The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour presented by GM Performance Parts Rheem 150 was filled with fast and furious action featuring 3 wide racing at times and action all the way around the track. Chase Elliott came to the win as 2 cars spun on the white flag lap and Elliott and Mike Garvey threaded the needle to come in to take the checkers for the win. In victory lane, Elliott got one of the biggest cheers from the crowd and said, "I don't know if it was our strongest or not, but it worked out and we got to the front." For his move through the accident Elliott received the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race.

Chase Elliott Receives Trophy. Photo Courtesy Speed51.com

John Hunter Nemechek, the fourteen year old son of NASCAR Star Joe Nemechek, took home the RaceTrailerSales.com Halfway Leader Award for holding the lead at the halfway mark of the Speedfest 200. He also received the AR Bodies Cool Move of the race for passing Busch and Pollard to take the lead in the early part of the race.

Following the break in the SpeedFest 200 for the CRA Super Series, the cars were lined up according to how many tires they changed at the break. Elliott started on the pole as the only car to take zero tires. Busch took the lead from Elliott on the first lap of the second half of the race and held it to the restart following a caution on lap 171. Pollard took back the lead after a long, hard charging chase for the front spot, biding his time with much patience and total focus to take the lead after following in Busch’s tire tracks for many, many laps. Busch retook the lead on the 184^th lap and ran away to see the checkers wave for the wildly popular win.

The practice rounds opened on Saturday, the Top 5 CRA Super Series Speeds were done by Garvey, Erik Jones, Busch, John Hunter Nemechek and Elliott posted fast times that unofficially broke the track record at 15.831, 15.836, 15.850, 15. 858, 15.871, and 15.884 respectively which had less than a one second differential and held promise that there would be a tight field with plenty of drama and anticipation for the starting line-up results for the 35 car field. In the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour practice, while no track records were threatened, Daniel Hemric, Mike Garvey, Chase Elliott, Bent Downey and Kyle Benjamin rounded out the top 5 with the fastest practice circuits of 16.005, 16.014, 16.152, 16.156, and 16.167 that proved again that a promising strong showing that left the field with another less than one second differential time from all 32 contenders from top to bottom.

In a sport where Lady Luck often plays an unanticipated role, the 3 draw on the invert in which Chase Elliott posted the top qualifying time gave Bubba Pollard the unexpected pole in the Rheem 150 race pole, and a 5 draw on the invert by CRA Super Series by WearCrete Racing Fast Qualifier Ragan led the way for Pollard to get the nod for the poll once again. There was palpable excitement in the air as the fired-up crowd cheered for their favorites and the starting line up was set for the Battles to come in the wildly anticipated Feature Races at Speed Fest 2012.

On Sunday, despite having to deal with a change of venue from Lanier National Speedway to Watermelon Capital Speedway just 10 days before the event, there was a huge crowd who had waited all winter for their race fix, and they would not leave disappointed. On Sunday, Ragan and Busch headlined an autograph session of the events drivers that was a dream encounter for many of these excited fans who stood in long lines to meet their racing heroes. The cars for both races were parked along the front straight-away as fans poured onto the track to have a closer look at these machines as they took pictures and made instant memories, not to mention many smiles and spontaneous laughter as the energy built for the 2 races to come.