Chase Elliott is all smiles in victory lane after winning the Pro Late Model portion of SpeedFest, the Premier Building Systems 100, at Watermelon Capital Speedway Sunday. Photo by Brandon Reed
For 89 laps, Chase Elliott lurked.
He watched other contenders like Mike Garvey, Justin South, Bubba Pollard and Korey Rubble wrestle for the top spot in the Premier Building Systems 100 CRA All-Stars Tour race at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, GA. In his mirror, car after car spun to the wayside.
With 11 laps to go, Elliott had waited long enough. The 17-year-old Dawsonville, GA native blasted past South off turn 2 and never looked back, cruising to his third straight win in the CRA pro late model season opener. South held on for second, while Pollard, Rubble and Garvey rounded out the top five.
The top five finishers swapped positions throughout the 100-lap affair, which was slowed 16 times by the caution flag.
“It was pretty wild to watch,” said Elliott, who added that he wasn’t surprised by the multitude of incidents. “You could tell from the beginning of the race how the late stages were going to be.”
It didn’t take a lap for the trouble to begin.
On the opening lap, South put two of his Hoosier tires in the grass that surrounds the speedway – there is no retaining wall from turn 1 to turn 4. Jake Griffin put his tires in the grass and spun across the backstretch, collecting Marty Wood and Mason Massey.
The 14-year-old Griffin would get caught up in six crashes during the race, ultimately retiring after a lap 81 tangle with Kevin Herbert – who was also caught up in a handful of wrecks – and Chris McKeehan.
Several cars spun through the dry, dead Georgia grass throughout the afternoon, but no incident was more bizarre than Alex Roberts’ venture off turn 3 on lap 43. When Roberts re-fired his car, the heat sparked a small brush fire, which sent black smoke billowing up from out of view. Roberts emerged from his car unscathed.
Back at the front of the pack, Garvey grabbed the early lead from pole sitter Kyle Bryant. Dalton Grindle inserted himself into the mix early as well, swapping the lead often with Garvey until a mechanical failure sidelined him on lap 29.
With Grindle out of the picture, Garvey and South took turns leading the pack, but no one could gain a stronghold over the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Elliott worked his way up from his seventh-place starting position and began working his way through the top five.
By lap 32, he was third. After a restart on lap 75, he was second. By lap 88, he closed in on South. A lap later, Elliott had the lead and pulled away.
All results are unofficial until certified by race officials.
Jeg’s CRA All-Stars Tour
Watermelon Capital Speedway – Cordele, GA
Premier Building Systems 100 (Unofficial Results) – Jan. 27, 2013
1. Chase Elliott
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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
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