Elite Racing Knoxville Nationals summary

Meyers' Knoxville Nationals bid falls short

All Star For every 410 winged sprint car driver the Knoxville Nationals is a date that is circled on their calendar and one of the races they count down to. The race is one everyone wants to win, but at the same time it can be as fickle as the weather. After finishing in the top-five in the Knoxville Nationals five times in his career, Meyers failed to make the feature event for just the 3rd time. The complexion of Meyer's Nationals was set with a miscue on his qualifying night that led to him getting disqualified. The rest of the weekend, Meyers would try to fight back from the error, but his efforts would fall short and end in the C-Main.

A Saturday Afternoon Adventure

After racing action was rained out on Friday, Meyers would first face the second semi-feature on Saturday afternoon. Meyers started on the pole for the event and ran away from the field. Early in the race Trevor Green would try to track him down, but Meyers would go unchallenged. At the end of the race the Californian would win in his #14 All Star Performance KPC with over a straight away lead over Johnny Herrera.

With the victory, Meyers would then face the last chance A-Main. He would start second to Kraig Kinser who won the first semi-feature. On the drop of the checkered flag, Meyers would fall in line behind Kinser. With a track that was one-lane and had a bunch of rubber building on it, he would have to ride behind Kinser. Once the leaders started encountering traffic, Meyers closed on the 11k but was unable to pass him. Meyers would finish second locking himself into the C-Main later in the night.

"We are starting the best we can in the C-Main, so it is not the worst thing in the world," stated Meyers. "The track was not optimal with all the rubber down, but it is day racing. It is going to do that. There was a rubber patch around the bottom and down the front chute. There is not much you can do about it, because it is day racing. Fortunately for the Allstar Performance team we are starting the best we can tonight. When they rework the track for tonight, hopefully it will not take rubber early and we can move up through the mains."

Saturday Night Ends in the C-Main

As a result of his second place finish in the preliminary racing action, Meyers would start 12th in the C-Main. With Kraig Kinser lined up next to him, Meyers would quickly get past the 11k car on the start. Meyers was able to move up on a track that was difficult to pass on. Unfortunately for Meyers and his Elite Racing team, his 10th bid for the Knoxville Nationals crown would end with a 9th place finish in the C-Main.

"I really hate that it ended this way," stated Meyers. "First I would like to congratulate Tim Shaffer on his win. I feel bad for my sponsors and team, but they did rally behind me and made due with the situation. I want to thank everyone for their hard work. An extra special thank you goes out to Allstar Performance for stepping up and sponsoring our car for this race. At the end of the day though, this is just one race. We will regroup over the next week and come back stronger next weekend."

Up Next
Up next for the Elite Racing team is a trip north to Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota. The Magic City Showdown will feature two exciting nights of racing on Friday August 20 and Saturday August 21.

-source: elite racing