Jake Finch Springs to Show Me the Money Victory at Montgomery

Jake Finch returned to victory lane at Montgomery Motor Speedway on Saturday night, winning the Spring Explosion 100 for the Show Me the Money Series.

Finch took the lead from Christopher Tullis on lap 69 of the 100-lap Pro Late Model contest, finishing 1.8 seconds ahead of Augie Grill for his second career Show Me the Money win.

Last year's Show Me the Money Series champion, Finch qualified sixth but drew the second starting spot during the post-qualifying redraw. That helped put Finch in position to contend for the win after the disappointing qualifying effort.

"I was pretty upset with qualifying," said Finch. "I wanted to qualify a little bit better, but fortunately enough, we ended up getting a good starting spot. I felt like I was struggling a little bit there on the short run with our gear and stuff. As the run went on, I felt like I was pretty consisent."

Finch was patient during the first half of the race, but took the lead from Tullis with 31 laps to go and pulled away for the victory in the Ronnie Sanders Racing No. 18.

"Johnny told me a lot of times, I felt like it was pretty good. I got behind the 12 [of Tullis], and kind of bid my time and slowed down a little bit too much and started overheating. I knew I had to go. I didn't really want to get anybody, but I felt like we had a good car and felt like we had to go."

Grill passed Tullis for the second spot shortly afterwards, but could not keep in touch with Finch in the closing laps.

"He was just a little better than we were tonight," said Grill. "I knew when I got to his bumper and couldn't really make a run on him and try to pass him, he was probably a little better than we were. He was able to get away from me there. We got by Tullis, and he just maintained his gap, maybe opened it up a little bit, and I was doing all I could."

Grill's efforts on the track are still impressive considering his ongoing cancer fight. He shared that he continues to receive positive health updates, and felt fine after completing 100 laps at Montgomery on Saturday.

"I got a good report last week, so things are on the up-and-up," said Grill. "It's going to be a long process, but I feel good. I'm not too wore out after driving a car and it being hot the last two days, so that makes me feel pretty good. I'm not too old for it, yet."

Tullis finished third after leading the first 68 laps of the race. While he was strong out front early, the three-time series champion knew he'd be susceptible to anyone with late-race speed early in the contest.

"We've been missing it over here several times the last couple of trips," said Tullis. "We got it close, it's just tough because you can't change anything in the race, right? I knew about 20 laps into it, we were going to be in trouble come 60 or 70 laps."

After failing to finish in the top five during the entire 2024 Show Me the Money Series, this is a step back in the right direction for Tullis and his team.

"I think we're turning things around. We got off there from when we were winning a lot of races over here. We stayed kind of stagnant and not working on our stuff, and it bit us there for a little while. We're working on it now and we're getting it close. We'll work on it a little bit more and hopefully make it a winner next time."

Aidan Potter finished fourth, with Jim Wall rounding out the top five.

The next Show Me the Money Series event takes place on May 17, with the Disturbing the Peace 100. Outlaws and Late Model Sportsman will also be in action that evening.

Montgomery Motor Speedway's next race is on April 26, headlined by the first round of the Street Stock Triple Crown. Late Model Sportsman and Crown Stocks will take part in that event as well.

-Photo credit: Montgomery Motor Speedway

Spring Explosion 100 Unofficial Results