Salem, IN (January 12, 2017) – Champion Racing Association Powered by JEGS officials have announced additional entries that have arrived for the upcoming CRA SpeedFest 2017, which will be held on Saturday, January 28th and Sunday, January 29th at Crisp Motorsports Park – Home of the Watermelon Capital Speedway, located in Cordele, Georgia. As is tradition, this event is held the weekend prior to the Super Bowl every year.
CRA SpeedFest 2017 will once again consist of a 200 lap ARCA/CRA Super Series Super Late Model special non-points event and a 125 lap JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Pro Late Model special non-points event. The 200 ARCA/CRA Super Series event will be an eight tire max event and will count yellow flag laps up to lap 175. The 125 lap JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event will be a four tire only event and will count yellow flag laps up to lap 100. In addition, the SpeedFest 2017 will also feature a 20 lap Legend feature and a 15 lap Bandolero feature.
Highlighting the latest group of entries for CRA SpeedFest 2017 is defending Super Late Model SpeedFest event winner Bubba Pollard from Senoia, Georgia. Pollard has been one of the top Super Late Model drivers in the country for many years. Pollard is a two time winner of the $35,000 win Winter Showdown at Kern County Raceway Park in California in February. Pollard already has his first victory of the 2017 season by winning the Red Eye 100 last Saturday at New Smyrna Speedway.
Former NASCAR Xfinity Series racer Casey Roderick is entered for the Pro Late Model event in legendary Ronnie Sanders car. Roderick finished third in last year SpeedFest Pro Late Model event. Roderick has scored five Southern Super Series victories the last three seasons. Roderick also has a victory in 2017, he won the 125 lap Pro Late Model race at New Smyrna Speedway last Saturday night.
Brandon Setzer, son of former NASCAR great Dennis Setzer, is entered for the Super Late Model event. Setzer led 51 laps of last year’s SpeedFest Super Late Model event before contact with another competitor ended his day while leading. Setzer scored three CARS Super Late Model victories over the past two seasons as well as two PASS South Series victories.
Canadian Raphael Lessard is also entered for the Super Late Model event with David Gilliland Racing. Lessard came on the late model scene in 2016 and opened a lot of eyes while winning the 2016 CARS Super Late Model Tour Championship with a series leading four wins. Lessard got a third place finish his ARCA/CRA Super Series debut at Lucas Oil Raceway in July and was one of the top running cars in the Winchester 400, leading 46 laps before being involved in a lap 395 incident.
Former Watermelon Capital Speedway Late Model Champion Chris Dilbeck is entered to try and best his second place finish in last year’s SpeedFest Pro Late Model event. Dilbeck is also entered to make his ARCA/CRA Super Series debut in the Super Late Model portion of SpeedFest 2017.
California native Zane Smith is entered for the Super Late Model event. Smith has been a top late model driver the past couple of seasons and will race the full ARCA Racing Series schedule in 2017, he finished third in last year’s Super Late Model SpeedFest event after being the events Fast Qualifier.
Florida competitor Stephen Nasse is also entered. Nasse went to victory late last season at New Smyrna Speedway and was another one of the fastest cars at the end of the Winchester 400 until the lap 395 incident ended his day.
Other top drivers entered for the Super Late Model portion of SpeedFest include Texas racer Derek Scott Jr., Alabama racer Connor Okrzesik, Georgia’s Scotty Ellis and North Carolina’s Chase Purdy in a team car to Lessard. CRA veteran competitor Eddie Van Meter is entered, the Indiana native was the 2016 CRA Late Model Sportsman Champion and runner-up in the Winchester 400. Other CRA regulars entered includes Michigan racer Jordan Pruitt and Indiana racer Hunter Jack, who will run for the ARCA/CRA Super Series Rookie of the Year in 2017.
JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour regulars Phil and father Andy Bozell are entered to return for the Pro Late Model portion of SpeedFest, they finished seventh and eighth in last year’s event. 2016 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Rookie of the Year Jack Dossey III is entered and rookie runner-up Joshua James is also entered. 13 year old Michigan native Carson Hocevar is entered. Hocevar made four series starts in 2016 with 3 top five finishes and set the track record in qualifying at Berlin Raceway. He plans to run for the series Rookie of the Year and Championship in 2017.
Other drivers entered for the Pro Late Model portion of SpeedFest include Missouri racers Joe Ross, who finished 14th in last year’s event , and David Strode who will be making his series debut in a team car to Ross. Veteran Florida racer Stuart Dutton is entered, he is a multi-time winner at Watermelon Capital Speedway and looks to win his first SpeedFest event. New Jersey native Joe Graf Jr., a regular in the SK Modified Light division at Stafford Motor Speedway, is entered to make his SpeedFest and CRA debut.
The drivers above join the list of drivers already entered for SpeedFest including Erik Jones, Sterling Marlin, Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes, Cole Williams, Steve Dorer, Jay and Tate Fogelman, Chandler Smith, Dalton Grindle, Kevin Herbert, Christopher Tullis, Justin South, Bobby Knox Jr., Hunter Byrd and Kent Crane.
Additional entries for both events are expected to continue to arrive over the next two weeks leading up to the event. CRA would like to remind any driver not entered yet that the advance entry deadline for CRA SpeedFest 2017 is this Saturday, January 14th, after that date teams will have to pay an additional $50 late fee to enter.
Teams are also reminded that CRA SpeedFest 2017 is part of the Road To Bristol, the winner of the Super Late Model event at SpeedFest and the winner and second place finisher of the JEGS Tour/Pro Late Model event at SpeedFest will all have guaranteed feature starts for their respective 100 lap features in the U. S. Nationals of Short Track Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway in May.
Track and CRA SpeedFest 2017 information, including purchasing advance tickets, can be found at www.crispmotorsportspark.com.
All information on CRA, including rules, license forms and the entry forms for both CRA SpeedFest 2017 events, can be found at www.cra-racing.com.
ARCA/CRA Super Series – Entry List
JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour – Entry List
