_________________________________________________________
Storm
Doesn’t Put a Damper on “Hurricane” Jody Harrison at Columbus
Thunderstorms were
impending and in the forecast for the entire day, but just when it
seemed like the Super Cup Stock Car Series was in the clear a
downpour shortened the Performance Fiberglass 75 presented by Cool
Shirt to 60 laps. That
didn’t stop Renick, West Virginia’s Jody Harrison from making it
to the front to claim his second straight win at Ohio’s Columbus
Motor Speedway as drops began to fall.
The driver that
paced the practice session in the afternoon, Jim Crabtree Jr. from
Muncie, Indiana, turned in the fastest qualifying time in 15.731
seconds and looked to be well on his way to repeat his win from the
first race of the season at Shenandoah Speedway.
Following
qualifying the invert draw was an eight, putting Crabtree’s son
J.P. on the pole with Todd Peck alongside.
J.P., who just the day before graduated from high school,
would jump out to the early lead.
The race was immediately slowed twice in the first four laps
for Kyle Kromer’s spin and Derrick Layne’s stalled car.
During the next restart it was evident that Jim Crabtree Jr.
had one of the cars to beat as he made passes along the outside on a
track that relies heavily on momentum and is very difficult to pass.
During this green
flag run Jody Harrison, who started seventh, worked his way up to
third while a three-wide battle for fourth between Crabtree, Codie
Rohrbaugh and Brian Harrison took place behind him.
Jody continued working his way toward the front getting by
Kevin Kromer for second and on lap 17 passing J.P. for the lead.
At this point, Jim
Crabtree Jr. worked his way into second and a few laps later to the
outside of Jody for the lead. The
battle wouldn’t last more than a few laps as Crabtree lost control
of his car, spun and made heavy contact with the turn two wall.
Following the race Crabtree talked about what happened.
“I just got a
little anxious when I had seen the rain clouds coming in and I just
overdrove it getting into one. I
should have been a little more patient.
We’ll fix it and come back to the next one.”
Jody Harrison would
pull away from J.P. Crabtree III on the ensuing restart with
Rohrbaugh continuing his strong run behind them. Freehold,
New Jersey’s Howie Conk Jr. used the outside to gain positions and
worked his way into fourth. By
halfway, third place starter Kevin Kromer re-entered the top five
after nearly getting crossed up in the turns during the battle for
the lead and afterward for position with Todd Peck.
After cautions for
Brian Harrison’s car backing into the wall resulting from contact
racing through lapped traffic and another spin by Kyle Kromer, it
appeared that J.P. Crabtree III was catching Jody Harrison for the
lead. Unfortunately, he
would run out of time as the rain started to fall bringing out the
caution on lap 60 and promptly ending the race.
Jody Harrison was
thrilled with his ninth career series victory.
“We had a lot of luck on our side.
It was a close race, close competition and I think you could
have thrown a blanket over the top five cars.
I had a little run in with the Crabtrees, but they’re going
to be tough. Everything
worked out good and we ended up in victory lane.
We’ll have a lot more fun this year.”
Regarding the
battle for the lead and Crabtree’s accident, Jody’s view was
“my spotter told me he was looking high so I figured I’d just
let him run up there. I
kind of got him up beside me and figured I’d just hold him up
there for a little bit. I
knew there’s no passing on the outside at this track, but I
figured we’d put on a good show for a few laps.
I wasn’t going to let him pass me on the outside.”
J.P. Crabtree III
had realistic expectations for a top five finish and came away with
a best career second. Codie
Rohrbaugh scored his second top five in as many starts with a third
place, Kevin Kromer recovered for fourth with Howie Conk Jr.
rounding out the top five in his second career start.
With the win and
bonus points for leading laps, Jody Harrison now jumps into the
point lead after two races with top rookie Codie Rohrbaugh and Jim
Crabtree Jr. close behind.
The Super Cup teams
look to the state of Pennsylvania for their first ever doubleheader
weekend in a few weeks. Motordrome
Speedway in Smithton will host a 50 lap Friday night event followed
by the first visit for the series to CNB Bank Raceway Park in
Clearfield for a 50 lap show the following evening.
www.supercupstockcarseries.com
and the Super Cup Stock Car Series Facebook page (www.facebook.com/scscsracing)
will have race day schedules, updated statistics and more news
leading up to these events.
Click
here for Race Results
Click
here for YouTube Videos
Click
here for Photo Album
_________________________________________________________
