Blake Rowe Goes Back-to-Back with Owosso Nationals Win

Blake Rowe claimed his second straight Turn One CRA Pro Series on Saturday night at Owosso Speedway, adding more fuel to the championship fire ahead of the series' 2026 finale at Winchester Speedway.

Rowe took the lead from points leader Chase Pinsonneault on lap 33 and stretched out that advantage in the second half of the Owosso Nationals 100, winning by more than seven seconds over Billy VanMeter.

Earlier this month, Rowe won at Berlin Raceway to snap a drought of more than two years without a trip to victory lane with the Turn One CRA Pro Series. Now, he's won back-to-back races with the series, closing the gap on Pinsonneault in the championship standings.

"We aren't gonna go down without a fight," said Rowe in victory lane. "I'll tell you what, it's a whole lot more fun not thinking about it, just coming out here and racing for wins. Chase and the 14 team have just had an absolutely stellar season. They've made it hard on all of us that are trying to compete with them, but it feels good to finally get some momentum going here.

"I feel like we've been up on our legs the back half of the summer. Honestly, I wish we had about six more months of this going this year."

While racing at Owosso Speedway often presents multiple racing lanes, it can still prove to be tough to make passes, placing a premium on track position. Rowe was pleasantly surprised by his ability to work his way forward early in the race.

"This racetrack tonight was going to be tricky to gain track positions, but honestly, it raced really good," said Rowe. "I was surprised there early when Chase and I were able to make hay on the bottom. We sliced and diced there for it for a little bit.

"I've just been treated to two really good race cars the last couple of weeks. That's the honest truth of it. I'm just lucky to pilot this thing."

Behind Rowe, Billy VanMeter and Seth Christensen came together while negotiating lapped traffic on the final lap. VanMeter survived to finish second, but Christensen spun and fell to fifth in the final running order.

"Honestly, I thought we were three-wide. Apparently, it was maybe three-and-a-half, and lapped cars made contact with a lead lap car. Iwas touching, too. We kind of hopped. I apologize to Seth, you know, him getting turned in that process. I had to try to make an effort because I was faster than both of those guys. I just couldn't find a groove around them.

"Every time I'd get a groove underneath them, we'd catch a lapped car, and I kept trying to make it work. A last-ditch effort is a last-ditch effort. If it costs me a right-front, it costs me a right-front."

"I don't even know [what happened],' said Christensen. "You would think that leaders coming up on lapped cars, they'd get out of the way a little bit more. I understand they race for position, but, man, it's tough to be on the inside and outside of multiple guys and just get kind of run out of room there.

"Nonetheless, we had a really great, really awesome car by Shotko Race Cars and Direct Development. We worked our butts off and made this thing super fast. It's my first time here and I Love this facility. It is super fun, really racey. I kind of feel like you can move around and make certain things work. Coming from sixth there was a little tough, but tried to make hay there in the beginning and had a blast."

Pinsonneault finished third amidst the last-lap chaos.

"Definitely not the night we were looking for, but the car had speed. Props to Blake, he was fast all weekend long and just beat us there. Got caught up around lapped traffic and he navigated a little bit better than me."

The championship battle now heads to Winchester Speedway for the Winchester 400, taking place on Friday, October 9 as part of Winchester 400 weekend at Winchester Speedway.

-Photo credit: CRA Racing

Owosso Nationals 100 Unofficial Results