Ft. Wayne, IN (September 7, 2008) – In one of the best races of the season for the Howe CRA Sportsman Series, local racer Chad Richardson made a daring last lap pass under Jesse Opliger going into turn one after taking the white flag to pull away and get the victory Saturday night in the Hoosier 200 event Presented By NAPA Auto Parts Stores at Baer Field Speedway, it was his third over all win with the series and his second in 2008.

"I hated to get Jesse on the last lap like that," stated Richardson in victory lane. "But he left the bottom open after we passed the lap car going into turn one and I just stuck it in there. We made a little contact, I normally don’t race like that, but it was the last lap and I was going for the victory, I hope he doesn’t hold it against me!"

Rich Segvich grabbed the early lead from his pole starting position, Richardson, the Holley Performance Fast Qualifier drew the maximum invert of a 12 for the 100 lap event. Segvich lead the first 21 laps followed by Rick Rinehart and Opliger before his car suddenly slowed after a restart on lap 21. Rinehart had to jump on the brakes hard when Segvich slowed, Opliger took full advantage and passed both cars to grab the lead. Segvich dropped to the tail and pitted later before his day ended on lap 46.

Opliger took off and had a 12 car length lead at one time while a battle ensued behind him for the other top ten positions. Richardson, series point’s leader Tony Dager and Steve Minich Jr., the winner of the last two series event at Baer Field, were making there way to the front when lap car Chad Reuille lost a motor just after Opliger had passed him, many of the leaders got caught up in the oil and spun, all got their spots back except for Minich Jr. who’s day ended with rear-end damage.

After the green came out Dager and Richardson worked their way into second and third behind Opliger who held off a hard charging Dager for several laps, many times the cars were side by side with Dager on the outside battling for the lead. Dager’s car began to fade some after trying to make the outside pass for several laps allowing Richardson to make the pass underneath for second, then Richardson set his eyes on Opliger as the laps started to wind down.

The 17-year-old Opliger was looking to get his first series victory, but it was not to happen when Richardson made his bold move on the white flag lap. The slight contact from Richardson moved Opliger up the track allowing Dager to get by to finish in second and extend his series points lead, Charlie Hanna got by also to finish third, Opliger recover to finish in fourth with Justin Alsip right behind in fifth place.

Dager was crowned the series Baer Field Speedway Mini-Series Champion and now is two events away from getting the series 2008 Championship with second place Rick Rinehart as the only one with a chance to catch him. Richardson was the Racing Electronics Hardcharger Award winner for Saturday night’s event, he gained 11 positions to get the win, beating out Dager who gained nine to finish second.

The next Howe CRA Sportsman Series event will be the Circle Track Classic 50 Presented By Lyons Truck & Trailer at O’Reilly Raceway Park on Saturday, September 20^th. More information on that event and the series is available at www.craracing.net.

Official Results

Qualifying Results