Salem, IN (July 2, 2018) – Markle, Indiana’s Jake Hinton picked up his first ever CRA win in Saturday night’s 75 lap Lawrence Towing CRA Street Stocks Powered by JEGS feature event at Baer Field Motorsports Park, located just south of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The win was extra special for Hinton, who has been a regular at Baer Field for several seasons, while also racing part-time with CRA.
“This is great to finally get my first CRA win,” remarked Hinton in victory lane. “To get it here at Baer Field is even more special. Any CRA Street Stock race always has a tough bunch of racers, and tonight was no exception. I wished T.J. (Terry Fisher Jr.) hadn’t had trouble, it would have been fun to race him until the end. I’m going to enjoy this one for a while!”
CRA regular J.J. Schafer grabbed the early lead from his outside pole starting position after Allstar Performance Fast Qualifier Ryan Amonett drew a five for the inverted start, but two time ARCA/CRA Super Series winner Terry Fisher Jr. was on the move from his fourth place starting position, to pass Schafer for the lead on lap two. Fisher Jr. kept the lead until Hinton was able to make the outside pass on a lap 10 restart. Fisher Jr.’s night would end on lap 21 when his car began to overheat.
Hinton had to fight off several competitors on several restarts while second through fifth place changed hands on each restart. Hinton was able to pull away on the final restart on lap 58 and hold off Baer Field competitor Bobby Coomer to get the win. Hinton was awarded the Racers Parts Wholesale Sweet Move of the Race Award for his pass of Fisher Jr. to get the lead.
Coomer would finish in second for the second straight CRA Street Stock event at Baer Field. J.J. Schafer made some great late passes to fight back and get a third place finish and earn the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award. Local racer Frank Casagrande finished in fourth. Jake McElfresh finished in fifth
Nathan Greene would overcome over heating issues and several pit stops to get a hard earned sixth place finish after starting 15th. Tyler Hopkins, son of CRA regular Brian Hopkins, came from his 19th place starting position to finish in eighth, in only his second ever race, and picked up the TCI Hardcharger Award.
The next Lawrence Towing CRA Street Stocks event will be the third leg of the Five Crown Series at Kentucky Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 15th. For more information on all the CRA series go to www.cra-racing.com.
