Williams Conquers the High Banks of Salem Speedway
Salem, IN (June 17, 2018) – Borden, Indiana native Cole Williams had a dominate car for most of the race in getting the win in Saturday night’s Midwest 100 Presented by JEGS.com for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance at Salem Speedway in Salem, IN. It was a hometown win for Williams whose shop is just 18 miles to the south of Salem.
“The car did everything I wanted it to do throughout the whole race, it was really good,” remarked Williams in victory lane. “This place really eats tires away, even though we were running a stiffer compound on the left side than we usually do. I knew if I could get out front, we could build up a pretty good lead there, I just needed to ride as much as I could to save the right rear and right front. That was the game plan all along, and it ended up working for us tonight.”
2017 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Champion Jack Dossey III took advantage of his pole starting position after Lisa Thomas Salon Fast Qualifier Cory Deuser drew a seven for the events inverted start. Dossey III led three laps before outside pole sitter Brett Robinson made the pass to take over the lead on lap four, while Williams worked his way into second place from his fourth place starting position.
The caution flew on lap seven when Owensboro, Kentucky native Blake Hillard blew an engine setting up a crucial lap eight restart. Williams was able to get by Robinson on the start on the low side and grab the lead on lap eight. From there Williams would have to survive two more restarts, including a lap 83 restart when Dakota Stroup stopped his car at the entrance to pit road after heavy contact with the turn fall wall.
Series Championship points leader and DGR-CROSLEY Rookie of the Year point’s leader Mason Keller was in second at the final yellow and had been closing the gab a little between he and Williams prior to the caution. Deuser had worked his way from mid-pack to third on the restart. Deuser was able to get by Keller and set his sights on chasing down Williams, but Williams’s car was just strong enough over the closing laps to get the win over Deuser.
Williams added,” “It got a little racy at the end on that last restart. We don’t know what happened; we think something broke that last ten laps and we were just kind of hanging on for dear life. But she stayed together for those last ten laps and we ended up winning it, so I’m happy with it. It’s awesome getting this win at Salem, especially doing it in front of my family and friends that don’t get to come to the races very often. We had a huge support system come out tonight and everyone’s been looking forward to this race since we put it on the schedule. To be able to come out here and honestly, we’ve had bad luck for about six or seven races now with mechanical failures or getting caught up in a wreck at Bristol, so to get the monkey off my back and actually win a race was a relief, so hopefully we can carry the momentum going into our next race and hopefully do the same thing.”
For his pass of Robinson to get the lead, Williams was awarded the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award. Deuser finished in second earning a Great Lakes Tire/Hoosier Performance Award. Keller finished in third and earned his second DGR-CROSLEY Rookie of the Race Award of the 2018 season and the FLUIDYNE Cool Under Pressure Award. Dossey finished in fourth place to stay right behind Keller in series Championship points. ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS points leader Josh Brock finished in fifth place
ARCA Racing series competitor Joe Graf Jr. finished in sixth place, the last car on the lead lap. Zachary Tinkle made good use of his first series feature start of the 2018 season to grab a seventh place finish from his 14th place starting position, earning a Great Lakes Tire/Hoosier Performance Award and the Racing Electronic Hardcharger of the Race Award.
The next JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event will be the Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales 100 on Saturday, June 30th at Baer Field Motorsports Park. More information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is available at www.cra-racing.com.
