Jake Garcia Picks Up First JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Win at Lucas Oil Raceway’s Fall Brawl
Salem, IN (September 16, 2019) – 14-year-old Georgia native Jake Garcia picked up his first ever JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance win in Sunday’s Fall Brawl event at Lucas Oil Raceway. Garcia actually finished in second on the track to Brian Bergakker, but Bergakker’s car did not pass post event tech inspection and was regulated to last place, moving Garcia to the winner’s position.
“We came here to get the win on the track, not in tech, but it’s still a good feeling,” remarked Garcia in victory lane. “It’s unfortunate for the No. 30 car (Bergakker) but it’s still a win. Getting a big win here towards the end of the season gives us a lot of momentum and a little more confidence going into some of these bigger end of season races like the Snowflake. Hopefully we can get a few more wins this season. I’ve got to thank everybody that helps out on this team for all they do for me and the work they put in on this race car.”
Sammy Smith grabbed the lead from his pole starting position after JERICO Performance Products Fast Qualifier Mason Keller drew a seven for the events inverted start. Smith led the first 53 laps, holding onto the lead over three restarts in the first half of the race for three cautions for single car spins.
Bergakker had made his way to second and was slowly reeling in Smith before making a slide job pass on lap 54 to grab the lead. From there the race went all the way to the checkers, but not without some excitement as Garcia overcame a ten second deficit to close on Bergakker but ran out of laps and could not challenge for the lead.
The Georgia driver became the second-youngest winner in series history at 14 years, 196 days old, just 12 days older than Kyle Benjamin when he won at Winchester Speedway in 2012. Garcia picked up a Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award and his crew earned the PitBoxes.com Pit Crew of the Race Award for their performance Sunday.
Keller finished in second, his best finish of the season and was the highest finisher of the Chase for the Championship drivers, earning a spot among the four drivers who will race for the series Championship on Winchester 400 Weekend. Keller picked up the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award for some of his great passes to come from his seventh place starting position to finish in second.
Smith would finish in third and earned the FLUIDYNE High Performance Cool Under Pressure Award. Trey Craig overcame a week of engine problems to finish in fourth place. Florida native Steve Dorer finished fifth in his first ever race at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Mandy Chick came from the back of the field after pulling out of impound to get a hard earned sixth place finish and picked up a Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award. As the second highest finisher of the Chase for the Championship drivers, Chick earned a spot among the four drivers who will race for the series Championship on Winchester 400 Weekend.
Veteran series competitor Wes Griffith Jr. finished in seventh. Regular season points Champion Dan Leeck finished in eighth and will be one of the four competing at Winchester for the series Championship. James Krueger finished in ninth with leading series rookie Jaden Cretacci in tenth. Trever McCoy’s day ended early with overheating issues, but he accumulated enough points to be the fourth and final driver to compete for the series Championship at Winchester.
The next JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance event will be the Season Championship event on Friday, October 11th of Winchester 400 Weekend on the legendary High Banks of Winchester Speedway. More information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is available at www.cra-racing.com.
