Salem, IN – The second race of the 2023 season for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance unfolded Saturday in southern Indiana at the historic landmark of Salem Speedway. Former winners, champions, and first time hopefuls unloaded for the Midwest 100 hoping for their shot at going to victory lane. Thanks to those drivers, fans were treated to a dramatic 100 lap main event in which Corey Deuser found victory lane for the second time in his career.
Deuser had a banner day starting with qualifying where he broke a nearly seven-year-long track record set by former JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Champion Cody Coughlin in June of 2016. Deuser, the ninth car to take time on Saturday, busted out a 16.959-second lap – seven-one-thousandths of a second faster than Coughlin’s 16.966. Deuser was the only driver to break into the 16 second bracket, nearly a tenth better than second fast qualifier, Trey Craig’s 17.050.
After the redraw, the starting line-up was shuffled throughout the top six qualifiers. Defending Halloween 200 winner and ARCA Menards National Series driver, Will Kimmel redrew the pole position alongside Brett Robinson; Craig and Deuser made up row two with Scott Melton and Wes Griffith in row three. At the start of the race, Kimmel set out to lead the field but the action was quickly slowed on lap two when Craig and Robinson got together down the backstretch. The contact resulted in a cut tire for Craig, who then collected Deuser going into turn three. The contact from Craig ripped the left side door off of Deuser’s car. Both Craig and Deuser went to the pits for repairs and were able to return.
Back under green, Kimmel again showed the field the way around Salem Speedway until lap 70 when Robinson worked his No.5 to the top spot. His tenure as the leader only lasted until lap 75 when Kimmel got the position back after slight contact going into turn number three sent Robinson into the outside wall. Back into turn one on lap 76 the complexion of the race changed again when Robinson made contact with Kimmel, causing his No.69 to spin. With both cars going to the tail as caution cars, Deuser inherited the lead for the first time on lap 77.
Deuser survived several restarts within the final 23 laps and went on to win his second career JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Win since October of 2013. Robinson rebounded to finish second and Brandon Varney collected his best career JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour finish in third.
The next event for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is Saturday, June 10th at Owosso Speedway for the Big O Classic 100. Racing begins at 7:00 PM. For more information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, the Big O Classic 100, or Champion Racing Association, log onto www.CRA-Racing.com. Find CRA: Champion Racing Association on Facebook and follow @CRARacing on Twitter.
