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Brian Campbell accomplished something that only Matt Kenseth has this season, defeating Erik Jones in the KBR Development Super Late Model, doing so on Wednesday night in the CRA Super Series event at Kalamazoo Speedway in Michigan.

Circumstances didn’t make it easy for Campbell as he fought to a side-by-side standstill next to Jones with 42 laps remaining but it was halted by a caution. Jones pulled away during the ensuing restart but Campbell chipped away at the lead and went under and around the reigning NASCAR Truck Series champion with 35 laps to go.

The race stayed green the rest of the way and Campbell held off to score his second CRA victory of the season.

“It’s never easy here,” Campbell said in Victory Lane. “It’s big to win here especially racing before the Kalamazoo Klash. This is a big win especially against Jones and that KBR No. 20. They’ve had our numbers this year so that was big.

“This was a big win for all of us.”

Jones had previously won the Battle at Berlin 251 and Circle City 100 but also was denied a non-CRA victory by Kenseth on the final lap of the Slinger Nationals in Wisconsin. He’s been nearly perfect in his brief return to his Super Late roots.

This makes two wins and two seconds so Jones feels largely satisfied in his results for owners Mike Bursley and Zach Dunson.

“You always wish you could have done more,” Jones said after climbing out of the car. “So I wish we would have won but we’ve come a long way with this car. Mike unloaded it yesterday and shook it down so we feel good about where it ended up.”

Jones posted the fastest time in qualifying but was shuffled to fifth thanks to a pre-race invert. Chris Koslek started on the pole and led the first 37 laps before running into heavy lap traffic. That forced him to give up the position to Jones, whom led until Campbell made his pass.

Jones isn’t sure if he is going to run anymore Super Late races this season, but knows he wants to.

“We’re not totally sure yet,” Jones added. “Maybe one or two more. It’s hard to put these on the schedule but I love these race cars. So we’ll debate a few more and hopefully we can make it work.”

Cody Coughlin entered the event with a 15-point championship lead over Dalton Armstrong but will extend that following his sixth-place finish. Armstrong struggled on restarts and could only muster a 14th-place finish. There are four races remaining in the CRA Super Series season.

The season ends on October 9 with the Wichester 400. The complete results of the Kalamazoo 125 can be found below.

  1. Brian Campbell
  2. Erik Jones
  3. Johnny VanDoorn
  4. Chris Koslek
  5. Grant Quinlan
  6. Cody Coughlin
  7. Jason Timmerman
  8. Steve Dorer
  9. Jordan Dahlke
  10. Buddy Head
  11. Wes Griffith Jr
  12. Ben Welch
  13. David Simpson
  14. Dalton Armstrong
  15. Ken Wobma
  16. Tim DeVos
  17. Phil Bozell
  18. Jerry Andrews

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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