Salem, IN. (August 15, 2017) – The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance will return to action this Friday at Birch Run Speedway located in Birch Run, Michigan. New owners purchased the former Dixie Motor Speedway just prior to the 2017 season and are running a special event schedule for the 2017 season and have already started several improvements to the facility. Past series winners at Birch Run Speedway include Eddie Hoffman in 2011, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Daniel Hemric in 2012, two time series Champion Cody Coughlin in 2013 and 2014 series Champion Dan Leeck in 2015. The 2016 series event was canceled because of weather.
Friday’s Dixie 100 will be the seventh race of the season for the crate late model series sanctioned by Champion Racing Association. Cole Williams won the series season opener on May 21st at Bristol Motor Speedway and the “Masters of the Pro’s” 144 at Lebanon I-44 Speedway on July 3rd. Jack Smith won the series second event of the season on June 17th at Salem Speedway. Rookie Carson Hocevar won on July 9th at Kil-Kare Raceway, becoming the youngest winner ever with the series. Michigan veteran racer Brian Campbell won on July 15th at Berlin Raceway. Local driver Kyle Hayden got his first ever CRA win in the series last event at Auto City Speedway on August 5th.
With their wins Hocevar and Smith are the first drivers to be locked into the new Championship Chase format going into Friday’s event, which will be the last race before the series begins the Chase on September 3rd at Winchester Speedway.
The 14 year old Hocevar is the series Championship point’s leader as well as the Howie Lettow Rookie of the Year Award Presented by VanDoorn Racing Development point’s leader heading into Saturday nights race. Jack Dossey III is in second place in Championship points, he is 12 points behind Hocevar. Austin Kunert is third in series points, he is 38 points behind Dossey III. Michael Clancy Jr. is fourth in points, he is 18 points behind Kunert. Smith is fifth in series points, he is 51 points behind Clancy Jr. All the top five in series points are entered for Friday’s race. Dossey III, Kunert and Clancy Jr. are locked into the Chase with points as long as they compete in Friday’s race.
Series rookie Hope Hornish is sixth in series points, Trever McCoy is seventh, Thomas Woodin is eighth and rookie Thomas Hufferd is ninth. All four of those drivers are entered for Friday night’s race and will battle it out for the last three spots in the Chase.
Three time ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion Johnny VanDoorn is entered to race with the series Friday night, seeking his first ever series win. VanDoorn has two ARCA/CRA Super Series victories so far this season and is locked into that series Chase as he tries to become the first four time Champion with CRA.
2015 event winner and Birch Run native Leeck is entered to compete in his first series event of the season. Florida driver Steve Dorer is also entered, Dorer is a former series winner and a multi time winner with the ARCA/CRA Super Series. Former Columbus Motor Speedway winner David Carter is entered. New Jersey driver Jo Graf Jr. is entered to compete in his first series point’s event of the season.
Several local drivers are entered who race part-time with CRA including Auto City winner Hayden, 2014 Auto City series winner Eric Lee, 2016 Owosso Speedway series winner Travis Eddy, Kyle Crump, who got his best ever finish of second at the Auto City event, veteran Jay Sommers and Lonnie Saumier. Fellow Michigan racers Tyler Hufford and Hayden Sprague are also entered.
Pit gates open on Friday at 12pm, the series will have two one hour practice sessions beginning at 3pm. Fury Race Cars qualifying for the Dixie 100 Presented by JEGS.com will start at 6:45pm. The race program will begin at 7:30pm and will also include racing from the Birch Run Pure Stocks and the GLS Mini Cup Series. There will be an on track autograph session with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour drivers prior to their feature.
More information on Birch Run Speedway is available at www.birchrunmispeedway.com.
More information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is available at www.cra-racing.com.
