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SOUTH BOSTON, VA (Nov. 4, 2019) - Matt Craig and Josh Berry executed their teams' plans to perfection on Saturday afternoon at South Boston Speedway in the CARS Tour season finale, the AutosByNelson.com 250 , leading every lap and winning their respective races in dominating style. For Berry, the effort was not enough, as he lost the championship fight by a single point to Bobby McCarty in the most dramatic and thrilling title fight in CARS Tour history.

SUPER LATE MODEL RECAP
Tate Fogleman rocketed around the South Boston Speedway during Mahle Pole Qualifying to earn the pole position just thousandths of a second ahead of presumptive champion Matt Craig. Craig, however, wasted no time in continuing his dominance of the day and grabbed the lead out of turn two on the opening lap of the race.

Craig continued unchallenged at the front of the field during a clean and rather eventless feature event. A single competition caution and a slowdown for oil on the track were the only things which allowed Tate Fogleman and the competition to see the back bumper of Craig's No. 54 Chevrolet.

The 2019 season champion led every lap en route to his second victory of the season, a 5.916-second margin over Carson Kvapil, Fogleman, Nolan Pope and last year's champion Jared Fryar.

"I can't tell you it was easy, it takes a lot of hard work at the shop," Craig said in Edelbrock Victory Lane. "The guys will stay at the shop all day and all night sometimes, grinding it out, finding speed every chance we get. That was a good racecar right there. It drove really well, it never really lost any speed the whole race, it was awesome.

"We knew we had a really fast racecar and it was fun to come out here and start the race to win the championship, not have to worry about too much because even when you have good racecars, little things can happen," he continued. "You can break something, get a flat tire, and it can all go away right then."

LATE MODEL STOCK RECAP
Josh Berry needed to earn maximum points to give his JR Motorsports team the best shot at a championship, and by sitting on the Hedgecock Pole Position, he added two more points to his total - locking up the season-long award (1 point) for most poles and claiming the bonus point for sitting on an event pole. As expected, he shot out to the early lead on the initial green flag.

Three laps into the race, Bobby McCarty's title hopes were nearly dashed when Craig Moore and Taylor Gray made contact, triggering a five-car melee which also involved Brody Pope, Stuart Crews and Deac McCaskill. The accident started immediately in front of McCarty who narrowly slipped by to avoid disaster.

Following the restart, Berry once again jumped out to the lead and controlled the pace of the 125-lap feature. Despite a rash of cautions late in the race, he continued to be driver everyone chased when the race was under way. The restarts allowed Bobby McCarty to slowly improve his position from his 11th starting spot, restarting in key lanes which permitted him to make passes on the fast and smooth South Boston layout.

Once the final green flag of the race was displayed, McCarty raced his way into second place and held what appeared to be a comfortable lead. Corey Heim eventually reeled in the driver of the No. 22 and McCarty's championship hopes hung in the balance.

Over the final 20 laps, Heim pressured and peeked around the McCarty machine, pulling to the inside on the final two laps. While Josh Berry took the checkered flag in stride nearly three seconds ahead of them, McCarty fought for his life, edging Corey Heim by less than half a car length at the checkered flag. The finish was just enough to give McCarty his second consecutive CARS Late Model Stock Tour title, albeit by a single point over Josh Berry. Had Heim passed McCarty, the tiebreaker would have been decided in favor of Berry.

"We came here and we knew what we had to do," Berry said after his visit to Edelbrock Victory Lane. "Bobby and those guys answered the call. Sure, it's a little disappointing, but when you look back on it we've had a great year. Like I said yesterday, no matter what happened, we weren't going to hang our heads. We did everything we could, and just came up a little bit short in the championship. This place has been tough for me over the last few years and to have the performance that we had today really means a lot.

"I love doing this stuff and working with these guys who are all my best friends, this is just a credit to all these guys for all their hard work," he continued when asked about the narrow defeat adding extra motivation. "I told them, if we were to somehow pull this thing off I wasn't sure what I would do next. So, it sorta leaves a little bit of a chip on my shoulder for next year.

McCarty, like Berry, realized things could have played out a little differently if even the smallest details unfolded differently.

"At the beginning of the race, we knew we had our work cut out for us," McCarty admitted. "We played the restarts and stayed on the outside, picking up a couple spots. We had to race the race differently than we wanted to. We got to around fifth or sixth and the leader was gone, so we backed off and started saving. Really, being on the outside on the restarts is what helped us a lot. I don't know where Corey is, but I owe him, that kid raced me as clean as could be. Congrats to Josh and them, he made me work a whole lot harder than I wanted to work, but he had a really good car. It was the second race in a row nobody's really had anything for him, so we've got to go to work on that. I really have to thank this whole team for standing behind me and pushing me to find everything I needed to find in the car.

"I just thank the good Lord above for everything playing out how it played out," he continued. "If we would've started on the inside on that last restart, we wouldn't have finished second."

The CARS Tour will celebrate its champions and its season December 14 at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville, North Carolina before firing up again for another year on March 7, 2020, at Southern National Motorsports Park with twin $10,000-to-win events for both super late models and late model stock cars.

For more information on the CARS Tour, visit their website at CARSRacingTour.com, or follow them on Facebook (@CARSTour), Twitter (@CARSTour), Instagram (@cars_tour), and Snapchat (@carstour). The series also has its own YouTube channel, Roku channel (available through its TV website), and a new publicly available Amazon FireTV app.

THE FINISHES:

CARS Super Late Model Tour
AutosByNelson.com 250
South Boston Speedway - November 3, 2019

POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 54 Matt Craig 125
2. 35 Carson Kvapil 125
3. 8 Tate Fogleman 125
4. 34 Nolan Pope 125
5. 14 Jared Fryar 125
6. 78 Corey Heim 125
7. 21 Bronson Butcher 125
8. 24 Colin Garrett 125
9. 40 Toby Grynewicz 124
10. 16 Molly Helmuth 124
11. 7 Justin Crider 73 Rear End
12. 49 Jeff Batten 44 Mechanical
13. 45 Kodie Conner 7 Qualifying Accident

CARS Late Model Stock Tour
AutosByNelson.com 250
South Boston Speedway - November 3, 2019

POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 88 Josh Berry 125
2. 22 Bobby McCarty 125
3. 78 Corey Heim 125
4. 99 Layne Riggs 125
5. 12 Timothy Peters 125
6. 57 Justin Carroll 125
7. 17 Taylor Gray 125
8. 81 Mini Tyrrell 125
9. 63 Tyler Matthews 125
10. 07 Camden Gullie 125
11. 74 Ronald Hill 125
12. 98 Connor Mosack 125
13. 77 Trevor Ward 125
14. 17F Jared Fryar 123
15. 19C Jessica Cann 121
16. 2 Brandon Pierce 77 Accident
17. 1P Brody Pope 77 Accident
18. 4 Jonathan Findley 76 Accident
19. 54 Drew Dollar 76 Accident
20. 1D Terry Dease 76 Accident
21. 1M Craig Moore 3 Accident
22. 29 Stuart Crews 3 Accident
23. 08 Deac McCaskill 3 Accident

McGunegill Engine Performance to Support CRA Divisions Again in 2020

Salem, IN (November 19, 2019) - Officials from Champion Racing Association Powered by JEGS and McGunegill Engine Performance have announced that McGunegill Engine Performance will continue their support of CRA, including the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance, for the upcoming 2020 race season. McGunegill Engine Performance will award the 2020 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Champion a free rebuild of a Crate Engine, or the cost of the rebuild off the purchase of a MEP GM Equalizer Sealed Engine for Super Late Models. In addition, MEP will also continue to award a $100 Product Certificate to a random racer at each JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event during the 2020 season.

“This is a great program that McGunegill Engine Performance is continuing to support our JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour,” remarked R.J. Scott, Managing Partner of CRA. “Dewaine and his whole crew have been great supporters of CRA for several years, we appreciate everything they do for CRA and our racers!”

McGunegill Engine Performance will also continue their sponsorship programs for the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series Powered by JEGS and Van Hoy Oil CRA Street Stocks Powered by JEGS for the 2020 season. The Muncie, Indiana based engine builder has had tremendous success with their engine packages developed specifically for the Late Model Sportsman and Street Stock teams.

The highest finisher in the top ten of each Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series event, who has not received the award previously, will receive a $100 Product Certificate towards labor or purchase of an engine from McGunegill Engine Performance. A $50 Product Certificate will be awarded in the Van Hoy Oil CRA Street Stock division in the same manner at each event. Additionally, McGunegill Engine Performance will award a $1000 Product Certificate by random draw of the top ten finishers in final Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series points and a $500 Product Certificate by random draw of the top ten finishers in final Van Hoy Oil CRA Street Stocks points at the 2020 CRA Awards Banquet.

McGunegill Engine Performance has been a leader in developing high performance, cost effective race engine solutions. The family run business owned and operated by Dewaine McGunegill, has led the development of the highly successful Sealed Engine Program for Super Late Models over the past decade. Their innovative Sealed Engine package has drastically cut the cost of purchasing a competitive Super Late Model engine. McGunegill Engine Performance has also been a top builder and rebuilder of crate engines competing in Pro Late Model divisions, including the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, for many years.

For more information on the MEP engine packages for all the CRA divisions, contact McGunegill Engine Performance at 765-282-1913 or visit their website at www.mcgunegillengines.com.

More information on all the CRA Series is available at www.cra-racing.com.

Luke Yoder Construction to Sponsor JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Fast Qualifier Award at CRA SpeedFest 2020

Salem, IN (November 11, 2019) – Champion Racing Association Powered by JEGS officials have announced that Luke Yoder Construction will return as the Fast Qualifier Award sponsor for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event with CRA SpeedFest 2020. Luke Yoder Construction will award that driver with a $400 cash bonus. This will be the seventh year that Luke Yoder Construction has sponsored that award.

Luke Yoder Construction is your trusted source for superior new home construction and home improvements provided with personable, courteous service. They have more than 10 years of experience in providing construction solutions for residential and commercial customers throughout the greater Perry and Montezuma, Georgia communities. They are fully licensed and insured for your protection and peace of mind. More information on Luke Yoder Construction is available at www.lukeyoderconstruction.com, on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/luke.yoder.397 or by calling 478-952-3420.

CRA SpeedFest 2020 will be held on Friday, January 24th and Saturday, January 25th 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 2020 will consist of a $10,000 to win 200 lap ARCA/CRA Super Series Super Late Model special non-points event and a $5000 to win 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 that will count yellow flag laps up to lap 175 with Controlled Cautions. The 125 lap JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event will be a four tire only event that will count yellow flag laps up to lap 100.

Additional Track and CRA SpeedFest 2020 information, including purchasing advanced reserve tickets, can be found at www.crispmotorsportspark.com.

Entry forms for CRA SpeedFest 2020 will be released later this month. Additional CRA information on all CRA Series can be found at www.cra-racing.com.

CRA Junior Late Model Series Champ Moving up to JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour in 2020

Salem, Indiana (November 13, 2019): Inaugural Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Models Champion Chase Burda will be moving up to compete with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance in 2020. The 14-year-old Michigan native had a very impressive season with the Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Models, getting six feature wins in the series eight events, including a stretch of four wins in a row in the series second event through the series fifth event. Burda had five heat race wins out of the seven events that featured heat races and was the MPM Marketing Fast Qualifier at seven of the eight events. Burda won the series Season Championship event at Anderson Speedway on September 28th to claim the series inaugural Championship.

“It was an awesome feeling,” remarked Chase Burda. “I was really nervous that day, even though I had a lot of confidence coming into the event. I was Fast Qualifier, then played it safe in the heat race to make sure nothing happened. I started second in the feature, once I got the lead, I wasn’t nervous anymore, just focused on hitting my marks and not making any mistakes. When Katie (Hettinger) spun towards the end, I knew that would bunch the field back together for a restart, but I was able to take the lead back and when I saw the white flag, I knew I only had a lap to keep my composure. I was shaking when I got to the checkered flag. My sister, Courtney was there when I climbed out of the car and hugged me. I was so happy! My dad and I had a goal this year to win the CRA Junior Late Model Series Championship and we did it!”

Burda also competed in an IMCA Dirt Modified during the 2019 season, his second season competing on dirt. Burda was named Rookie of the Year in the Dirt Works Eastern Region and became the youngest IMCA Modified driver to earn this award since its inception in 1993.

“As his parents, we are over the moon proud of Chase,” remarked Rob Burda, Chase Burda’s father and car owner. “He sets his goals and goes all in to achieve them. We cannot wait to see what his future holds. He is an incredible driver on both pavement and dirt.”

Chase Burda added, “I have to thank all my sponsors that helped us reach our goals this year, Rob's Service, Finish Line Auto Sales, Express Auto Graphics, Super Flight Oil, Energy Release and U.S.103. I want to thank Chris and Jessie Hettinger for the Jim Hettinger Memorial Race at Toledo, Jim was a big fan of my racing from the beginning, he did a lot to help to help me in my racing career. I would also like to thank Victory Custom Trailers for sponsoring the series, CRA for starting the series and VanDoorn Racing Development, without any of them I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to win the inaugural CRA Junior Late Model Championship.”

Burda will be racing in a VanDoorn Racing Development Chassis with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour in 2020, competing for the series Championship and Rookie of the Year honors. The team will also have new Chase Burda Motorsports colors in 2020 that will be revealed soon.

“I’m real excited about the upcoming 2020 season and moving up to race with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour,” remarked Chase Burda. “There will be many new challenges in 2020, I haven’t raced very many 100 lap features and there will be a lot of competition in each race, but I am confident we will be up for those challenges!”

More information on all the CRA Series is available at www.cra-racing.com.

Hettinger Looks Forward to 2020 Season with the Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Models

Salem, Indiana (November 8, 2019): 12-year-old Dryden, Michigan native Katie Hettinger has officially announced that she will return to compete with the Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Models again in 2020. After a very successful inaugural season, the series is looking forward to an even better second season. The Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Models was a new racing series in 2019 to focus on a youth movement for short track stock car racing designed for 10 to 15-year-old drivers to compete amongst themselves for both experience and recognition in full size late models with an economical drive train and suspension alternatives.

“I am going to be coming back and race with the Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Models in 2020,” remarked Hettinger. “Johnny and Butch VanDoorn are putting a new car together for me to race with in 2020. I'm really excited to be able to race this series again, this series is a great opportunity for young drivers. 2019 went really well for my first season in a late model. I had fun racing with all the boys and I’m ready to do it again in 2020!”

Hettinger was the only female competitor to race in the series inaugural 2019 season, a season that saw her holding her own with boys from 11 to 14 years old at each event. Hettinger picked up a heat race win in the series inaugural event at Birch Run Speedway on May 18th. Her best feature finish was a third-place finish in the Birch Run inaugural series feature. Hettinger was battling in the top three on the last lap in the series feature event at Corrigan Oil Speedway on August 16th and looked to be on her way to a possible best series finish when she was involved in a turn four wreck as the cars came to the checkers.

Hettinger made the series 2019 Chase for the Championship, competing in the first two series events in the Chase to race for the series Championship, but came up just short in points to qualify in the final three to race for the series inaugural Championship at Anderson Speedway on September 28th. Hettinger finished fourth in the series final points for 2019.

Hettinger added, “One of my goals for 2020 is to qualify for the Chase for the Championship and be in the final three drivers to race for the Championship. Also, I hope that the 2020 race season will be a better season for me now that I am more familiar with the class and the tracks. I would like to thank my sponsors for a great season in 2019 and for supporting me again in 2020: Victory Custom Trailers, PxP Racewear, Race Face TV, Turn One Steering, HD5 Graphics, and my newest sponsor, VanDoorn Racing Development!”

After a very successful inaugural season, CRA officials are already hard at work on the series 2020 schedule and making minor adjustments to the 2020 rule package for the series. Both the 2020 schedule and the 2020 rules package will be released soon. New teams wanting to compete with the series in 2020 need to submit a Driver Resume, that form is available on the CRA web site under the Junior Late Model tab.

More information on the Victory Custom Trailers CRA Junior Late Models is available at www.cra-racing.com.

Cretacci Wins JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Rookie of the Year Award

Salem, IN. (November 7, 2019) – 16 year old Walkerton, Indiana native Jaden Cretacci took a huge step in his racing career for the 2019 season, by committing to run with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance for the series 2019 Rookie of the Year Award and for the series Championship. By finishing 9th in the series Season Championship event on October 12th at Winchester Speedway, Cretacci claimed the 2019 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Rookie of the Year Award and finished sixth in the Chase for the Championship in his first full season of racing a late model.

“I'm very excited to be the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour 2019 Rookie of the Year,” remarked Cretacci. “It was a tough season to maintain the rookie points lead. I did not think I was going to be able to hang on with some unfortunate mechanical issues we experienced toward the end of the season. Racing with a CRA Series is quite a challenge, there is a lot of drivers that race with us that have a lot of experience. All in all, a good group of competitors.”

The 2019 season would be a huge learning curve for Cretacci but help from former two-time ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion Brian Ross would help with the learning process, especially since the former Mini-Cup racer had never raced on any of the tracks the series competes on. Cretacci season started off shaky with a 19th place DNF finish at Birch Run Speedway after being involved in an accident and a DNF 14th place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway after handling problems.

Things turned around for Cretacci at Anderson Speedway, were he came from his 18th place starting position to finish in 10th place. Cretacci finished 11th at Baer Field Motorsports Park and 14th at the very fast Memphis International Speedway against a stacked field of very talented competitors and qualified for the series 2019 Chase for the Championship.

Bad luck struck at the Battle at Berlin 251 as Cretacci’s day ended in practice after breaking a rear end, damaging his chances to compete for the series Championship, but he was still in the running for the series Rookie of the Year Award.

Cretacci and his team bounced back in a big way on Labor Day Weekend at Winchester Speedway were Cretacci was one of the fastest cars in the series practice sessions. Cretacci would finish in eighth place in that event on the lead lap. Cretacci would finish in 11th at the Fall Brawl event at Lucas Oil Raceway, keeping him atop the series rookie points heading into the season Championship event at Winchester Speedway were his ninth place finish clinched the Rookie of the Year Award.

Cretacci ended up with 548 adjusted points in the series Rookie of the Year standings, with Canadian rookie Tyler MacKenzie in second with 522. Cretacci was the highest finishing rookie in seven of the series nine-point events in 2019. In all Cretacci picked up four top ten finishes in his rookie season.

Cretacci added, “I'd like to thank my sponsors, Community Wide Credit Union, Preferred Warranties, and R & B Car Company. Also, a huge thanks to my crew Brian Ross, Harl Shafer, Grandpa, Lonnie Jimmerson, my Dad and family. Without all of their help racing would not be possible. I would also like to thank CRA for having such a great series for us to run, and JEGS for helping make this series possible. As of right now, our plans for the 2020 season is to float between both the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour and the ARCA/CRA Super series.”

At the 2019 CRA Awards Banquet on January 3rd, Cretacci will receive a race ready carburetor from VDL Fuel Systems as well as contingency product awards from AP Racing, Holley, Port City Racecars, Howe Racing, Fluidyne, BrakeOMeter and Day Racing Products.

More information on all the CRA series is available at www.cra-racing.com.

ARCA Menards Series East 2020 Schedule Announced

Seven-Race Format Features Short-Track Gauntlet