Oakley Gets First JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Win at Winchester
Salem, IN. (September 6, 2016) – Brandon Oakley had dreamed as a kid of winning a race on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway, and Oakley’s dream came true on Sunday night in winning the Winchester 100 Presented by JEGS.com and picking up his first ever JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance victory.
“It’s awesome getting a win here,” remarked Oakley in victory lane. “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and racing here for about six years, this is one of the places I really wanted to get a win and it happened tonight. We had to work hard for this one, but we got the opportunity and made it happen!”
Colin Nickolai led the field to the green flag after Boyne Machine Company Fast Qualifier Cody Coughlin drew a five for the inverted start. Zane Smith grabbed the early lead from his outside pole starting position and led the first 17 laps while Travis Braden was working his way to the front. Braden passed Smith on lap 18 before Smith was able to get the lead again on lap 30.
Braden made another pass for the lead on lap 34 and looked to be on his way to his second straight series victory when his night ended suddenly with hard contact in the outside turn four wall after something failed in the right front suspension. Braden was okay after the hit, but his car was heavily damaged. That handed the lead to defending event winner Jack Smith with only 16 laps left in the race. Smith was able to get the lead on the lap 85 restart and held that lead until Oakley was able to make the pass on lap 90, the two battled hard for the lead for several laps before Oakley was able to get around Smith and go on to get the win.
Oakley picked up the AR Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award for his winning pass. Smith would finish in second, earning the Sweet Move of the Race Award after holding on to his car after some contact with Oakley when the two were battling for the lead. Dan Leeck would finish in third and picked up the FLUIDYNE High Performance Cool Under Pressure Award after coming from his ninth place starting position and battling to get his third place finish. Phil Bozell would come from his 11th place starting position to finish in fourth earning Hardcharger Awards from T & K Trucking and Racing Electronics plus a Great Lakes Tire/Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award.
Nickolai would finish in fifth after making a pit stop were his crew made several adjustments allowing him to race back through the field for the fifth place finish, which earned his crew the PitBoxes.com Pit Crew of the Race Award. Jack Dossey III earned the VanDoorn Racing Development Rookie of the Race Award with his seventh place finish. Dakota Stroup earned a Great Lakes Tire/Hoosier Racing Tire Performance Award with his eighth place finish.
Point’s leader Cody Coughlin finished in 14th place, but still holds a 98 point lead in the Season Championship Point standings with only three events left in the 2016 season. The next series event will be the Big O Classic Presented by JEGS.com this Saturday at Owosso Speedway.
More information on all the CRA series is available at
www.cra-racing.com.
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