Nashville Champion Collects Green Jacket in Masters of the Pros

Special from Speed51.com – On a night which saw an energetic, capacity crowd fill the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway grandstands as the Camping World SRX Series came to town, one of Nashville’s own claimed the prestigious green jacket in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Rackley Roofing Masters of the Pros 150.

WATCH REPLAY: Masters of the Pros 150 at Nashville

Willie Allen, the track’s 2015 Pro Late Model champion, held off JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour points leader Cody Coughlin for the win in one of the most prestigious Pro Late Model races in the United States, earning the coveted green jacket inspired by The Masters golf tournament as well as a Nashville guitar to add to his collection.

“I don’t get to race a lot, so it’s fun to come out here and be competitive,” said Allen in victory lane. “That was fun racing with Cody. I worked with him last year a lot and I’m still working with those guys. He was coming on there at the end. I had to move my line a little bit to find some speed at the end.

“Cody’s a heck of a driver. You never know what those guys are saving in the back pocket, because he always pulls something out at the end.”

The win was especially meaningful thanks to Allen’s relationship with Rackley Roofing, the title sponsor of the event. Allen and Curtis Sutton of Rackley Roofing are partners in Allen’s racing endeavors, including the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. That, along with a packed house at the track just a short drive from Allen’s hometown of Bon Aqua, Tennessee, made the win particularly special.”

It definitely means a lot, especially being the Rackley Roofing 150 with Curtis [Sutton], my partner on the truck team, owning Rackley Roofing. What a better place in front of this huge crowd? It’s so awesome to see all the fans in Nashville come out and support this weekend. I’m so excited to get this win.

Jake Garcia was officially scored with a second place finish, as Coughlin was disqualified following post-race technical inspection for a left-side weight infraction. On a night when his crew chief, Ricky Turner, went to victory lane with Chase Elliott in the SRX portion of the evening, Garcia felt a late caution would have given him a shot to compete for the win.

“I felt like at the end we were the fastest car on the race track. We just needed a caution to get back to the front and didn’t get it. It’s tough when people pit and don’t pit and you end up in the wrong line. If you’re in the wrong line, you’re going to lose a couple of spots. That’s just what happened to us, we lost a couple of spots. By the time we got back around those guys, the leaders were a straightaway away.”

Race fans who missed the Pro Late Model portion of Saturday’s festivities at Nashville can click here to watch an on-demand replay.

-Story by: Zach Evans, Speed51 Content Supervisor – Twitter: @ztevans

-Photo credit: Speed51 Photo / Brandon Zumbach

Unofficial Results – Rackley Roofing Masters of the Pros 150