Marne, MI – The 2024 season is underway for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance after the West Michigan 100 at Berlin Raceway on Saturday. A total of 28 cars registered for the event and 25 cars took the green flag on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon for the $ 5,000-to-win affair.
Chase Pinsonneault took the first honor of the afternoon when he captured the Fast Qualifier Award turning in a lap of 15.917 seconds one of only three drivers in the 15-second bracket including Andrew Scheid and Blake Rowe. After the redraw, Barrett Polhemus and Tyler Rycenga led the field to the green flag.
Rycenga jumped out to the early lead while Polhemus struggled on the opening start falling back to nearly outside of the top ten before the first ten laps were complete. Polhemus was able to stop the bleeding though and managed to stay inside the top 10 runners. Meanwhile, Rycenga seemed to be on the fast track to collect one of the biggest wins of his career.
The first caution of the night flew on lap 29 when Brandon Varney got into the back of Keegan Sabilo entering turn one. Guy Fire spun to avoid joining Sabilo at the bottom of turn two. All cars were able to continue.
On the restart Rycenga was able to hold off Brian Campbell’s charge on the outside lane. Campbell was able to slide into second spot behind Rycenga and hold off Pinsonneault and Rowe. Another caution on lap 38 reset the field. Chase Burda and Evan Shotko came together at the exit of turn four five laps prior to Burda’s tire going flat. The contact also resulted in the rear decking of Shotko’s No.22 becoming dislodged leading to his eventual departure from the race.
With 62 laps to go, the green flag flew once and Campbell decided it was time for his No.47 to go to the point. Campbell took a commanding lead on lap 39 and held the top spot commandingly until inside the halfway mark when Blake Rowe applied the pressure. With 31 laps to go, Rowe forced his way to the inside of Campbell making slight contact sending Campbell up the hill sideways. As Campbell worked to gather his car, the pair collided down the backstretch causing damage on both cars. The right side door was caved in on Rowe’s car, which was no issue, however, the tire rub on Campbell’s car was alarming. Smoke poured from the front of the No.47 for a handful of laps before the rub apparently cleared itself.
The damage was done though as Rowe drove away and Campbell’s car continued to fade. A competition caution on lap 88 brought the field to Rowe’s back bumper once more, but no one could challenge the No.71 as Pinsonneault missed a shift on the restart allowing Rowe to drive away. Andrew Scheid finished second ahead of Campbell, with Dylan Stovall and Barrett Polhemus completing the top five.
The next event for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is Saturday, May 4th for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 100 at Anderson Speedway. Advanced tickets are available online at AndersonSpeedway.com. For more information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, log onto CRA-Racing.com. Find them on Facebook at CRA: Champion Racing Association and follow @CRARacing on X.
