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Elite Racing NW tour recap, Chico preview

Meyers pans for points during the Gold Rush Tour The rush is on! Except unlike the fortune seekers who first ran to the West Coast looking to strike it rich on the Klondike, Jason Meyers and his Elite Racing team were searching for points with the ...

Meyers pans for points during the Gold Rush Tour

The rush is on! Except unlike the fortune seekers who first ran to the West Coast looking to strike it rich on the Klondike, Jason Meyers and his Elite Racing team were searching for points with the top three in the championship battle being separated by a scant 25 markers. The quest across the Northwest, started at Cottage Grove Speedway, before moving on to Skagit Speedway. The final night of racing at Grays Harbor would unfortunately fall victim to rain, but not before Meyers scored three top-ten finishes in the Gold Rush Tour.

In the Groove at Cottage Grove

On the first night of the Gold Rush Tour Jason Meyers and his Elite Racing team started in the fast lane, recording their 9th Quick time of the season. Currently, "Hot Foot" has lived up to his nickname recording more qualifying points than any other driver this season. After a disappointing finish in the dash, Meyers would start 10th in the main event. He would not stay there long because when the green flag was unfurled, Meyers got around Danny Lasoski to pick up the 9th position.

A series of early cautions would slow Meyers' progress through the field, but by Lap 10 Meyers had cleared Kraig Kinser and was holding on to the 8th position. The Californian would fall back to the 9th position when Donny Schatz got past him on Lap 13.

On Lap 17, just before the fourth caution of the race came out, Meyers would steal the 8th position from Paul McMahan. On the restart, he would have Schatz in his sights. Meyers would work on Schatz, but would be unable to get a run. With 10 laps to go, Meyers made his move getting around both Schatz and Jonathan Allard to pick up the 6th position.

With five laps to go, the caution banner would fly again. On the restart, Jason Sides would get under Meyers to take away the 6th position. Meyers would try to battle back, but there was trouble at the front of the pack. The red flag would set up a green-white-checkered shootout. In his #14 DDNI KPC, Meyers would finish in the 6th position while Danny Lasoski recorded his first victory of the season.

"The bad part about starting up front is that it can put you behind in the dash and affect where you start in the feature," commented Meyers. "The DDNI car was good tonight, but you cannot settle for good when contending with the World of Outlaws. You have to be great. I love racing in the Northwest. I grew up racing out here in front of all these fans. There are three more races in this tour and we are just going to have to try to do better at Skagit."

Scrambling for position at Skagit

Next up was a trip back north to Skagit Speedway for Jason Meyers and his Elite Racing team. On Friday night, Meyers would secure the 7th starting spot after the dash. When the green banner flew Meyers fell back to 9th just prior to the first yellow of the race coming out on Lap 2.

Early in the 30 lap feature, Meyers would battle Donny Schatz in his #14 GRL Investments KPC. On Lap 9, Meyers would get to the inside of the #15 car and make the pass for 7th. "Hot Foot" would then catch Jason Sides 3 laps later and make his move up to 6th place. Sides would fight back in the low line and retake the spot. During the long green flag run, Meyers fell back into the clutches of Schatz and stepped back to the 8th position.

On Lap 25, the second yellow flag of the night came out. With five laps to go, it was a dog fight for position. Meyers would first get past Jonathan Allard for 7th position, but Allard would muscle back by. In the closing laps, Meyers would lose one more position and finish 9th. Jac Haudenschild would go on to celebrate in Victory Lane.

"Every spot is important here, so you really have to fight to get a good starting spot here at Skagit," Meyers said. "Where you start kind of sets up how you will finish here. I always enjoy coming to Skagit though. It is like a hometown crowd for me. We were hoping for a better run tonight, but we will have to come back and try to win it tomorrow night. I want to say to my wife, my little girl, and my new little girl, that I really miss them and I cannot wait to get home to see them after this weekend."

Staying Strong at Skagit Speedway

On the second night of action at Skagit, Meyers was off to a better start when he qualified 2nd and captured valuable qualifying points in his #14 Elite Landscaping KPC. In the dash Meyers would lock up the 3rd starting spot for the feature event. When racing action commenced, Meyers would fall back to the 4th position.

Meyers would stay in 4th until lap 9 when Jason Sides was able to close on the Californian and take away the spot. After the fist caution flag of the night on Lap 11 for trouble at the front of the pack, Meyers would restart the race in the 4th position. On the restart, Meyers would get shuffled and fall back to the 6th position.

On Lap 18, another yellow banner would fly. Meyers would use this opportunity to move back into the top-five. Two laps later he would use the low line get around Jason Sides to pick up the 4th position. Meyers then started chasing down Kasey Kahne Racing teammates Joey Saldana and Paul McMahan.

On Lap 36, a third Kasey Kahne racing machine driven by Brad Sweet would join the fray. Sweet would catch Meyers and take the 4th position away from the Californian. A red flag would set up the second green-white-checkered scenario of the Gold Rush Tour. Meyers would spend the final laps of the event holding off Jason Sides to take home the 5th position. Steve Kinser would go on to win the event.

Up Next

As the West Coast swing continues, Elite Racing and Jason Meyers will be returning to their home state for the Gold Cup Race of Champions. The racing action will start on Thursday night September 9 and continue on to Friday night September 10. The Gold Cup will be decided on Saturday night September 11.

Meyers on the Gold Cup

"Being from California it is certainly a race we want to put on our resume. The last two years we won our prelim night and two years ago we were leading the race and had it under control until we got together with a lapped car. It's a race that we want to win. We want to win them all, but that race holds a special kind of memento to us since we are from California. I think it will be really good for us with it being points each of the first two nights because we run well there. We're looking forward to the trip and the new format. You go there and you race hard every night and I think it will be even more challenging this year with the format. Chico is a place that you can get in trouble at really easily, so you have three nights to try to stay out of trouble, whereas you used to have two and kind of relax and enjoy the other night. Hopefully the new format adds to it for the fans, because that's what we do this for."

Now Announcing.... BabyPres

The Meyers Family welcomes a new addition

After racing back to California from his Edmonton victory, Jason Meyers made it home just in time for the birth of his second daughter. On Monday, August 20, Presley Tate Meyers took her own green flag at 4:05 pm. Meyers made sure to go to the scales and she weighed in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces. Presley will soon be joining her older sister Delaney in giving both Robyn and Jason the "run" of a lifetime.

-source: ert

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