Champion Racing Association officials have announced the first group of entries for the upcoming CRA SpeedFest 2017, which will be held on January 28-29 at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia.
CRA SpeedFest 2017 will consist of a 200 lap ARCA/CRA Super Series Super Late Model special non-points event and a 125 lap JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Pro Late Model special non-points event. The 200 ARCA/CRA Super Series event will be an eight tire event and will count yellow flag laps up to lap 175. The 125 lap JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour event will be a four tire only event and will count yellow flag laps up to lap 100.
In addition, the SpeedFest 2017 will also feature a 20 lap Legend feature and a 15 lap Bandolero feature.
NASCAR racer Erik Jones tops the early list of entries. Jones will compete in the 200 lap Super Late Model event for KBR Motorsports, the same team he won the Battle at Berlin 251 in June and at Lucas Oil Raceway in July. Jones raced full-time with the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2016 for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he won four races and finished fourth in final series driver points. In 2017, he will move up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, in a second car for Furniture Row Racing.
Also entered is NASCAR veteran Sterling Marlin, who will compete in the Pro Late Model event. The two time Daytona 500 winner captured 10 wins with 216 top 10’s and 11 pole awards during his NASCAR Cup Series career. Marlin is a regular competitor at Tennessee’s Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville in their Pro Late Model Division.
The state of Georgia is already well represented in the early event entries, led by 14-year-old Chandler Smith of Jasper, who is entered to do double duty in both the Super Late and Pro Late races. Other Georgia drivers entered for the Pro Late Model event include Flowery Branch’s Dalton Grindle, Kevin Herbert of Cumming and Dacula native Christopher Tullis.
Sixteen year old Harrison Burton, son of former NASCAR driver and current NBC TV analyst Jeff Burton, is entered for the Super Late Model event, along with 16-year-old Christian Eckes, who is hot off a win in the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.
Florida native Steve Dorer is also entered for the Super Late Model event, as is the father and son team of Jay and Tate Fogleman.
Indiana native Cole Williams is entered for the Pro Late Model event, along with Alabama racers Justin South and Bobby Knox, Jr. Hunter Byrd from Tennessee and Kent Crane from Missouri are also both entered for the Pro Late Model race.
Additional entries for both events are expected to continue to arrive over the next month leading up to the event.
For more information on SpeedFest 2017, visit CRA-Racing.com.
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