Kyle Crump Wins JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Season Opener at Toledo

Kyle Crump went to victory lane in the first points-paying event of the 2025 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance season, winning the Hemelgarn SuperFitness 100 at Toledo Speedway on Saturday.

For the first 77 laps of the contest, it appeared Crump would do battle with 2024 series champion Blake Rowe for the win. However, Rowe was sent to the rear of the field after a second restart violation, giving the lead to Crump.

Crump held off Albert Francis on the ensuing restart and led the rest of the way to take the win in the No. 131 R&D Racing Chevrolet.

Crump acknowledged he had hoped to race with Rowe for the victory rather than having an officials' ruling impact the outcome, but also felt the call was a necessary one.

"Overall, I feel the worst for the fans," said Crump. "I feel like we were gonna have an awesome battle at the end. I mean, the restart controversy hasn't started here. We have a box for a reason. I mean, I try to go in the box and I'm getting my doors blown off. He goes before the box and you've got to do something to narrow it in.

"Blake put on a great battle with me. It was a lot of fun. He's a good friend of mine. It got a little rough. He moved me, so I started giving a little tag team back, but these are Pro Lates. You can get away with that because they're kind of slow around here, so a little easier to hang on to."

Austin Hull finished second to Crump, earning his best career JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour finish. Hull earned two top-five finishes in seven starts with the series in 2024, including a third-place effort at Flat Rock Speedway.

This also marked Hull's first race at the fast Toledo Speedway half-mile, so the Michigan driver was especially pleased with a runner-up finish.

"I'm real happy for our first time here," said Hull. "I just didn't have the fire-off that Kyle had. I could track him down over a long run, but we were just enough on the free side on a long run that it was hooked up. I'd just fire off a little too tight.

Francis rounded out the podium, unable to hold on to the second spot on the final restart after electing to line up alongside Crump on the front row.

"I was just a little too tight on exit on throttle," said Francis. "I made a little mistake on my part taking the outside on the last restart. I wanted a shot at it, but I guess we just weren't good enough to run the top. I raced him as hard as I could to get by him, but being in dirty air, I was just too tight."

The next stop for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance is Anderson Speedway. The Indiana quarter-mile hosts the Great Deals 100 on Saturday, May 10.

-Photo credit: Champion Racing Association