Elite Racing Iowa, Minnesota summary

MEYERS WINS WITH LAST LAP PASS!

Many fans were on the edge of their seats, while everyone else was completely out of their seats, as Jason Meyers and Joey Saldana put on one of the most exciting races of the 2009 World of Outlaws racing season at the Clay County Speedway in Spencer, IA. "Saldana slipped the tires a little off of turn 4 coming for the white flag and I knew it was my chance. When he went low into turn one, I laid the #14 into the cushion as hard as I could, trying to beat Joey to the center of the corner. I beat him there, but then got tight and went up over the cushion. I thought the car was going to go over the end of the track, but somehow I got it back and we went on to win the race," said a very excited Meyers in victory lane.

The evening began with Meyers qualifying in the 10th position and then winning the second heat from the front row outside starting position. A pill draw of 3 for the Crane Cams dash saw Meyers charge to second behind winner Tony Bruce, putting the GLR Investments #14 on the front row for the 30 lap A main.

When the green flag fell for the A main, Meyers jumped out to the point setting a blistering pace. On lap 7, Meyers entered lapped traffic and began to move around on the track weaving his way through the slower cars. Saldana had moved into 2nd and was able to close in on Meyers in the heavy lapped traffic. On the 10th lap, Meyers was forced to the middle of turns 3&4 allowing Saldana to slip by on the bottom. For the next 20 laps Meyers chased Saldana, trying to regain the top spot. On several restarts, Meyers made an attempt to slide Saldana, but to no avail. As the laps began to wind down, Meyers found come moisture off the bottom of turn four and began to close the gap on Saldana. The #14 was right on the tail of the #9 of Saldana, but didn't appear to have enough to make the pass.

As the two cars exited turn 4 to take the white flag, many would have considered the race over. That was until Saldana spun the tires down the front chute and Meyers moved to within inches. Saldana went low in turn one to protect and Meyers bolted to the high side. It was a race to the apex of the corner with Meyers taking the lead, but Meyers slid through the cushion and bounced violently with all four tires off the ground at one point. Saldana closed but he too banged the cushion causing his car to upset. The two raced bumper to bumper down the back stretch. Meyers used a lapped car on the bottom to protect the slide and slid through the middle to the top of turn 4. Saldana charged the top but could not get around Meyers. Meyers crossed the line leading with Saldana on his rear bumper taking 2nd, and Haudenschild in 3rd.

"Now that's a race," said Meyers in front of the near capacity crowd. The victory was Meyers 8th of the 2009 season and moved him even closer to championship point's leader Donny Schatz. Meyers and the Elite Racing team are now only 17 points back, following Spencer, IA. The Elite Racing team heads to Deer Creek Raceway in Spring Valley, MN for the next round of racing action Saturday September 19th. Many fans were on the edge of their seats, while everyone else was completely out of their seats, as Jason Meyers and Joey Saldana put on one of the most exciting races of the 2009 World of Outlaws racing season at the Clay County Speedway in Spencer, IA. "Saldana slipped the tires a little off of turn 4 coming for the white flag and I knew it was my chance. When he went low into turn one, I laid the #14 into the cushion as hard as I could, trying to beat Joey to the center of the corner. I beat him there, but then got tight and went up over the cushion. I thought the car was going to go over the end of the track, but somehow I got it back and we went on to win the race," said a very excited Meyers in victory lane.

The evening began with Meyers qualifying in the 10th position and then winning the second heat from the front row outside starting position. A pill draw of 3 for the Crane Cams dash saw Meyers charge to second behind winner Tony Bruce, putting the GLR Investments #14 on the front row for the 30 lap A main.

When the green flag fell for the A main, Meyers jumped out to the point setting a blistering pace. On lap 7, Meyers entered lapped traffic and began to move around on the track weaving his way through the slower cars. Saldana had moved into 2nd and was able to close in on Meyers in the heavy lapped traffic. On the 10th lap, Meyers was forced to the middle of turns 3&4 allowing Saldana to slip by on the bottom. For the next 20 laps Meyers chased Saldana, trying to regain the top spot. On several restarts, Meyers made an attempt to slide Saldana, but to no avail. As the laps began to wind down, Meyers found come moisture off the bottom of turn four and began to close the gap on Saldana. The #14 was right on the tail of the #9 of Saldana, but didn't appear to have enough to make the pass.

As the two cars exited turn 4 to take the white flag, many would have considered the race over. That was until Saldana spun the tires down the front chute and Meyers moved to within inches. Saldana went low in turn one to protect and Meyers bolted to the high side. It was a race to the apex of the corner with Meyers taking the lead, but Meyers slid through the cushion and bounced violently with all four tires off the ground at one point. Saldana closed but he too banged the cushion causing his car to upset. The two raced bumper to bumper down the back stretch. Meyers used a lapped car on the bottom to protect the slide and slid through the middle to the top of turn 4. Saldana charged the top but could not get around Meyers. Meyers crossed the line leading with Saldana on his rear bumper taking 2nd, and Haudenschild in 3rd.

"Now that's a race," said Meyers in front of the near capacity crowd. The victory was Meyers 8th of the 2009 season and moved him even closer to championship point's leader Donny Schatz. Meyers and the Elite Racing team are now only 17 points back, following Spencer, IA. The Elite Racing team heads to Deer Creek Raceway in Spring Valley, MN for the next round of racing action Saturday September 19th.

3RD PLACE FINISH TIGHTENS POINTS BATTLE ONCE AGAIN

In 2009, Jason Meyers and the Elite Racing team have found victory lane a total of 9 times, but it's their series leading top 10 finishes that have kept them in the points chase and challenging defending champion Donny Schatz for the championship. "Some nights all the stars line up and you find victory lane, but many nights you have to just get all you can and go on to the next race. Don't get me wrong, we never give up, and I mean never, but with the level of competition that we race against, you just are not going to win them all. We believe that consistency wins championships and that is what we strive for each and every day," says Meyers.

Tonight at Deer Creek Speedway, Meyers show once again why the GLR #14 is in the middle of maybe the closest point battle in series history. Meyers entered the night only 17 points back from leader Donny Schatz, and only 37 points ahead of Joey Saldana. Out to qualify in the 11th spot, Meyers laid down the quickest time breaking the track record, but would later slip to the 5th position as the track continued to improve. A 5th place qualifying time would place Meyers one spot out of being locked into the dash, and force him to try and race his way into the dash through the heat. With a 3 heat format, Meyers was unable to make it into the top 2 in the heat, settling for 3rd. Fortunately the #24 car of McCarl raced his way into the dash moving Meyers into the dash based on qualifying.

Meyers was not in the clear yet though, pulling the 7 pill for the dash with Schatz on the front row. Meyers knew he would have to get all he could in the dash in order to try and catch Schatz who was starting on the front row. Meyers put the #14 underneath the 7s of Sides on the start and moved into the 5th position, but a red flag for the 15H of Hafertepe voided the pass. On the restart, Meyers lined up in 5th and this time was unable to make the pass on sides. Meyers would finish 5th in the dash with Schatz winning.

"The track is still really fast and it is very difficult, if not impossible, to pass right now," commented Meyers. The top three in points all lined up in the top 5 in the feature and within 5 laps were nose to tail for the lead with Schatz leading, and Saldana and Meyers close behind. The three circled the top as if they were connected together and then when they entered lapped traffic it really got exciting. The leaders went high, low, and through the middle weaving their way through traffic, but still no changes in the running order. On the last restart, Schatz opened up a small lead, but then when they came to lapped traffic again, Saldana made a run at Schatz in 3 and 4 with a huge slide job. Schatz turned and passed him back and then Meyers went after Saldana in turn 1, but just as Schatz had, Saldana crossed over and moved back past. Two laps later, Meyers tried again to pass Saldana, this time just inside him in turns 3&4, but still came up short. Meyers fell back in behind Saldana and the two chased Schatz for the final laps. Coming for the white flag, Schatz bobbled off of turn 4 and Saldana moved around the #15 on the top. Meyers crossed over again in turns 1&2 and pulled next to Schatz, but slipped off the corner and had to settle in behind the #15. Saldana went on to win with Schatz 2nd and Meyers in 3rd.

Another top 5 finish showed that the Elite Racing team is all about consistency and that is what keeps them in the battle. Meyers lost 1 point tonight putting him 18 back from Schatz. The big mover of the night was Saldana who now rests only 30 points behind Meyers in 3rd. It looks like it is going to be a battle right down to the end.

Up Next for Elite Racing...
The Elite Racing team is headed back to the shop in Brownsburg, IN this week to prepare for the final 8 races of the season.

Racing will resume next weekend at Eldora Raceway and Lernerville Speedway on Friday and Saturday respectively.

-credit: WoO