Toledo, OH – After a 13-year hiatus, the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance returned to the site of the Tour’s inaugural event – Toledo Speedway. Friday night, the HB Concerts Promenade Pavillions 100 did not disappoint as fans saw close racing and dramatic moments around the ½-mile oval in the “Glass City”
The day started with a new track record being laid down after over a decade in the book since 2011. Brian Campbell held the original record of 15.738 and Cody Coughlin found just enough speed during LV Alliance Qualifying to set the new record at 15.716.
After the redraw, Barrett Polhemus and Kyle Steckly led the 23-car field to the green flag. Polhemus was able to point his No.79 to the front of the field for the first four laps before multi-time JEGS Tour Champion, Cody Coughlin took the lead on lap five. On lap 31 the first slowdown of the race occurred when suddenly while running second, Brian Campbell’s No.47 erupted into a ball of flames drawing the caution. Whatever the issue was, the fire went out under the yellow flag period and Campbell was able to continue.
On the restart, Coughlin appeared to miss a shift and staked up the inside line resulting in Chase Burda, Barrett Polhemus, and Brandon Varney all spinning to the inside wall in turn one and ultimately going to the tail. Varney’s night came to an end due to brake failure.
Coughlin took control again on the next restart holding Steckly and Blake Rowe at bay. Meanwhile, Burda and Polhemus were on a mission to come through the field. Working their way back into the top ten, Burda and Polhemus both became contenders again for the win.
A fourth caution flew with just 13 laps to go while Coughlin appeared to be well on his way to another JEGS Tour triumph. Steven Ulman got sideways out of turn four and never could catch up with the No.45 before it spun to the inside of the race track and up onto a tractor tire. This set up a memorable restart.
Coughlin couldn’t shake Steckly on the start which allowed Rowe to stay in tow as well. The threesome nearly went three-wide at the exit of turn four with 11 to go. Then, Coughlin was able to pull away while Steckly and Rowe decided who would finish runner-up. Coughlin would get the nod by 1.255 seconds at the line over Steckly, Rowe, Burda, and Polhemus. The win gives Coughlin his 12th career JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour victory and puts him in sole possession of the All-Time Wins List category over Brian Campbell.
The next event for the JEGS Tour is Saturday, August 3rd for the richest Pro Late Model Event in the country, the $15K to win Masters of the Pros 185 at Owosso Speedway. Find more information on the event including the Schedule of Events at CRA-Racing.com. Find CRA: Champion Racing Association on Facebook and follow @CRARacing on X.
