For Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Levi Jones, the third time was the charm as he claimed the third and final night of non-winged sprint car action on Friday in the 31st annual Winter Nationals at East Bay Raceway Park. Jones took the lead in the No. 20j TSR/Chevrolet/Maxim on lap 25 of the 40-lap O’Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless (TNT) A-main to pick-up the $10,000 payday.
“This win was huge for both Tony Stewart Racing and Chevrolet, †Jones said. “Our team has really worked hard this week. We’ve learned a lot and really found some things that we’re going to be able to use as the season progresses. We had to really hustle to get everything ready to come down here. It’s great that we were able to make it pay off. It’s an awesome way to start out the season. â€
Heavy rain and severe weather threatened Friday night’s racing action, as the Tampa area had received several inches of rain overnight and during the day on Friday. Jones was quick to credit the track owners for their hard work in preparing the 1/3-mile dirt oval.
“You’ve really got to give a lot of credit to the track owners, Al (Varnadore) and Todd (Hutto), because at any other track in the country this race would have been cancelled, †Jones said. “I’m glad we got to race and I’m going enjoy their $10,000. †Jones was locked into Saturday night’s A-main event, having earned enough points to solidify a starting spot in the event finale. After posting the fastest time in hot laps for the evening, Jones started the race from the fourth position, outside of the second row. His victory, combined with his fifth- and 11th-place finishes on Monday and Wednesday night, boosted Jones to a fourth-place standing in the O’Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT championship.
TSR’s Tracy Hines also picked up a solid finish in Friday night’s A-main event, as he drove the No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/Maxim to a sixthplace finish. Locked into the A-main event by virtue of his early week performances, traffic slowed Hines’ advance to the front in Saturday’s 40-lap A-main event. In his first East Bay Raceway Park Winter Nationals appearance, Hines posted one top-five and two top-10 finishes during the week’s racing action. Hines is currently tied for fifth-place in the O’Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT championship.
The 31st annual East Bay Raceway Park Winter Nationals will conclude on Saturday night with the $10,000 to win 40-lap feature for the 410 winged sprint cars. TSR’s Paul McMahan will look to score his second straight top-10 finish in the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Chevrolet/Eagle.
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