Chapman Claims Fourth National Crown
Anderson, Indiana – Experience paid off for Curtis Chapman Saturday night as the veteran driver claimed his fourth Pay Less Super Markets National Crown at Anderson Speedway.
Chapman captured the 77th running of the National Crown, winning the oldest continuous stock car race in the country for the second consecutive year.
While Chapman was collecting the biggest prize of the season in the Knapp Supply Ford Division, Ryder VanAlst scored his first career victory with the Heartland Racing Association Sportsman Late Models.
Chapman Goes Back-to-Back
Four contenders for the National Crown were eliminated after just six laps when they became involved in incidents in the Figure-8 crossover.
The first incident involved Nick Warner and Randy Owen, who was running second at the time. Before officials could display the red flag, race leader Ronnie Phipps was involved in a separate crash with Dawson Phillips.
The incidents put Chapman, who had qualified fourth, at the front of the field. Michael Phipps gave chase during the early stages of the 50-lap event.
Chapman was able to maintain the lead through five restarts, with Josh Tharp, Colin Grissom and Jordan Tharp battling inside the top five.
Tharp retired after 17 laps, and the race was red-flagged for a second time when Mike Williams and Andrew O’Bryant crashed in the crossover.
On the lap 37 restart, Michael Phipps spun after contact with Grissom, setting up another restart.
Drew Evans moved into second and quickly closed the gap on Chapman. However, Chapman used his extensive Figure-8 experience to protect the lead during the closing laps.
At the finish, Chapman crossed the line a half-second ahead of Evans. Visiting Kentucky driver Robert Lord finished third, followed by Josh Ebbert Jr., who recovered from being several laps down, and Jordan Tharp.
“Before the race I had a conversation with myself and I didn’t want to lead it from the beginning,” Chapman said in Hoosier Lottery Victory Lane. “I messed up in qualifying, but all in all it was a good race.”
Chapman knew Evans would give him a clean race during the closing laps.
“There at the end I was just in protect mode,” Chapman said. “I was driving the smallest line around the track.”
VanAlst Scores First Career HRA Victory
Ryder VanAlst only needed to lead the final 12 laps to score his first career victory with the Heartland Racing Association Sportsman Late Models.
While VanAlst celebrated his breakthrough win, Casten Everidge once again came up just short at Anderson Speedway.
Everidge qualified fifth and, following the inversion, started on the pole alongside Josh Poore. Poore led the opening five laps before Everidge took control on the front straight on lap eight, with Jack Dossey III running third.
Everidge pulled away from the field while Dossey and VanAlst both moved around Poore by lap 48.
The first caution came on lap 62 when Mike Sargent spun. On the restart, VanAlst, Billy Hutson and Poore all passed Dossey, who was dealing with a flat tire.
On the final restart, VanAlst made an outside pass on Everidge down the back straight to take the lead. He held on to win by four-tenths of a second over Everidge, with Poore, Eddie Fosnight and Caleb Reschar completing the top five.
“I was stuck behind the 17 (Dossey) and when the yellow came out, I was like you have to go and get it,” VanAlst said. “Starting on the outside on the restart, I never had to drive that hard before.”
Everidge once again found himself on the wrong side of a late-race caution while searching for his first Anderson Speedway victory.
“I was wondering how were we going to lose this one,” Everidge said. “The yellow lights came up and that’s how we lost it. We weren’t very good today; we couldn’t run on the inside. I needed the open track.”
Poore, Olmsted Score Feature Wins
Josh Poore dominated the Vore’s Welding & Steel Street Stocks feature, leading all 35 laps. Ricky Craig finished second, followed by Andrew Cook.
Max Olmsted II also led from start to finish to capture the Beaver Contracting Legends feature.
The Legends race featured a strong field of 27 cars. Olmsted started on the outside of the front row following the invert and never surrendered the lead. Caleb Burge finished second after running in the position throughout the event, with John Robbins completing the podium.
