Salem, IN (August 18, 2020) – Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Austin Coe got the biggest win in his Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Powered by JEGS career in Sunday’s 47th running of the Norton Transport Raintree 100 at Mt. Lawn Speedway. Coe used the experience he had gained racing a Modified at Mt. Lawn Speedway events this season, including a feature win in that division on August 9th.
“It’s awesome to win this event,” remarked a very happy Coe in victory lane. “This race is a prestigious event in this area, a lot of great racers have won it, now I’m on that list. I have to thank my crew and my family for their hard work and support. Thanks to all the fans for coming out today. It’s great to get this win on the same day my Crew Chief Lyle Johnson gets inducted into the Mt. Lawn Speedway Hall of Fame!”
R.J. Norton Jr. grabbed the early lead from his outside pole position after Allstar Performance Fast Qualifier Jeff Marcum drew a six for the events inverted start. The first start of the event resulted in a red flag on the backstretch after several cars checked up going into the short turn, causing several cars to crash and ending the night for Kevin Claborn, Eddie Claborn and Mike Stacy before they got to complete a lap.
Norton Jr. continued to lead until a hard crash at the pit entrance by Jeremy Wallen resulting in the events second red flag. On the next restart Michigan’s Chris Shannon was able to make the pass and grab the lead while Coe had worked his way to third place from his 10th place starting position.
Coe got by Norton Jr. and set his sights on chasing down Shannon during the long green flag run the event had during the second half of the event. Coe closed on Shannon’s tail and looked for a way to pass for several laps, finally making his move on lap 77 to take the lead. From there Coe would stretch the lead out to win by over two seconds.
For his pass for the lead, Coe picked up the KRJ Race Products Sweet Move of the Race Award. With the win Coe is now locked into the series 2020 Chase for the Championship with only one regular season event left. Coe also takes over the series season Championship points lead after coming into the event only one point behind Tanner Jack.
Shannon would finish in second. J.P. Crabtree came from the back of the field after being involved in an early caution to finish in third. Series rookie Tanner Jack made several pit stops for his team to work on his car, then drove through the field to finish in fourth place, for his late run Jack was awarded the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award.
Cassten Everidge finish in fifth place. Former series Champion Billy Hutson was sixth. Three-time Raintree 100 winner Jeff Marcum finished in seventh. Ronnie Rose was eighth. Kent Carson was ninth. Jeff Smith was tenth in his series debut.
The next Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman event will be this Saturday at Anderson Speedway. More event information and information on all the CRA Series is available at www.cra-racing.com.
