Flat Rock, MI – From Belle River, Ontario, Canada, Chase Pinsonneault doesn’t have a “home track” on the Turn One CRA Pro Series Presented by Chevrolet Performance. But, he does have an adopted home track, and after Saturday’s Motor City 125, it may have become one of his favorites, too. Flat Rock Speedway may be adopted as Pinsonneault’s new home.
The afternoon began with a new track record during qualifying. Fishers, Indiana native, Sam Johnson, turned in a time of 11.534, nearly four-tenths of a second better than Billy VanMeter’s time from last season. Johnson edged out rookie, Chloe Mazzagatti, who turned in an 11.583. The entire field was fast on Saturday night. VanMeter’s quick time from 2025 of 11.952 would have put him 14th on the charts on Saturday night.
After the redraw, Kevin Cremonesi and VanMeter led the field to green. Cremonesi led the opening lap before local favorite, Justin Schroeder, grabbed the top spot on lap two. Schroeder, while leading, didn’t have a comfortable advantage with seventh-starting Pinsonneault moving through the field and tracking him down. A caution on lap 42 for a spinning Albert Francis stacked the field up for the first restart of the day.
After the second restart of the day, Pinsonneault found the advantage he needed to get around Schroeder through turns one and two, officially taking the lead on lap 58, bringing an end to Schroeder’s 55 laps of leading the race. Schroeder then had to battle with Michael Simko for the second spot. The pair raced bumper-to-bumper for several laps while navigating lapped traffic. The race went on a long green-flag-run, prompting a competition caution with just 22 laps to go.
Schroeder began to slide backwards after the restart, losing spots to Seth Christensen, Michael Simko, and Sam Johnson. Then, with 14 laps to go, Schroeder lost the handle on the No.4 machine and slapped the outside wall in turn four and came to rest against the turn one wall. The contact brought an end to the race for Schroeder.
On the restart, Christensen was on the bumper of Pinsonnealt, looking to make a move for the lead. At the exit of turn two, Kevin Cremonesi got to Christensen’s bumper and got him loose. Down the backstretch, the pair made more contact, damaging Christensen’s left rear quarter panel and spinning Cremonesi. Will Sahutske was also involved and would bring an end to his night.
Despite the damage, Christensen remained quick and stuck with Pinsonnealt through the final run to the finish. However, Pinsonneault had the better car and held off Christensen for the win, his second at Flat Rock Speedway and fourth of his career with the Turn One CRA Pro Series.
“Once everything got hot there at the end, I thought we were in a little bit of trouble,” Pinsonneault said in Victory Lane. “The crew gave me an absolutely badass car, it just got better as the run went on. Super proud of everybody at CHR; we’ve been putting in a ton of work, so, super thankful to be a part of this CHR Chevrolet group.”
Christensen held on for the second spot over Michael Simko who battled back to third after falling outside the top five at one point in the race. Albert Francis, who spun early in the race, clawed his way back to fourth, and Guy Fire rounded out the top five.
The next event for the Turn One CRA Pro Series Presented by Chevrolet Performance is Saturday, June 27th at Jennerstown Speedway Complex for the Motor Mountain Masters 150. Advanced tickets are available at CRA-Racing.com. Fans who can’t make the trip can catch the action live on TrackTV.com or RacingAmerica.TV.