McKENZIE, TN – It’s been a remarkable year for J&J Auto Racing as drivers and teams around the globe have won Sprint car races utilizing their frames and components. Five-time and reigning World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz continued to lead the way in the victory column by being the best in a loaded field of cars Saturday night at Fremont (Ohio) Speedway to claim his 21st WoO A-Feature win of the season. With a number of tracks and series winding down their 2013 campaign, a pair of J&J Auto Racing drivers finished with championships this past weekend. Ray Allen Kuhlhanek was crowned ASCS Gulf South champion and Chris Graf closed the season with a second-place finish after earning the UMSS season championship.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Donny Schatz had only raced at Fremont (Ohio) Speedway once prior to Saturday’s World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series appearance at the “Action Track”, but he looked a seasoned veteran at the facility where the locals are some the toughest competitors the traveling Outlaws face. Several J&J Auto Racing teams had solid nights, but it was Schatz that was again the headliner aboard the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet Performance J&J. Schatz started the 40-lap A-Feature sixth and took the lead from fellow J&J racer, Caleb Griffith, on lap nine and led the final 32 laps to earn his 21st WoO A-Feature of the season and 145th of his WoO career.
Griffith concluded a solid night in the No. 40DD J&J by finishing second to give J&J a one-two sweep. Griffith qualified fourth in the field of 46 cars, won the dash and turned in a career-best finish with the Outlaws. David Gravel paced the field in qualifying driving the No. 6 J&J.
ASCS – GULF SOUTH
Thirteen points was the difference between first and second place in the ASCS Gulf South championship standings. Ray Allen Kuhlhanek edged out Aaron Reutzel in the 19-race campaign to earn his fourth consecutive ASCS Gulf South championship and fifth overall. Kuhlhanek first congratulated the his car owners David and Beverly Miller and those supporters of the No. 21 J&J like Miller’s RV Park, Dennis Marshala with Oil Field Equipment and Manufacturing, Alcon Construction and Texas Rotating and Equipment. Kuhlhanek plans to compete in a handful of races yet this season.
CHRIS GRAF – UMSS CHAMPION
Chris Graf closed his UMSS championship campaign in winning style a few weeks ago racing his No. 20 J&J to victory in the Jerry Richert Memorial at Cedar Lake Speedway in Somerset, Wisc. This past weekend, he was looking to add the Barstad Memorial race at Jackson Speedway to his list of 2013 accomplishments. Unfortunately, he came up one lap short in his quest for victory. Graf led the first 16 laps of the 20-lap feature, but couldn’t hold the lead during the final laps and finished second.
Other solid J&J finishes… Derek Hagar had a productive weekend competing in both the winged and nonwing portions of the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillen Memorial last weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. Hagar drove his No. 9JR J&J to a third-place finish (wing) and fourth-place finish (nonwing) Friday night and came Sunday to finish 10th (wing) and second (nonwing). “The only thing that could have got better was the second night in the winged deal,” Hagar said. “We had a top-five car if not a winning car. I wish a couple of things would have changed. But all in all, it was a great weekend. You can’t hang your head down for how the weekend turned out.”