ANDERSON – There were distinctly races during the first visit of the Champion Racing Association to Anderson Speedway for the Spring Fling.
Defending track champion Jeff Marcum too advantage of the luck of the draw and started on the pole position for the 75-lap feature which saw Chad Richardson set fast time.
Marcum jumped into the lead chased closely by Nathan Greene and Cassten Everidge.
After 30 laps with Marcum in the lead he continued to be chased by Greene and Everidge.
The only caution flag waved on lap 47 when Richardson stopped on the front straight wiping out a significant lead for Marcum.
Everidge moved into the second spot on the restart but just two laps later was forced to retire with smoke pouring from the race car.
Marcum scored this all-time leading 17th feature win with the CRA Late Model Sportsman Series with Jason Shively and rookie contender Nathan Engdahl rounding out the top five.
“Crew chief told me these guys are fast, drive it like you stole it,” Marcum said in victory lane. “I did that every lap.”
He said the team didn’t qualify well and he was not happy with the car.
“Literally at the start of the race, I didn’t know what kind of car I was going to have,” Marcum said. “The car got better and stayed the same after ten laps.
“I learned something in qualifying,” he laughed. “Hit the invert and start on the pole.”
Alan Williams scored his first career win CRA Street Stock win at Anderson Speedway but had to work through 11 restarts to finally see the checkered flag.
Fast time was set by defending speedway champion Andrew Cook and the invert put first time competitor Josh Ebbert on the pole with Jake McElfresh alongside.
A lap wasn’t completed when Ebbert spun the tires on his race car and spin on the front straight.
That put Williams on the front row and he jumped into the lead, a position he would maintain until the finish.
At times he was challenged by McElfresh, James Kirby and Cook.
A three-lap shoot out was set up for the win when Phil Jenkins and Joe Pulley tangled on the front straight.
Williams was able to hold off Cook on the restart to win by .3-tenths of second with Kirby coming home in third.
“They didn’t make it easy on us tonight,” said Williams. “We would get into a groove and the caution flag would wave.
“We brought a good piece and it stayed steady all night,” he said.
Williams has won both CRA Street Stock races contested this year and is now considering running for the championship.
Bo Hoelcher set fast time and led all 50 laps to win the Chad Iliff Classic for the Vores Compact Touring Series.
Karter Stark closed on Hoelcher in the waning laps but was unable to challenge for win. Jake Albright came hom third followed by local competitors Trent and Tom Gossar.
