Bobby Measmer, Jr. WearCrete Racing with Jeff Fultz
Fast Qualifier set fast time during qualifying on Friday evening with
a time of 15.688 seconds, just ahead of Jimmy Weller who turned a lap
of 15.700, putting Measmer on the pole for the start. The heat races
used to set the lineup for 10th through 20th for
the North/South Shootout 125 were cancelled due to inclement weather
when rain settled in for the evening. The lineups were then set using
qualifying times only.
The CRA portion of the North-South Shootout started
just after the sun set on a cool night at Concord Speedway following a
very exciting day that included a portion of the back stretch fence
being torn down by a car in the first feature of the day.
Jimmy Weller jumped to the early lead when Measmer
spun his tires on the start of the race. On the second lap, the first
of 13 caution flags flew due to a spin. On the restart Ryan Blaney
slipped high sending Matt Brooks into the wall. Brooks car climbed the
wall sliding along the front stretch with the bottom of the car facing
the crowd before ending up on his top in the first turn, tearing the
crossover gate off the front stretch wall.
During the ensuing lengthy red flag Blaney’s crew
worked to repair his heavily damaged machine as he tried to get back
on the track to preserve his CRA Super Series Southern Six-Pack
Championship. For their hard work Blaney’s crew was awarded the AR
Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award.
As the race restarted Jeff Fultz stalked Weller as
Fultz attempted to overtake Blaney for the Championship trophy
himself. Fultz took the lead on the sixth lap and seemed to be the car
to beat for the several laps as he ran away from the field.
As the leaders made their mandatory pit stop at the
caution on the 56th lap pit road became a hornet’s nest of
activity. Fultz came out last as his crew looked under the hood and
the lead fell to Mark Reedy.
Dennis Schoenfeld took the lead from Reedy on the 59th
lap only to have pole sitter, Measmer take it from him on lap 63.
Measmer then spun out by himself coming out of the first turn after
taking the lead.
During the caution Fultz pulled into the pits where
the crew determined his lower control arm was broken and he was forced
to retire from the race, giving the Championship to Blaney.
Schoenfeld retook the lead on the restart and held
it until the 102nd lap when he spun his tires on a restart
allowing Michael Pilla to run out front before Ross Kenseth took over
following another caution.
Then disaster struck for Blaney. The car of Cody
Humphries spun in turn four throwing up a huge cloud of smoke. Blaney
drove in blind trying to get past but clipped Weller and flipped over
to end up on his top on the 106th lap.
Another caution flew on the 111th lap
caused by a spin. On the backstretch as the field came to the green
Kenseth ran out of fuel causing the caution to be extended and giving
the lead to Pilla, and with Kenseth in seventh after pitting for fuel.
On the last restart Colt James took the lead when
Pilla spun his tires. James then held the lead for the last five laps,
with Kenseth coming on hard. Kenseth finished second less than a
second behind James.
"I ran good all night, and I knew that last restart
was my last chance to take the lead." James stated. "For
me it was a good night."
James picked up a couple of nices bonuses, $500 from
Ford Racing for winning the event with a Ford Engine and $500 for the
Scott Performance Wire North Carolina Challenge for being the best
overall finisher between Saturday’s event and the series event at
Hickory Motor Speedway in May. He also picked up the $250 bonus for
being the highest finishing non CRA and PASS Series car.
Kenseth picked up the $250 CRA Highest Finsher bonus
while Grant Davidson picked up the $250 PASS Series Higehst Finisher
bonus. The DMR Hardcharger Award went to Kevin Love for moving up to
seventh from his 22nd starting position. Schoenfeld took
the RaceTrailerSales.com Halfway Leader Award. Love and Pilla earned
the Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Awards.
This completes the CRA Super Series 2010 Season. The
next event will be the CRA Banquet on January 8th at
Indiana Downs in Shelbyville, IN. The next racing event will by 2011
SpeedFest at Lanier National Speedway in Brazleton, GA on January
28-30. For more information see www.craracing.net.
Blaney Fastest in Saturday Warm-up Session
The Saturday warm-up session for the CRA Super Series
North-South Shootout 125 Presented by WearCrete Diamond Concrete Polishing only saw 21 of the 28 cars scheduled to start come out to practice. Ryan Blaney was the fastest with a time of 15.977 seconds, just ahead of Ross Kenseth at 15.986. Preston Peltier was third, Jeff Fultz fourth with Colt James rounding out the top five.
Warm-Up Session Results