Mooresville, N.C.- This past Saturday's event at Carteret County Speedway was one of thrills, excitement, and heartbreak. The day started off with practice with Kevin Kromer setting fast time. Eric Barber had mechanical failures on the way to the event preventing him from taking time. Craig Osborne then came out of retirement stepping into the 54. Craig had not been behind the wheel since 2005, and quickly shook the dust off.
Next up was qualifying. Bob Schacht who made his return to the driver's seat after being sidelined with an injury would take the Chalew Pole Award. A.J. Henriksen was not far behind, followed closely by Kevin Kromer in third, Lauren Butler in fourth, and Marc Jones rounded out the top five. The entire field would be inverted for the start of race one.
With the invert Larry Wilcox and Craig Osborne would lead the field to green. Immediately after the start the field began battling. Mike Kurkowski would lead the first three laps, but Marc Jones wanted a piece of the action, and took the lead. On lap four the caution came out for the 21 car of Eric Barber who had a flat tire. Barber was originally scheduled to drive the 54, but when he had travel woes Craig Osborne stepped up and jumped in the 54. The green flew once again. Jones then found himself defending the lead with Henriksen knocking on the door. However, Jones wouldn't make it easy for him. Henriksen would take the lead, but the two cars battled back and forth for several laps. Bob Schacht was also on the move from his rear starting position after the invert. The caution would once again come out on lap twenty-three when Kevin Kromer had a flat tire. Kromer was able to get to pit road without any damage and after the pit stop was once again a force to be reckoned with. The rest of the race would go caution free. Henriksen was able to hold off a very determined Bob Schacht to take the checkered flag.
For the second race the field would be inverted based upon the finishing order of the first race. Both Osborne and Barber elected to start in the rear. Larry Wilcox and young Garrett Braden would be bringing the field to green this time. After the green fell Braden would quickly get out front to lead his first lap in GNSS competition. Mike Kurkowski was on a mission to get out front and would take the lead from Braden. Kurkowski led the way for several laps before being challenged by Kevin Kromer. Kromer would take over the lead at lap six. He knew he had to get out front and extend his lead as much as possible as Henriksen and Schacht were coming through the field. On lap eleven the caution flew for the only time in race two. Braden had made contact with the wall between turns one and two. Braden emerged unscathed, but his night was over. The red was brought out for the cleanup. Carteret County Speedway has a curfew, so the race was then shortened to forty laps. The green was out once again, and Kromer was the man to beat. Kromer held the lead until lap thirty-one when Henriksen took over. Henriksen was able to hold on to the lead to sweep both races of the evening. Kevin Kromer was the Howe Racing Enterprise's hard charger for both races.
The Grand National Super Series presented by Engineered Components Co's next tour stop will be Franklin County Speedway in Callaway, Virginia on August 27th. As always, we want to thank our amazing sponsors who make all this possible; Engineered Components Co., Chalew Performance, Howe Racing Enterprises, and Circle Track Warehouse.
Race 1 Results 1. A.J, Henriksen 2. Bob Schacht 3.Marc Jones 4. Kevin Kromer 5. Lauren Butler 6. Mike Kurkowski 7. Garrett Braden 8. Larry Wilcox
9. Craig Osborne 10. Eric Barber
Race 2 Results 1. A.J. Henriksen 2. Kevin Kromer 3. Bob Schacht 4. Marc Jones 5. Lauren Butler 6. Mike Kurkowski 7. Larry Wilcox 8. Eric Barber 9. Craig Osborne 10. Garrett Braden
Written by JD Bowser
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