Grand National Super Series
Caraway Speedway Race Results
06/03/23
This past Saturday the Grand National Super Series presented by Engineered Components Company took to the .455 mile track of Caraway Speedway. It would be a very exciting and interesting evening. There was an early practice help in the morning and several of the GNSS gang took advantage of the opportunity to perfect their rides. Eleven of GNSS' finest showed up to compete at the legendary track. Noticeably absent was points leader A.J. Henriksen. Henriksen had a prior engagement and was unable to attend. That did not stop the sparks from flying in the twin fifty features.
The track officially opened at 1. There were two short practice sessions. Jason Kitzmiller held the top spot in the first session and Jake Christman was at the top of the charts in the second session. Qualifying kicked off and Jeremy Mayfield would be the recipient of the Chalew Pole Award. This would be Mayfield's first pole award in GNSS. There would be a six car invert for both races.
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Racing began shortly after seven. Once the green fell it was quickly Mayfield and Kitzmiller battling for the top spot. Kitzmiller would obtain the top spot and hold Mayfield, Christman, Wilder, and Kromer off for several laps. Around halfway the top three of Kitzmiller, Mayfield, and Kromer were so close you could throw a blanket over them as thy pulled away. A few laps later Kitzmiller and Mayfield would break away from Kromer as the rest of the field caught him. In the closing laps Mayfield and Kitzmiller were battling hard. Spending several laps door to door. With two laps to go in race one the two made contact. They both spun around. Kitzmiller escaped seemingly unharmed while Mayfield suffered left front damage. As the pace car took to the track, he was working his way through the cars when it lost control and made contact with the wall busting the radiator. The race would be red flagged for clean up. Both Kitzmiller and Mayfield would be sent to the rear for being involved in the incident. This would put Kromer to the lead. There would be a green, white, checkered finish. The green fell for the final time and the team cars of Kromer and Christman took off. Christman would work his way around his K2 Motorsports teammate and take the checkered. Kromer would finish second followed by Mopar Mafia driver Joe Wilder.
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There would be a brief rain delay before race two would start. The order of race two is set by the finishing order of race one with an inversion of the top six. Jason Kitzmiller sustained more damage than was originally thought after the race one incident and he bowed out for race two. This would put Mayfield and the 30 of Jason McDowell on row one. The race would finally go green around 11:30. Mayfield would quickly get out front, but McDowell was not about to let him get away so easily. The cars quickly fell single file into line behind Mayfield; McDowell, Wilder, Christman, and Kromer. On lap seventeen the caution would come out for the 57 of Donnie Doster as he spun. It would only be a quickie yellow as no damage was sustained. This would close the gap and allow McDowell the opportunity to get around Mayfield. The green dropped and McDowell and Mayfield were side by side. McDowell was finally able to get around Mayfield and lead before Mayfield caught a run and took the lead back. McDowell would lose a bit of momentum allowing teammate Joe Wilder to catch him. Wilder and McDowell battled side by side racing hard, but clean for several laps before Wilder finally caught a run and made it around McDowell. Behind the battling Mopar cars Jake Christman was biding his time waiting for his moment. Once they sorted out Christman made his move. First around McDowell then set his sights on Wilder. Christman worked his way around Wilder and zeroed in on Mayfield. Christman hunted down the NASCAR veteran and was able to get right on his back bumper. Mayfield who is not easily rattled was able to hold off the charge from Christman and win race two. Christman would be the recipient of both Howe Enterprises Hard Charger Awards.
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The next event for the Grand National Super Series presented by Engineered Components Company will be Saturday June 17th at Montgomery Motor Speedway in Montgomery, Alabama. This will be GNSS first appearance at Montgomery Motor Speedway and in Alabama as the series expands.
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Race one results
1. Jake Christman
2. Kevin Kromer
3. Joe Wilder
4. Jason McDowell
5. Jeremy Mayfield
6. Jason Kitzmiller
7. Donnie Doster
8. Marc Jones
9. Cody Dennison
10. Larry Wilcox
11. Mike K.
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Race two results
1. Jeremy Mayfield
2. Jake Christman
3. Joe Wilder
4. Kevin Kromer
5. Jason McDowell
6. Mike K.
7. Marc Jones
8. Donnie Doster
9. Cody Dennison
10. Larry Wilcox
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Written by JD Bowsher