harrison Burton, Stephen Nasse, Jeff Choquette, Chandler Smith, Rapheal Lessard, Johnny VanDoorn, Dalton Armstrong, Chase Purdy, Tyler Ankrum, Mason Mingus and Eddie Van Meter.
The Winchester 400 is 400 laps counting cautions and is a 12 tire race. The event will once again feature Controlled Cautions in an effort to save teams the cost of bringing in professional pit crews. When a yellow comes out teams will have two laps to service their race car without losing laps or positions on pit road. Those cars will then line up behind the cars that did not pit at that yellow. Teams not getting out of the pits in the two laps will have to fall to the tail of the field and will risk losing laps. As in the past, teams will only be allowed to change a max of two tires per yellow.
The event will pay $16,000 to win plus bonuses, which includes $10,000 in lap leader money, which is $25 per lap led. There will be bonuses of $1000, $600 and $400 to the top three finishing traveling non-regular CRA teams. There is a $1000 bonus to the highest finishing Crate Engine car and another $1000 to the highest finishing driver who has never raced in the Winchester 400 before. In addition EDCO Welding will pay a $400 bonus to the events Fast Qualifier and Hamner Racing Engines will pay a $200 bonus to the driver who advances the most positions. As previously announced the Winchester 400 will be featured in a National TV Broadcast on MAV TV thanks to the support of Vore’s Welding & Steel, VanDoorn Racing Development and Hamner Racing Engines.
Pits open for the ARCA/CRA Super Series Winchester 400 teams on Saturday, October 13th at 8:00am, rotating practice for all divisions will begin at 10:45am. The ARCA/CRA Super Series teams will have a one hour practice session beginning at 11:05am and a one hour final practice session at 1:30pm on Saturday. EDCO Welding Pole Qualifying for the Winchester 400 will begin at 4:00pm on Saturday.
On Sunday, October 14th the pits will open at 9am. There will be an on track autograph session with all the Winchester 400 drivers starting at 12:30. Opening ceremonies will begin at 1:30 pm with the 47th Annual Winchester 400 taking the green flag at 2pm.
For those fans that cannot attend the Winchester 400 Weekend events, 51 TV Pay-Per-View will broadcast all the racing events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Winchester 400 Weekend. Purchase the live Winchester 400 Weekend broadcast now at Speed51.com.
