TOLEDO, OH - Brian Campbell held off a furious late race charge from 16-year-old Anderson Bowen to grab his 13th career ARCA/CRA Super Series victory in the series season opener in the 7-Up 150 at Toledo Speedway in Toledo, Ohio Saturday in a combination event with the ARCA Midwest tour.
"That was a lot of fun," said Campbell, of Wyoming, MI, in victory lane. "Between the traffic there towards the end, then the two restarts. I tell you, Anderson (Bowen) is a talented kid and he's got a bright future ahead of him. We were good all weekend long and I knew the car would be there at the end.
"Man what a great way to start the season. Especially here"
Defending ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion Travis Braden and ARCA Midwest Tour veteran Donny Reuvers brought the field down to the green flag to kick of the 2014 season for both tours, with Braden grabbing the early lead. He paced the field for the first 44 laps before suddenly slowing, handing the lead to Campbell.
One lap later, Derrick Griffin skated past Campbell to take over the top spot. Campbell would catch back up to Griffin and on lap 69 made what turned out to be the winning pass back for the lead.
A lap later, the hardest hit of the afternoon occurred when Reuvers pounded the turn one wall and collected James Swan. Both drivers were okay but done for the day.
At that point, ARCA/CRA Super Series Officials decided to take the halfway break which was scheduled for lap 76. On the ensuing restart, Campbell pulled away to a stout lead while Suwanee, GA's Anderson Bowen worked his way up to second. A caution bunched up the field, giving Bowen a chance at Campbell.
On the first restart, Bowen edged out ahead of Campbell only to see the yellow wave once more. On the final restart, Bowen again edged out ahead, but Campbell fought his way back by Bowen and would pull away to secure the win.
"We have a good team in place here at LakeShore Motorsports," Campbell said. "Our goal is definitely the 2014 ARCA/CRA Super Series Championship and this is a great way to start towards that."
The second points race of the 2014 racing season for the ARCA/CRA Super Series will be at the track that has hosted the most events in ARCA/CRA history, the fast quarter mile high-banked paved oval of Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Indiana on Saturday, April 26.
ARCA/CRA Super Series
Toledo Speedway - Toledo, OH
7-Up 150 (Unofficial) - April 12, 2014
1. 47 Brian Campbell
2. 29 Anderson Bowen
3. 42 Chad Finley
4. 77 Ross Kenseth
5. 2W Donnie Wilson
6. 87 Nathan Haseleu
7. 1 Cody Coughlin
8. 66 Stephen Wallace
9. 25 Derrick Griffin
10. 72 Scott Hantz
11. 26 Rick Turner
12. 5C Alec Carll
13. 7 Pauly Shafer, Jr.
14. 77E Jonathan Eilen
15. 39 Andrew Morrissey
16. 6 Brandon Hermiller
17. 5 Brett Robinson
18. 5J Casey Johnson
19. 58 Cardell Potter
20. 91 Ty Majeski
21. 8 Eddie Hoffman
22. 131 Nick Gullatta
23. 9 Brandon Watson
24. 41 Donny Reuvers
25. 97 James Swan
26. 28 Ali Kern
27. 01 Travis Braden
28. 51 Brandon Oakley
29. 75W Chris Weinkauf
30. 2 Jason Weinkauf
Wednesday
April 24th, 2024
6:48PM
