DELMAR, Del. – Chris Allen Jr. scored his first USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series victory on Wednesday night at the half-mile Delaware Int’l Speedway.
Bill Unglert had the early lead, holding off Allen’s advances until lap seven. Once Allen found a comfortable lane on the top groove, he rocketed past Unglert and secured the lead coming out of turn two.
Until a caution on lap 17, Allen held a four-second lead on the rest of field while he worked his way through lapped traffic. There was a fantastic battle for every position in the top five, as Chandler Leiby, Steven Drevicki and Eddie Strada all traded slide jobs for position.
In the end it was Unglert and Strada on the podium with Allen, who crossed the finish line first by 1.817 seconds.
“It has been a hard couple of years not racing as much as we wish we could, with rainouts and stuff. This win is awesome, though.” said Allen in victory lane.
The win helps carry momentum for Allen, who earned the Hard Charger Award with the East Coast Sprints just four days earlier with a fourth-place finish at Lincoln Speedway.
Ninth-place Eric Jennings was Wednesday night’s hard charger, coming from 14th to ninth.
The finish:
Chris Allen Jr., Bill Unglert, Eddie Strada, Steve Drevicki, Chandler Leiby, Trevor Kobylarz, Mark Bitner, Ryan Quackenbush, Eric Jennings, Mike Thompson, Jonathan Swanson, David Swanson, Heidi Hedin, Craig Pelligrini Jr.