19-Year-Old Quinnton Bear; Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie Of The Year In JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour
Hoosier State rising star heading back south to Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville for 31st running of the All-American 400
Avon, Indiana (Thursday, October 15, 2015): The 2015 Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance, Quinnton Bear has had a breakthrough season. The Avon, Indiana driver was impressive in not only winning the coveted freshman honors in the premier template body / crate motor series in the country, he also scored an overall finish of second in the final Drivers Points Standings. Just the second driver in the tours’ five-year history to do so.
The 19-year-old driver’s accolades and accomplishments throughout the 2015 campaign haven’t gone unnoticed. For the 2016 racing season, Bear’s plans are already set as he and his Quinnton Bear Racing and Port City Racecars have teamed up to put Bear into the coveted slot behind the wheel of the famed Port City Racecars House Car for a run at the 2016 ARCA/CRA Super Series Championship and Rookie of the Year titles. With backing and support from the esteemed Muskegon, Michigan based chassis builders, Bear will concentrate on Champion Racing Association’s premier tour starting next season with the possibility of more events to be added before and after the 2016 CRA campaign.
With the season over in JEGS/CRA, Bear is still in race mode and his QBR team will make the return trip to the famed Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville (TN) for the rescheduled 31st running of the All-American 400 on Saturday-Sunday, October 17-18th. This event was originally scheduled for October 3-4th, but Mother Nature had other plans and forced track officials to postpone the event by two weeks.
“We’re onto Nashville this weekend and hoping for rain to stay away so we can get this race in.” Offered the newly crowned top freshman in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. “We’re going to be running with a lot of big names and talent. Very curious to see what this #94 team and I can do down south.” There’s a practice day on Friday, October 16th and Bear plans on getting as much track time as possible in preparation for the prestigious event, long known as a Super Late Model race, but within the past couple of seasons, has been a Pro Late Model race.
In Bear’s last race; he simply needed to arrive on the grounds at Winchester Speedway (IN) for the Winchester 100 Presented by JEGS.com on October 9th, which kicked off the prestigious 44th running of the Winchester 400 weekend at the legendary high-banks. By doing so, the Hoosier State teenager officially clinched the coveted Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year title in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. After qualifying second quick out of 25 cars, a flat tire on the pace laps forced him to pit and restart at the tail of the field. Bear responded by battling his way back towards the front and came away with a fourth place finish and more importantly, the 2015 JEGS/CRA Overall Runner-Up honors.
“Looking back at Winchester. Yet another unlucky race with a good finish,” He shrugged. “We had a really fast race car, but with Winchester such a big track with only a few cautions, it made it hard to come all the way back from the tail when the guys up front were rolling. I just wish we could have had one last restart to see what we had for them there at the end.” He added.
Bear was the only driver to compete in all 12 JEGS/CRA races in 2015 including the non-points SpeedFest 2015 back in January at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA). He racked up an impressive six top five finishes, all within the last eight JEGS/CRA races including a season high second place finish at Dixie Motor Speedway (MI) on July 10th in the Dixie 100 Presented by JEGS.com. He also collected seven top 10 finishes and eight showings were at least a top 15 showing.
In an effort to get a leg up on the competition in anticipation of a full run in 2016, Bear has made four ARCA/CRA Super Series starts in 2015 as two of those have come behind the wheel of the Travis Braden Motorsports #01 West Virginia University ride and two in his own JEGS/CRA legal car utilizing a crate motor.
In those four races, Bear was impressive in recording two top five finishes including a career high second place finish during Kalamazoo Klash XXIII in the Boyne Machine Company 125 at Kalamazoo Speedway (MI) on August 12th. He also has three top 10 showings and with only five total ARCA/CRA races on his resume, including one start in 2014, Bear is still able to keep his 2016 Rookie eligibility intact for the full schedule next season in the Port City Racecars House Car.
For the 31st running of the All-American 400 in Nashville, Tennessee as well as possibly one more start in 2015, Bear’s black #94 Sparco / Buzze Racing / Chevrolet will have additional sponsorship support from Bear’s Lawn Service as well as Bassett Racing Wheels, PGG Enterprises, McGunegill Engine Performance and M.P.H. Promotions.
For more information and to inquire about additional sponsorship opportunities for the rest of 2015 as well as looking ahead to the 2016 campaign, go to the team website at: www.quinntonbear.com You can also go to the Facebook Fan Page at: www.facebook.com/bearracing94 on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/QuinntonBear94 and on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/bearracing_94
(Pamela Neal Photo)
