BATESVILLE, Ark. — Tim Crawley made all the right moves during lap traffic on Friday night at Batesville Motor Speedway and was able to make a long-awaited return to victory lane with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series.
It’s been five years and 157 races since his last triumph, although the win is Crawley’s 47th all-time victory with the Lucas Oil ASCS and his second at Batesville.
“It feels good to get this car back up front. My whole crew works hard to make this happen, and Ronnie [Pitts] gives us everything we need,” Crawley said, who delivered his car owner his first National Tour win.
Crawley started the green flag in third place, moving into second immediately as Jordon Mallett took off with the lead. When a pair of cautions emerged on the second lap, Mallett worked high while Crawley maneuvered the low line.
Biding his time for the pass, Crawley passed Mallett’s No. 14 on lap six.
Crawley and Mallett found themselves in traffic shortly after, being closely stalked by Brandon Anderson. On lap 13, Anderson rolled his No. 55b to the lead, but quickly snagged the wall and flattened his left front tire.
A final caution was thrown on lap 17, allowing Crawley to slowly pull away through the next five laps.
With two laps to go, traffic came into play once again. Crawley slowed trying to get the pass on Kevin Hinkle, but he nearly crawled the back of Hinkle while doing so. The misstep brought Derek Hagar and Cody Gardner into the mix.
Crawley’s lead went from over a second to merely car lengths at the wave of the white flag, with traffic thick into the first and second turns.
With no choice but to open up his entry, Crawley shot up the track and worked a trio of lapped cars between himself and Hager in second place to secure the win by 1.974-seconds.
The final podium step went to Gardner, while Mallett slipped to fourth and Dale Howard completed the top five.
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 1X-Tim Crawley[3]; 2. 9JR-Derek Hagar[5]; 3. G6-Cody Gardner[8]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett[1]; 5. 47-Dale Howard[6]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[13]; 7. 2C-Wayne Johnson[4]; 8. 24-Garet Williamson[12]; 9. 95-Matt Covington[16]; 10. 47X-Sean McClelland[14]; 11. 13C-Chase Howard[9]; 12. 45X-Kyler Johnson[20]; 13. 36-Jason Martin[11]; 14. 91X-Michael Day[10]; 15. 22J-Jax Redline[21]; 16. 10-Landon Britt[17]; 17. 55B-Brandon Anderson[2]; 18. 187-Landon Crawley[7]; 19. 17B-Ryan Bickett[18]; 20. 2-Dylan Opdahl[23]; 21. 10P-Dylan Postier[19]; 22. 71-Bradyn Baker[15]; 23. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[24]; 24. 37-Ayden Gatewood[22]; 25. 99-Blake Jenkins[25]