NASHVILLE — Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway came alive on Thursday night with the inaugural running of the Battle of Broadway 150 presented by Tootsie’s.
Trey Craig topped the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Pro Late Models and Chuck Barnes Jr. aced the street stock feature on the high-banked five-eighths-mile oval.
Chase Johnson and Trey Craig brought the field of JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Pro Late Models to the green for the Battle of Broadway 150 presented by Tootsie’s. Johnson took the lead at the green with Craig falling into line behind him.
Over the early laps, the duo pulled away as NASCAR driver Ross Chastain moved into third spot.
On lap 42, two-time track champion, Cole Williams, started his trek forward, shooting by to the inside of Chastain for the third spot. On the following 18 laps, Williams closed the gap on the top two and Craig race by Johnson for the first lead change of the race on lap 61 as Williams trailed. A competition yellow took place on lap 62, slowing the pace after a 50-lap green flag run.
Following the comp yellow, Craig resumed in control of the race, pulling out to a several car length lead but the driver on the move was the No. 5 of Brett Robinson. Robinson moved from sixth on lap 71 to fourth on lap 72, then to third one lap later.
On lap 95, Robinson shot past Williams to take second. For 15 laps, Robinson started closing the gap on the leader before Craig again started to stretch his lead.
Another 50-lap run took the race to lap 122 for a second competition yellow, giving teams the chance to come to pit road for a final time to take fuel and right-side tires for the final shootout to the checkered.
The racing over the final 20 laps was intense. Chastain, Deuser, Berry, and Williams were all mixing it up but as they did, Craig, Robinson, and Deuser were pulling away. Deuser was able to run down second place Robinson and started to challenge with ten to go but was never ever able to get by.
The race went green for the final 23 laps, which was great news for Craig as he had a sizable lead. At the checkered, the Louisville, Ky., driver claimed his first Nashville win of the season by 1.217 seconds over Robinson, Deuser, Chastain and Berry.
In the 30-lap street stock feature, Barnes raced past Dillon Oliver for the lead on lap six and drove to a 2.063-second victory over Oliver and Gus Moody.