J.P. Crabtree Perseveres for First Career JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Win at Anderson

J.P. Crabtree is now a JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour winner, claiming his maiden victory with the series on home turf.

Crabtree won Saturday's Great Deals 100 at Anderson Speedway, holding off Keegan Sobilo in a battle all the way to the finish in the Pro Late Model contest.

Crabtree took the lead from Logan Bearden with 15 laps to go, culminating a calculated drive through the field. The Muncie, Indiana driver started at the rear after pulling his car out of impound following qualifying, and he wasn't even sure he'd take the green flag for the race.

He not only saw the green flag, he took the checkered flag.

"I don't know about you guys, but in the seat, that was a heck of a race," said Crabtree. "I drove that thing for everything it was worth. It really wasn't handling the best, but we were working on it all day.

"We've had a real bad miss all day long. My crew never gave up. I wanted to load it up and go home. There was no sense in running in the way the way it was running earlier today. They all got together and started working on it, and they're the ones that got me here."

Perhaps no one was more influential in the decision to stick out Saturday's race than Crabtree's father. The reward was definitely worth it, and it made for an emotional victory lane.

"My dad, you know, I'm going to get emotional. I've been doing this a real long time. There's nothing more I want to do than drive this race car. It's all because of my dad and my family. He's the one that, you know, said, hey, it ain't over until it's over. Let's keep going. Look, here we are in victory lane."

Crabtree is a five-time winner in CRA's Late Model Sportsman Series, including a victory at Anderson in 2022. Before Saturday's race, his lone top-five in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour had also come at Anderson, a fourth-place finish in 2021.

Thus, Crabtree knew exactly what he needed to do to hold off Sobilo once he was in the lead.

"I knew I just had to hit my marks and hold the bottom. Make him go around me on the outside. If I just hit my marks, I was going to be okay."

Sobilo finished second, happy to bounce back from an early exit in the season opener at Toledo Speedway and leave with a clean race car.

"That was a lot of fun tonight. The best part is we kept it somewhat clean, for this being a tight little bullring. Congrats to JP, that was a good race at the end. I just didn't have enough to get there on his inside into the final corner. That was a lot of fun."

Sobilo stayed close to Crabtree's bumper in the closing laps, but refused to force the issue with an over-aggressive move for the win.

"It's just something I've learned observing everybody. You know me, it's not racing if I've got to go full throttle somebody in the final corner. If I'm going to win, I want to win it the right way."

Bearden took the lead on lap 31 and held the top spot through the 85th lap before Crabtree took the top spot. There was some contact in that battle, but Bearden conceded the handling was going away on his car before that point.

"We were just really tight there," said Bearden. "We were tight the entire race. When we fired off, we were really tight. He got to us and he did what he needed to do, so it's really hard to blame him. I wish it would have been a little bit cleaner, but that's short track racing.

"I caught some cars at the wrong time. I apologize to them. Overall, I can't be too disappointed. It's something to build off of. I had a ton of fun, that 77 [of Sobilo] kept me honest all race. I could not get away from him, doing everything I could. Congrats to them, and we'll try to be back better than ever."

Bearden finished third, followed by Billy VanMeter in fourth and Chris Shannon in fifth.

The next stop for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour is Owosso Speedway on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26 for the Big O Classic. The series will also sanction the Rackley Roofing Battle of Broadway 150 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Thursday, May 29 as a non-points event.

-Photo credit: Champion Racing Association

Great Deals 100 Unofficial Results