SpeedFest Kicks Off Racing Season With A Wild Finish That Takes Out Favorites Elliott and Ragan

CORDELE, GA – For the second year in a row, Speedfest kicked off the racing season with a trip to Cordele’s Watermelon Capital Speedway for 100 laps of Pro Late Model racing followed by 200 laps of Super Late Models from the ARCA/CRA Super Series.

Great weather greeted race fans as they were treated to an opportunity meet all of the drivers and take pictures with their cars on the front stretch as well get autographs from NASCAR stars Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton, David Ragan and Joe Nemechek.

With over 30 Pro Late Models taking the green flag in the Premier Building Systems 100 lap CRA All-Stars Tour race, the racing was heated and action-packed on the 4/10th mile asphalt track. Fan favorite Chase Elliott, the 17-year-old son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, lurked in the top ten most of the race and kept his racecar clean as the race was slowed by 16 cautions.

As the laps wound down, Elliott worked his way to the front, taking the lead with 11 laps to go. From there, the Dawsonville, Georgia teenager cruised to his third straight CRA All-Star Tour season opener victory.

“It was pretty wild to watch. You could tell from the beginning of the race how the late stages were going to be,” said Elliott. “It feels good to win this race again, but at the same time, we got to put it behind us and focus on the super late model race now.”

After the short victory celebration, Elliott jumped into his super late model car for the 200 lap ARCA/CRA Super Series main event. The 200 lapper proved to be as exciting as the top 6 cars swapped positions more of the race and local fan favorite, NASCAR driver David Ragan, used the many cautions to work his way up from his 20th starting spot to be in contention.

After the half-way break, John Hunter Nemechek, who had been close to the front the entire event, could not start his #8 machine and had to fall to the rear of the field. He roared through the field at a steady pace to take the lead after a caution at lap 196.

With Nemechek, David Ragan and Chase Elliott in the top three positions, fans were looking for an exciting finish among the three second-generation racers. Instead, things went downhill for all three.

First, Nemechek ran out of gas due to all the lengthy cautions and Elliott grabbed the top spot. Then on one of the many restarts trying to finish the final laps under green, Elliott and Ragan battled for the lead in turn two, neither giving an inch, and by the end of the backstretch, Elliott was spinning and getting collected by other cars. Ragan broke a tie rod and shot off the track into a field outside turn four.

Both drivers were able to make some repairs under the red flag and return to finish the race, but the door had been opened West Palm Beach, Florida’s Jeff Choquette to take the victory and the $8,000 payday, followed by David Odell and Scott Heckert.

Jeg’s CRA All-Stars Tour
Watermelon Capital Speedway – Cordele, GA
Premier Building Systems 100 (Unofficial Results) – Jan. 27, 2013
1. Chase Elliott
2. Justin South
3. Bubba Pollard
4. Korey Ruble
5. Mike Garvey
6. Hunter Robbins
7. Brandon Johnson
8. Cody Coughlin
9. Kyle Bryant
10. Harrison Burton
11. Allen Gordon
12. Jerrod Foley
13. Joe Ross
14. Rodney Benefield
15. David Hodges
16. Matthew Wragg
17. Kyle McCallum
18. Kevin Herbert
19. Mason Massey
20. Tom Schuette
21. Jake Griffin
22. Joel Anderson
23. Justin Ashburn
24. Chris McKeehan
25. T.W. Fisher
26. Alex Roberts
27. Dalton Grindle
28. Eric Stokes
29. Shane Nalley
30. Ronnie Whitlock
31. Eric Gerchak
32. Marty Wood

ARCA/CRA Super Series
Watermelon Capital Speedway – Cordele, GA
SpeedFest 200 (Unofficial Results) – Jan. 27, 2012
1. Jeff Choquette
2. David Odell
3. Scott Heckert
4. Anderson Bowen
5. Bubba Pollard
6. Mike Garvey
7. David Ragan
8. Chase Elliott
9. Donnie Wilson
10. Randy Gentry
11. Brandon Oakley
12. Scotty Ellis
13. Austin Theriault
14. John Hunter Nemechek
15. Erik Jones
16. Kyle Benjamin
17. Hunter Robbins
18. T.J. Reaid
19. Stephen Nasse
20. Travis Sauter
21. Jake Griffin
22. Zak Hausler
23. Jay Niewiek
24. Spencer Davis
25. Brandon Hermiller
26. Travis Braden
27. Wes Burton
28. Johnny Sauter
29. Andrew Morrissey
30. Jimmy Garmon
31. Eddie Van Meter
DNS Allen Karnes
DNS Russell Fleeman