ANDERSON, Ind. — Lady Luck smiled on Eddie VanMeter with12 laps remaining allowing him to open the Champion Racing Ass’n Super Series with a victory.
It appeared VanMeter was going to settle for a third-place finish at Anderson Speedway on Sunday in the 125-lap feature sponsored by Mitch Smith Automotive and Perfecto.
Dalton Armstrong took the lead from Scotty Tomasik on lap 18 and was being challenged by fast-qualifier Hunter Jack from lap 37.
With Armstrong’s tires starting to fade, Jack was able to get inside coming off the fourth corner on lap 112 and the two front-runners made contact entering turn one.
With both Armstrong and Jack being sent to the tail of the field, that put VanMeter on the point chased by Cody Coughlin and Albert Francis.
For the final 12 circuits, Coughlin kept trying to get underneath VanMeter for the lead to no avail coming up .152 seconds short at the finish.
Francis, who was twice sent to the tail of the field early in the race after contact with Austin Thom, managed to come home third followed by JP Crabtree and Tomasik.
“I’ll take luck anytime,” VanMeter said following his victory. “That was fun. I’m glad Cody (Coughlin) was behind me and not someone else. We would have had some torn-up race cars.”
Coughlin said he did everything he could to pass VanMeter for the victory.
“I tried to be as aggressive as I could and not turn him,” Coughlin said.
Francis said he was waiting for VanMeter and Coughlin to take each other out in the closing stages of the race.
“I used up the right front tire coming back to the front,” he said. “I used my stuff early in the race and we were too loose on the bottom and too tight on the outside.”
Early in the race Jack used the high groove to move from the fifth spot in the running order to second, the only driver to venture to the outside racing line.
The finish:
1) Eddie VanMeter; 2) Cody Coughlin; 3) Albert Francis; 4) JP Crabtree; 5) Scotty Tomasik; 6) Hunter Jack; 7) Dalton Armstrong; 8) Austin Thom; 9) Jeff Marcum; 10) Neal McClelland; 11) Kyle Crump; 12) Cassten Everidge; 13) Billy VanMeter