CARS Pro Cup Series Weekly Notebook – Aug. 2, 2012
Thursday, August 02 2012 @ 02:33 PM EDT
Contingency Awards Keep Coming For Dominant J.P. Morgan
Mooresville, N.C. — Another week, another victory for J.P. Morgan.
Morgan, the dominant force thus far in the CARS Pro Cup Series in 2012, notched his fourth series victory and third straight last Friday evening at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, N.C., but it wasn’t nearly as easy as some of his recent triumphs.
Wheeling the No. 23 J&R Racing Chevrolet, Morgan spent the first half of Friday’s 250-lap event battling Stacy Puryear for the lead. After an invert to start the second half of the race, Morgan restarted sixth.
During the second half restart, Dalton Hopkins and Bill Plemons, Jr. came together in front of the field. Both cars went spinning and Morgan somehow managed to squeeze between both cars and survive unscathed. He then tracked down and passed Nathan Russell to retake the lead en route to victory.
For his nifty move to avoid both Hopkins and Plemons, Morgan has been awarded the Koolmat Koolmove of the Race Award. Morgan also took home the T&D Rocker Arms High Finisher Award, the Lap Leader Award presented by U-Pull, U-Save and product certificates from Cool Shirt and Brown & Miller.
Puryear, who was making his first start with the series in six years, impressed many with his strong run in the No. 36 Wes Gonder Racing Chevrolet. Puryear was able to drive by Morgan just before the halfway mark at Tri-County, earning him the Halfway Leader Award presented by Holley.
The Virginia native was also awarded the Staubli Highest Finisher Award and product certificates from Cool Shirt and Brown & Miller following his third-place finish.
Other contingency award winners from Tri-County Motor Speedway include Gus Dean (Brake of the Race Award presented by Pro-System Brakes and a Cool Shirt product certificate) and Allen Purkhiser (Cool Under Pressure Award presented by FLUIDYNE).
Myrtle Beach Speedway Tickets On Sale Now: Tickets for the next CARS Pro Cup Series event, the Dean Custom Air 250 presented by Carrier and ESPN The Team 100.3, scheduled for Aug. 11 at Myrtle Beach Speedway. Fans can visit www.carsprocup.com to purchase pre-sale tickets for just $12 through Aug. 9. Tickets will be $15 on the day of the event.
Major Announcement Next Week: Be on the lookout for a major announcement next week from the CARS Pro Cup Series. We can’t say much at this point, but we can say it is a positive announcement concerning the immediate and long-term future of the series.
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