RECAP: Pinsonneault, Earley, and Studt take huge wins at the Diversified Excavating 125!
RECAP: Pinsonneault, Earley, and Studt take huge wins at the Diversified Excavating 125!
Chase Pinsonneault notched his second career JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour victory on Saturday, winning the Diversified Excavating 125 at Flat Rock Speedway.
Pinsonneault pulled out front after Justin Schroeder spun on a late restart, opening the door for his first win with the series in 2025. On a long, hot day at Flat Rock, stamina was the name of the game. The Canadian driver outlasted the competition to pick up the win in the 125-lap feature race.
"I'm gassed," said Pinsonneault. "That was a workout, for sure. Schroeder gave me a really good run for my money there. Just execution all night. Our whole team did an amazing job through practice. I thought we had a long-run car, so to be fourth after qualifying, I was like, wow, we have a really good piece."
More than a year has passed since Pinsonneault's last JEGS/CRA victory, coming in the Big O Classic 100 at Owosso Speedway in 2024. There had been several close calls, including three more podium finishes to close out the 2024 season, but Pinsonneault got back to victory lane on Saturday night.
"I feel like I've been knocking on the door for this one for a really long time," he said. "We've had a lot of speed this year, just haven't went our way. I just haven't finished out a race. I feel like this is the first race, start to finish, we've completed 100 percent. Everything I was supposed to do in terms of execution, and the crew gave me a really, really awesome race car."
Dylan Stovall rallied for a second-place finish, a huge recovery after issues early in the day during practice that led to extensive work on his No. 24 before qualifying.
"I'm just wore out," said Stovall. "My guys killed it. We thought we were loading up. I thought we were loading up, and my guys didn't let us. They put the car back together. I'll take a second any day of the week right now with how the day went. Congratulations to Chase. He made me look like a little kid, and he's a little kid."
Keegan Sobilo rounded out the podium, finishing third in the field of 23 cars.
"That was a tough one, for sure. Just survived. First thing I have to say, I apologize to Dylan. I didn't mean to hit him that hard and do something. I tried to let him collect it, so he didn't lose his spot. We didn't tear up any more race cars, so that's my fault, there."
"We're starting to improve and get better week in and week out. Hopefully, that's positive. It shows the hard work we put in over the offseason."
Gavan Boschele finished fourth, with Albert Francis rounding out the top five.
Indiana's Billy VanMeter would take the fastest lap and topple a decade-old track record in the process as well, with a lap time of 11.952 seconds in the heat of the day.
The next stop for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour is the Fourth Up North 104 at Whittemore Speedway on Saturday, July 5.
In the DTS Drive Train Specialists Street Stocks feature, Greg Studt would hold off a hard charge by Jonny Rangel and Kenyon Knight in a clean dash to the finish! Regan Ford Jr would come home in fourth, and Riyan Smith closed out the top five.
Landon Schuster would finish sixth, followed by Dale Cronenwett in seventh and Rob Randa in eighth. Evan Batkins came home in ninth, and Jeremy Vanderhoof would close out the top ten.
In the R&M Recycling Figure 8 division, the newest generation of the Motor City Madmen were the class of the field, with Travis Earley taking a narrow victory over Avery Vanderhoof. Billy Earley would come home in third, followed by Jeremy Vanderhoof and Brice Thomsen.
Dave Lambert in the 02 would swing by in sixth place, followed by Dennis Whisman Jr. Stephanie Bradley, Randy Roberts, and Chase Loving would round out the top ten!
The DTS Drive Train Specialists Street Stock division and R&M Recycling Figure 8 division are back in action this next Saturday night as a part of the five division special JAC LED ARCA Autograph Night, presented by Max & Karen Scott! This is your chance to meet the stars of Flat Rock Speedway across all five divisions in a unique autograph set-up in the garage area. You can get your tickets NOW at Flatrockspeedway.com, or by clicking the link below!
