For the first time in the 2020 racing season, Jennerstown Speedway Complex was forced to cancel the scheduled stock car racing for Saturday June 27th, due to inclement weather. Although the “5-Division Racing” will not be rescheduled, the first round of this season’s Enduro action will utilize a rain date. “The Shane Shaffer Inc. 75” was scheduled to launch the monthly Enduro competition, after the races concluded this past Saturday night. The new date for the Enduro event will be announced in the coming days.
This Saturday night, July 4th, the nationally traveling CARS Tour and the Champion Racing Association (CRA) will make their inaugural visits to the Jennerstown Speedway Complex on Independence Day weekend for the Thomas Automotive American Freedom 300.
The two sanctioning bodies have joined forces for a doubleheader at Jennerstown on July 4. The Super Late Models of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour and the ARCA/CRA Super Series will compete in a $20,000-to-win, 200-lap race, while the JEGS/CRA All Star Tour presented by Chevrolet Performance will contest a 100-lap Pro Late Model race. An Independence Day fireworks show will complete the evening’s doubleheader.
CARS Tour series owner Jack McNelly, who grew up in nearby Cross Creek, Pennsylvania, believes that the Thomas Automotive American Freedom 300 will introduce drivers from around the country to Jennerstown and introduce the fans of Central Pennsylvania to some of the best asphalt drivers in the country.
“This will be a track that a majority of the field has never raced at,” said McNelly. “You have drivers like Brian Campbell, Josh Brock, and Kyle Crump from the CRA, and then Matt Craig, Trevor Noles, and Sammy Smith from the CARS Tour.
“There are also drivers from the Deep South like Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, and Chris Davidson entered. You’re going to have a star-studded field at a neutral track that few have any experience on,” explained an excited McNelly.
The $20,000-to-win, 200-lap Super Late Model race will feature controlled cautions, which will allow teams to change tires, take fuel, and make adjustments to their cars. Those competitors that choose to pit will only lose positions to drivers who do not come down pit road. Teams will be allowed to either change tires or take fuel, but may not do both on the same controlled caution.
The 100-lap Pro Late Model event for the JEGS/CRA All Star Tour presented by Chevrolet Performance will be a standard format event without necessary pit stops.
“The controlled cautions will add an element of strategy into the race. Teams will have to pick the right time to change tires and fill up with enough fuel to go the distance,” said McNelly. “Even though we’ll have a firework show after the event, I think there will be some fireworks on-track as well.”
Tickets for the inaugural Thomas Automotive American Freedom 300 are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the event for adults 13 years of age and older. Fans 12 and under are free with a paid adult. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. on July 4. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at www.carsracingtour.com.
