Final Four Set for the Chase for the Championship
Salem, IN (September 30, 2019) – Anderson, Indiana’s Josh Poore came into Saturday night’s Van Hoy Oil CRA Street Stocks Powered by JEGS event at Anderson Speedway with just one goal, get the win. He had not been to victory lane in a series event since June of 2018 and he did just that in leading 73 laps to get the win Saturday night.
“We took advantage of the practice on Friday,” Poore said of the victory. “I wasn’t happy with my performance the week before in the Anderson Speedway Season Championship race. I knew we had to get better to beat the CRA guys that would come in for tonight’s race. We made some changes and it worked. I didn’t want to see another caution because Jason (Atkinson) is tough on the restarts and I knew he was back there catching me!”
Jacob MacElfresh and Poore started on the front row after Allstar Performance Fast Qualifier Jake Owens drew a seven for the events inverted start. The two battled side by side with McElfresh just beating Poore to the line on the first two laps, but Poore was able to power by on lap three to get the lead.
McElfresh and Atkinson battled for the second spot for the next 22 laps before Atkinson made the pass with an inside move entering turn three. The events only caution flag flew on lap 26 when Jake Owens spun in turn three.
Poore was able to hold off Atkinson on the restart and pull away for a sizable lead, but at the end of the race Atkinson looked to have the faster car, but Poore was able to use lap traffic to keep Atkinson at bay. Poore would go on to get the win by .289 of a second over Atkinson. For his winning pass of McElfresh, Poore was awarded the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award.
The win was Poore’s 47th all-time Street Stock win at Anderson. The win was Poore’s 14th series win, putting him back into a first-place tie on the series all-time wins list with Jeff Lane, who had pulled ahead of a three-way tie with Poore and Atkinson with his win at Winchester Speedway on Labor Day Weekend.
Atkinson was awarded the KRJ Race Products Sweet Move of the Race Award for his pass of McElfresh to move into second place. Atkinson was the highest finisher of the Chase for the Championship drivers. McElfresh would hold on to get third place, second highest of the Chase drivers. J.J. Schafer would finish in fourth place, third highest of the Chase drivers. 2018 series Champion James Kirby III finished in fifth place.
Andrew Teepe was already locked into the final four Chase for the Championship drivers as the Regular Season Points Champion. Atkinson, Schafer and McElfresh were the final three drivers locked into the final four by the points they accumulated in the first three races in the Chase for the Championship. The highest finisher of those four drivers in the series Season Championship event will be crowned the 2019 series Champion.
The next event for the Van Hoy Oil CRA Street Stocks will be the Season Championship 40 lap feature at Winchester Speedway on Saturday, October 12th as part of the Winchester 400 Weekend. For more information on all the CRA series go to www.cra-racing.com.
