WINCHESTER, Ind. – Cody Coughlin put an exclamation point on this third JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour championship by winning Friday’s season finale at Winchester Speedway.
With the championship locked up just past the halfway point, Coughlin made a late race charge during a 66-lap green flag run.
The Ohio driver climbed from the sixth spot on lap 40 to take the lead from Stephen Nasse with an outside pass on lap 91 on the front straight.
Nasse pulled to the inside as Coughlin flew past to settle for second, followed by Bill VanMeter, Kyle Jones and Chase Burba.
The margin of victory was 3.7 seconds in a race slowed by three caution flags and one red flag. There were four lead changes among three drivers.
Coughlin locked up the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour title for the third time when the last of his three rivals, Travis Braden, retired after 34 laps.
Coughlin is also a contender for the ARCA/CRA Super Series title on Sunday during the Winchester 400.
“We’re going to celebrate this one tonight,” Coughlin said. “It was unfortunate the other guys had some hard hits, I would rather duke it out.
“You never knew if there will be a late caution,” he said. “We had a little vibration that made me nervous.”
Nasse said after lap 85 his car started shutting off in turns one and two.
“We had some kind of battery issue,” he said.
For Indianapolis driver, VanMeter it was a career-best finish. VanMeter was glad to finish third in a car that hadn’t been on the track in a year.
“We had some good runs today,” he said of his consistent run.
VanMeter led the first 13 laps before giving way to Nasse for two laps, retaking the point with an outside pass on the front straight.
Nasse retook the lead on a lap 34 restart and led until he was passed by Coughlin.
The start of the race was marred by two cautions and a red flag within the first 13 laps, eliminating the cars of Colby Lane, Bobby Reuse, championship contender Charlie Keeven and Jonathan Martin.
After climbing from fourth to second in the space of two laps Braden made contact on lap 34 with an apparent front end suspension problem.
Championship contender Josh Brock’s bid came to an end on lap six when he spun off in turn three while running third and collected the fourth place running car of Albert Francis and Rick Turner. Only Turner was able to continue.
Michigan driver Burba won rookie of the year honors.
The finish:
Cody Coughlin, Stephen Nasse, Billy VanMeter, Kyle Jones, Chase Burba, Mason Keller, James Krueger, Mandy Chick, Zachary Tinkle, Corey Deuser, Jared Crabtree, Trevor McCoy, J.P. Crabtree, Rick Turner, Travis Braden, Brandon Varney, Charlie Keeven, Bobby Reuse, Jonathan Martin, Colby Lane, Josh Brock, Albert Francis, Chris Munson.