ARCA Rookie Blake Jones Wins Big At Talladega

Blake Jones made his first career trip to ARCA victory lane Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.  Photo courtesy ARCA Media

Blake Jones made his first career trip to ARCA victory lane Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. Photo courtesy ARCA Media

ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards rookie Blake Jones gave Cunningham Motorsports two straight wins at Talladega Superspeedway, taking the lead from teammate Tom Hessert on the final lap of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 Friday night.

“This is a dream come true,” said the 18-year-old Jones. “To come here and win at Talladega in just my second restrictor plate track is unbelievable.”

Jones took the lead on the final restart of the race, surviving four cautions and a red flag to pull in front of his Cunningham Motorsports teammate when Hessert ran out of gas after taking the green and white flag together. Venturini Motorsports driver Cody Coughlin, in the No. 55 JEGS Toyota, was second after winning the Menards Pole Award while Cole Powell was third in the No. 58 Lira Motorsports Ford.

Brandon Jones, in the Tide-Menards Toyota, finished fourth with Russ Dugger trailing in fifth.

“We had been working on restarts all day trying to get a jump on him (Hessert),” the Atlanta, GA driver said. “I don’t know if we would have been able to get him on that one or not, but when he dropped down I just had to hang in there.”

Jones, driving the No. 22 Uncle Ray’s Potato Chips Dodge, will graduate high school in Tennessee next week. He said Crew Chief Paul Andrews played a big role in the win.

“I can’t think him enough for the car he gave me,” Jones said. “It’s just unreal.”

The race went 79 laps, three laps more than the advertised 76-lap distance when a caution came out for a Josh Williams spin just after Hessert had taken the white flag. The extra laps proved to be too much for Hessert, who ran out of gas.

Matt Kurzejewski finished sixth in the Costy’s Energy Service Chevrolet and Scott Sheldon seventh in the Allegiant Travel Chevrolet. Sarah Cornett-Ching placed a career-best eighth in the Race101.net Chevrolet while Bo LeMastus also gained a career-best finish ninth in the Crosley-T&T Construction-Glad Performance Dodge. Tyler Audie finished a career-best 10th in the Audie Expo Toyota.

It was a big point day for SCOTT Rookie Challenge point leader David Levine, who finished 11th in the Gary Yeomans-Ford Performance-TraqGear Ford. Buster Graham was 12th in the Louisiana Tech Ford. The top three drivers in the point standings – and four of the top five – had trouble during the race. Grant Enfinger crashed with 10 laps to go. Austin Wayne Self, who was second, crashed on lap 53, and Josh Williams finished 18th after the spin on lap 76. Hessert finished 15th.

Self and Brad Smith were involved in a crash that caused the first caution. Smith was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation after a hard hit into the Talladega safer barrier. Will Kimmel, Enfinger and Clay Campbell were involved in a late-race crash on the backstretch as well.

“We were trying to make a run back to the front,” Enfinger said. “I feel like we had the car to do it in. It’s disappointing.”

Powell climbed 18 spots, from 21st to third.

“Great run,” Powell said. “We didn’t start our day off like we wanted to, but we never gave up all day. I’m ecstatic about third place.”

Hessert led the most laps, 60, and Coughlin led 11 laps and Jones eight. The race took one hour and 40 minutes to complete.

The ARCA Racing Series next races at Toledo Speedway, the home track for the series. The Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care will be May 17.

ARCA Racing Series
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL
International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 – May 1, 2015

FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS
1 3 22 Blake Jones/Sevierville TN Uncle Ray’s Potato Chips Dodge 79 Running
2 1 55 Cody Coughlin/Delaware OH JEGS Toyota 79 Running
3 21 58 Cole Powell/Mount Brydges Ontario Gary Yeomans Ford 79 Running
4 9 25 Brandon Jones/Atlanta GA Tide-Menards Toyota 79 Running
5 12 80 Russ Dugger/Owasso OK Finney-Gosselin Racing Chevrolet 79 Running
6 6 54 Matt Kurzejewski/Mansfield PA Costy’s Energy Service Chevrolet 79 Running
7 11 20 Scott Sheldon/Las Vegas NV Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 79 Running
8 18 2 Sarah Cornett-Ching/Summerland BC Race101.net Chevrolet 79 Running
9 13 42 Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY Crosley Brands-T&T Constr-Glad Precision Dodge 79 Running
10 15 12 Tyler Audie/Orlando FL Audie Expo-NP Properties Toyota 79 Running
11 19 59 David Levine/Highland Park IL Ford Performance-Traqgear-Gary Yeomans Ford 79 Running
12 14 17 Buster Graham/Lafayette LA Louisiana Tech Ford 79 Running
13 17 66 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air Toyota 79 Running
14 7 15 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN 101 Ranch Records-Menards Toyota 79 Running
15 2 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Barbera’s Autoland Dodge 79 Running
16 20 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario JAAR Excavating Toyota 79 Running
17 24 10 Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY Milton CAT-Double H Ranch Chevrolet 79 Running
18 22 6 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL Southwest Florida Cable Construction Ford 79 Running
19 25 68 Chris Bailey/South Park PA CA Bailey Excavating-Notch Gear Ford 78 Running
20 27 9 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL DK-LOK Ford 77 Running
21 26 76 Andy Seuss/Salisbury NC O.B. Builders Chevrolet 77 Running
22 30 97 Bobby Hamilton Jr./Greenbrier TN Nitroforce Industries Titan 1000 Dodge 77 Running
23 35 7 George Cushman/Waterville NY Cushman Truck Repair Chevrolet 77 Running
24 34 95 Scott Edwards/Ormond Beach FL Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge 77 Running
25 28 06 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ Kan Do Chevrolet 77 Running
26 8 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil-MAV TV Chevrolet 76 Electrical
27 32 0 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD Colonial Bus Ford 76 Running
28 10 23 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL Alamo-BeasleyAllen.com Chevrolet 66 Accident
29 5 69 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN Kimmel Racing Ford 66 Accident
30 16 52 Clay Campbell/Martinsville VA Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet 66 Accident
31 23 48 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Radon.com Ford 52 Accident
32 4 98 Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX AM Technical Solutions-Pirate Energy Ford 52 Accident
33 31 40 Eric Caudell/Piedmont OK Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge 37 Electrical
34 29 3 Josh White/Charleston WV LRSolutions-Hixson Construction Chevrolet 21 Transmssn
35 33 00 Tim Viens/Daytona Beach FL Racedaysponsor.com Ford 7 Overhtng
Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell:  Cody Coughlin 50.968 (187.883 mph)
Margin of Victory:  0.551 seconds Cautions:  4 for 27 laps
Time of Race:  1:40:29 Average Speed:  125.478 mph
Lap Leaders:  Coughlin 1-3, 9-15, 17 (11); Blake Jones 4-8, 73, 78-79 (8); Hessert 16, 18-72, 74-77 (60)

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