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Coons Scores Again At The Hoosier 100

Indianapolis, Ind. – For the second consecutive year, Jerry Coons Jr. drove to victory in the famed Hoosier 100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Taking the lead on the 14th lap, the Arizona native led the final 86 laps around the mile dirt-track. Coons drove the RW Motorsports Toyota-powered car.

    The top three finishers in Hoosier 100 – Bud Kaeding, winner Jerry Coons Jr. and Levi Jones. [Joe Jennings Photo]


The race marked the first dirt action for the USAC TRAXXAS Silver Crown Series in 2012. And the well-known race was celebrating its 59th edition.

Even though Coons built up respectable leads after taking the lead, he had to endure four caution periods and the subsequent double-file restarts to pull off the victory. At the checkered flag, he held a commanding lead over runner-up driver Bud Kaeding and the hard-charging Levi Jones.

“I fell into second at the start and was just kind of riding until the yellow came out,” he said. “On the restarts our engine (Toyota) just took off, which is something we have an edge on over the other guys. Once I got in the lead, I just tried to hold my own and take care of my tires. I picked up the pace for a while when the others got closer, and when I got in traffic, I had a pretty good lead and I just kind of cruised at the end.”

Commenting on the significance of becoming a repeat winner of the Hoosier 100, Coons stated, “It is incredible. I waited to win so long on a dirt mile, which was what I had always wanted to do, and then to get two in two years is just incredible. To win it once is special enough and to win it back-to-back is hard to put into words.”

Kaeding closed in on Coons early-on but fell back as the race wore one. “I hit the wall in three and four and picked up a vibration after that, so I kind of spooked myself after that. For the last 30 laps, I just kind of nursed it home. I don’t know if we had enough to beat him, but I know we had enough to be right there with him. If you want to win these races, you can’t make mistakes like that.”

Jones started 14th and steadily worked his way through the field, to gain fourth place after the mid-point of the race. For an extended period, he hounded Kody Swanson for third and finally got by him near the end to salvage a strong finish.

Said Jones, “We had issues all day, so to start 14th and run third is as good as it gets tonight. Our goal is to win but we didn’t do it, although we rebounded to finish third.”

Bobby East, a teammate to Jones in the Tony Stewart entries, earned fourth place ahead of Swanson.

Sixth through 10th were early leader Tracy Hines, Indy 500 starter Bryan Clauson, Tanner Swanson, Zach Daum and Shane Hollingsworth.

Twenty cars started the 100 miler and only the first five completed every lap.

Clauson took the pole position.

In the 20-lap UMP Modified feature race, Joey Kramer took the honors leading every lap. NASCAR veteran Kenny Schrader, seeking to win three in a row, took second place.

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