Anderson, IN – Anderson, Indiana’s own Josh Poore led the final 100 laps of the Sport Clips 200, but the outcome on Saturday night at Anderson Speedway wasn’t determined until the final lap. Poore captured the second race in the Lawrence Towing CRA Street Stocks Five Crown series, but had to hold off Indianapolis driver Danny Adams to get the win, his first series win of the 2018 season.
Except for a red flag shortly after the halfway break that greatly impacted the outcome, the race was caution free.
Poore took the lead on lap 101 after the halfway break from Knightstown driver Calvin Parham, who led the first 100 laps, with an outside pass on the back straight. Parham also lost positions to defending race winner Brett Hudson, Ryan Amonett and Adams.
While running third Amonett was forced to pit because his hood came loose and the crew worked quickly to remove it. With Amonett returning to the action entering from the pit road in turn three, he got into the racing line, which forced Hudson, running second at the time, to make hard contact with the turn three retaining wall and collected the car of Josh Lank. Both drivers were uninjured but it knocked Hudson, the Allstar Performance Fast Qualifier as well as the series Championship and Five Crown point’s leader from competition.
Poore started to pull away after the restart chased by James Kirby III and Adams. Kirby and Adams swapped the second spot several times with Adams making the decisive move on lap 143. From there Adams starting slicing into Poore’s lead and with 20 laps remaining was running on the leader’s rear bumper.
Several times Adams looked to the inside in an attempt to grab the lead but Poore wouldn’t surrender the preferred line. On the final lap Adams went high in turn one to attempt the pass but his car slipped coming off the second corner. Poore won by two-tenths of a second over Adams with Kirby, Parham and Elwood’s Jacob McElfresh rounding out the top five.
“I knew he was knocking on the door,” Poore said of Adams late race charge. “I had a brake hanging up that was slowing me down.”
Poore, the 2014 winner of this event, claimed the winner’s purse of $3,000 as well as the Racers Parts Wholesale Sweet Move of the Race Award for his pass of Parham to get the win. Adams started from the third position and ran inside the top five for all 200 laps recording his career best finish. Adams picked up the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award for his final pass of Kirby to finish in second.
“I wasn’t going to take him out,” Adams said of his tight racing with Poore. “I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me. On the last lap I drove in really hard but the tires didn’t stick.”
Kirby said his car got tight in the corners after the halfway break.
“I had some fluid getting on the tires,” he said. “I was just holding on for a good finish.”
Parham took the lead at the start from the pole position and led until the break but there was plenty of action among the top seven drivers. Shawn Cullen and Jason Thompson both saw strong early runs end with either a flat tire or mechanical problem.
By: Ken De La Bastide
Hudson and Poore staged a side by side battle for the third spot in the middle stages of the first 100 laps with Poore claiming the position and challenged Parham for the lead before the break.
The next event for the Lawrence Towing CRA Street Stocks Powered by JEGS will be on Saturday, June 30th on the 3/8’s mile track at Baer Field Motorsports Park. For more information on all the CR
