Kyle Crump Stays Hot with Big O Classic Triumph at Owosso

Kyle Crump continued his winning ways on Monday afternoon, winning the Big O Classic for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour at Owosso Speedway.

Crump took the lead on lap 57 from Chase Burda, and led the rest of the way for the victory. The win added to several impressive marks the Michigan driver holds within the series.

He has now won in his last five JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour appearances, dating back to The Big One at Birch Run Speedway in 2023. Crump was a perfect two-for-two in 2024, and has now won his first two races with the series in 2025.

As far as the all-time wins list for the series, Crump broke a three-way tie for third with Travis Braden and Daniel Hemric by earning his ninth career win on Monday. Now only Cody Coughlin (12) and Brian Campbell (11) sit ahead of Crump on that list.

It is also Crump's third victory in the Big O Classic, with victories in 2017, 2023 and 2025.

"We're just on a roll. You've just got to carry it when the momentum's hot. We were good in the Outlaw here last year, carried the momentum. We're hitting on everything, nothing's going wrong."

While Crump has made it look easy at times during his winning streak, there were plenty of challenges on Monday at Owosso. The race was a physical one, slowed multiple times by the caution flag for incidents on track, and warm afternoon temperatures didn't make things any easier.

"That race was really tough," said Crump. "We were starting in the back and man, people were just hitting the shit out of each other and I'm just trying to survive and make it to the front. I hope it was fun to watch. I didn't have much fun in the car. I felt like we ran more caution laps than green flag laps.

"I've just really got to thank JVD, Stan and Judy Rosenfor putting me in the car, Rex Wheeler for putting this race on and bringing the Big O back."

The spree of cautions also gave drivers such as Albert Francis and Treyten Lapcevich several chances to take the lead away from Crump in the second half of the race.

"You see the box, I can only fire in only so many spots," Crump said. "Treyten's really good and Albert's really good. It was only a matter of time before they started getting wheel-to-wheel with me like they were. We had a really good car to be able to pull away from them."

Francis finished second, holding off Lapcevich late in the race for the runner-up spot. He acknowledged he didn't want to rough up Crump for the win, even after surviving some of the chaos throughout the field.

"I just didn't want to be that dirty on the restart to get the lead," said Francis. "It is what it is. We fought all day. It was just hard. It was easy to pass until you got to the guys you had to actually work with, you know? Restarts were tough. It was more about who could jump the restart better."

Lapcevich took third place in his first JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour appearance. While the Canadian driver is no stranger to competing against some of the best drivers Late Model racing has to offer, he also had to bide his time during the rougher stages of the race.

Still, when he lined up second for a late-race restart, he chose the outside line to challenge Lapcevich outright for the win instead of lining up beside him with hopes of using the front bumper.

"I feel like lining up on the top was my best bet, right? I wasn't going to get behind him and punt him," said Lapcevich. "That's not how you do it. I figured I'd try to give him a run for his money on the top, it was just really free in and tight off there on that last feast. I couldn't quite make it stick. Overall, not too bad. I'm happy with it. We decided late Friday that we wanted to come and we were able to rally together.

"It was a rough one, honestly. Some of those restarts were pretty hectic. It seemed like the middle portion of the race, it was kind of the goal just to survive. We were able to do that and make up some good spots on the choose. Didn't quite get too lucky before halfway, but our luck kind of turned around at halfway where we could get some spots and come home P3."

Chase Burda finished fourth, with Chase Pinsonneault rounding out the top five. Both drivers were involved in sepearate incidents near the halfway mark of the race, but rebounded for top-five finishes.

While no championship points will be on offer, the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour heads to Nashville, Tennessee this Thursday, May 29 for the Rackley Roofing Battle of Broadway. The JEGS/CRA competitors will do battle against the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway's Pro Late Model standouts, as well as NASCAR Cup Series driver Josh Berry, in the build-up to the NASCAR weekend at nearby Nashville Superspeedway.

The next points event for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour is scheduled for June 21 at Flat Rock Speedway.

-Photo credit: Eric Young

Big O Classic Unofficial Results