The first driver to
challenge Neal for the top spot was Noblesville veteran Joe
Beaver
who stayed glued to Neal’s rear bumper for the first half of the race.
Several times Beaver attempted to get underneath Neal in lapped
traffic or coming off the corners but was unable to complete the pass.
Kentucky driver Beau
Mitchell moved into the second spot on a restart on lap 176 when
Beaver was slow to come up to speed. Mitchell kept tapping the rear
bumper of Neal’s car for most of the second half of the race.
At the lap 180 mark the two
leaders made contact entering turn one, Neal got loose and Mitchell
backed off and tried to get inside coming off the second corner, but
Neal was able to drive back to the bottom.
Then with 40 laps remaining
Mitchell got inside of Neal entering turn one, the two drivers traded
paint with Neal maintaining the advantage. From there Neal started to
pull away to win going away at the checkers.
Mitchell finished second
followed by Beaver, Jason Thompson and Brian Hopkins. Josh Burton,
Rich Boyer and Tim McLaughlin finished on the lead lap.
"I’ve got a lot of people
to thank," Neal said after claiming the $5,000 first place money.
"What a great series and a great bunch of racers. What a great race."
Several front-runners were
knocked from contention by mechanical problems. The first driver to
suffer a problem was Johnny Magee, who slowed on a restart on lap 16
while running fifth.
Muncie’s Bret Miles Jr.
dropped out after 29 laps while running fourth and on the
same
lap Bret Miles was done for the night. The next front-runner to
experience mechanical problems was Kentucky driver Brett Hudson, who
was running fourth at the time.
There were 15 cars running
at the finish. The caution flag waved 16 times for a total of 71 laps,
mostly for one car spins. John Weisenauer and Dick Dunlevy Jr. got
together entering turn one on lap 113 to bring out the final caution
before the break.
The red flag flew on lap
201 when Chesterfield’s Steve Rapier Jr.’s car lost an engine entering
the first turn and backed into the outside retaining wall with flames
erupting from the hood.
Beaver and Neal were the
fast qualifiers with Brent Miles Jr., Beau Mitchell and Brett Hudson
rounding out the top five during time trials.
Neal took home the Crumrine
Buckle Manufacturing Winners Award and the McGunegill Engine
Performance bonus. Eddie Wolf earned the TCI Automotive Hard
Charger Award and Beau Mitchell took the Taylor Wires Award.
The CRA Street Stocks will
be in action on July 2 at Winchester Speedway in a special non-points
race with the National USAC Sprints and the Rich Vogler Classic and
Vore's Welding and Steel CRA FWD Compacts, for more information see
www.winchesterspeedway.com.
For more information about CRA Street Stocks go
here.
Anderson 300
Official Results
Joe Beaver Set Fast Time for Anderson 300
Joe Beaver set fast time for the Anderson 300 with a time of
13.932 seconds, Scott Neal was second at 13.976, Bret Miles, Jr.
third, Beau Mitchell fourth and Brett Hudson fifth. The race
will start "heads up" with Beaver on the pole.
Anderson 300
Qualifying Results
Anderson 300
Lineup