JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Squares up to Anderson Speedway

The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance returns to action Saturday for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 100 at Anderson Speedway. The second race of the 2024 season features the only visit to the home of the Redbud 400 and Little 500, two of the nation’s most sought-after race wins in short track racing. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 100 will be, for some drivers, the biggest hurdle of the 2024 campaign – for others, it’s the best chance for them to go to Victory Lane.

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Saturday will be the 11th appearance for the JEGS Tour to Anderson Speedway since the first event in July of 2011. The most recent visit for the Tour was on August 6th, 2022 when Nicholas Naugle collected his first and only JEGS Tour win. He pulled off the win over Brett Robinson and Dylan Bates. Trent Snyder is the winningest JEGS Tour driver at Anderson with three (3); however, only two drivers on the current entry list have ever won a JEGS Tour race at Anderson, and one has an opportunity to match Snyder’s mark.

2022 ASA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS Champion, Eddie VanMeter won the fifth race held for the JEGS Tour at Anderson in July of 2015. The win is VanMeter’s only triumph in the Pro Late Model division, however, Anderson has been home to other accomplishments for VaMeter including his third career Super Series win in his final and Championship season.

A former dominating figure on the JEGS Tour makes his return on Saturday. Cody Coughlin, a 10-time winner on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour and four-time champion returns to the sanction for the first time since falling off the Tour four races into the 2022 season. Coughlin returns to Anderson Speedway where he collected a pair of wins in 2016 and 2021, both seasons resulted in Championships for the Delaware, Ohio native.

VanMeter and Coughlin will have to deal with a young crop of talent looking to crack into JEGS Tour Victory Lane. Full-time driver, Charlie Keeven has the O’Reilly Auto Parts 100 circled on his calendar as an opportunity for his team to show their strength. A former track record holder, Keeven has finished in the top five in nearly every race he’s competed in at Anderson from Jr Late Models, Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman, to the JEGS Tour.

READ MORE: Watch JEGS/CRA All-Stars at Anderson, Oxford Championship Series on RacingAmerica.TV

Chase Pinsonneault, current Rookie of the Year Championship leader, looks to build on his early success. Fast Qualifier last week at Berlin and an eighth-place finish doesn’t serve as a good indicator of how fast the Carson Hocevar Racing team was. A missed shift on the final restart took the No.14 out of contention for a podium finish. Pinsonneault will have a lot to learn, though, as he visits Anderson Speedway for the first time.

JEGS Tour invaders will also look to capture glory on Saturday including Brett Robinson. The New Albany, Indiana driver is a two-time runner-up on the JEGS Tour, including in the 2022 contest at Anderson Speedway. Robinson says he feels he should have won both races where he was the bride’s maid. Ethan Stadniczuk trades in the headset and wrenches for a steering wheel in week two. Serving as crew chief at Berlin Raceway for Dylan Stovall, the VanDoorn Racing Development drivers will battle head-to-head at Anderson. Stadniczuk grabbed his first outright JEGS Tour win in 2023 at Birch Run Speedway.

Other notable drivers on the entry list include bullring regulars Brandon and Evan Varney, who have cut their teeth on tracks known for close quarter racing and tight action on the track. JP Crabtree of Muncie, Indiana has perhaps the most amount of laps at Anderson this season in a Late Model Sportsman. A pair of second-place finishes including in last week’s Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman race set Crabtree up as one to watch.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 100 on Saturday, May 4th at Anderson Speedway is the only trip to central Indiana for the JEGS Tour in 2024. General Admission gates and the CRA FanZone opens at 3:00 PM. JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance Qualifying begins at 6:30 PM and racing is set to begin at 7:30 PM. Fans who can’t make the trip can catch the action LIVE on TrackTv.com and RacingAmerica.Tv.

For more information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, log onto CRA-Racing.com. Find them on Facebook at CRA: Champion Racing Association and follow @CRARacing on X.

-CRA Racing Press Release
-Photo credit: John Lund