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Elite Racing Pike County, Houston summary

Event: Pike County, Houston

Subject: WOO: Elite Racing Pike County, Houston summary

Elite Racing battles to make up ground in Southern States

When people hear the words royal purple and magnolia, images of a beautiful floral arrangement may come to mind, but not this weekend if you are a World of Outlaws fan. On Friday night Jason Meyers and his Elite Racing crew were at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Mississippi for 35-laps of racing action. Then on Saturday night, the team traveled to Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas. Through the two events, Meyers and his Elite Racing team fought to get their first podium finish of the season and came up one lap short.

Keeping up the Pace at Pike County

On Friday night, Meyers began his feature in the 11th position. Early in the race there was a series of yellow flags that slowed racing action. When racing resumed, the 2010 Champion steadily climbed his way into the top-10. By Lap 10 Meyers was riding in 8th, attempting to track down Lucas Wolfe.

A fourth yellow flag slowed racing action on Lap 11 and on the ensuing restart, Saldana got past Meyers. Over the next couple of laps Meyers fell back to 11th, but began to climb in the running order again on Lap 19. First, the Californian would get past Lance Dewease to move back into the top-10 and then two laps later he slid under Donny Schatz for 9th. It took four more revolutions of the track, but Meyers moved back into the 8th position on Lap 25 when he got around Lucas Wolfe.

The fifth and final caution of the night came out on Lap 29 of the 35-lap event. On the restart, Meyers was lined up in the 7th position. When the green flag dropped, Meyers would find himself in a battle with the 5w of Wolfe. Meyers would lose the position momentarily, but was able to retake it with three laps remaining. While Steve Kinser went on to win, the Californian Champion would bring the #14 DDNI KPC home in the 7th position.

One Lap Away

Royal Disappointment in Baytown

After recording his fourth top-10 finish of the season, Meyers was poised to have his best run thus far on Saturday night. Prior to the main event, the California Champion qualified 3rd and secured a first place starting position in the dash. When the green flag dropped, Chad Kemenah beat Meyers into turn one and led the first lap of the race. By Lap 4, Meyers had dropped back to the third position when Sammy Swindell got past him.

On Lap 6, Meyers was challenged by Joey Saldana, but the Californian held him off on the cushion. Meyers caught Kemenah, and began working on the #63 machine on Lap 9. Within two revolutions of the track, Meyers had moved back into the runner-up spot. With the front runners mired in heavy traffic, Meyers would begin pursuing race leader Swindell.

On Lap 20, the first yellow flag of the race would fly and on the ensuing restart the red flag was flown when Joey Saldana flipped. On the restart, Meyers was in second with Jason Sides challenging him for the position. The two battled in traffic for the position, but Meyers had the upper hand. With 10 laps to go, Meyers began to cut in on Swindell's lead.

The yellow flag flew again, setting up a three lap shoot out for the victory. Meyers would take the low line going into turns 1 and 2, while Sides battled up top. With the white flag flying, Sides would make a bonzai move to get under Meyers and got into the #14 GLR Investments KPC. Because of the intentional contact, Meyers spun and was relegated to a 15th place finish, while Sammy Swindell went on to win.

"We have had a slow start to the season, which is not bad because we did not win our first race until Las Vegas," Meyers explained. "We keep getting a little bit better each night and get a better handle on it. I have never done well here, so I was really excited with the way the things were going tonight. I hate that we got took out on the last lap by Jason Sides. This could have been a great night for us. All we can do now is pack up and head to Las Vegas for next week."

Up Next

Up next for the Elite Racing team is two nights of racing action at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Wednesday March 2 and Thursday March 3. Last year, Meyers won the race in a fashion that is almost unheard of in sprint car racing. After qualifying 18th Meyers would battle from the back of the pack to take the victory in dramatic style. With just five laps to go, Meyers took the lead, but the final two laps will go down in history. On the white flag lap, Kinser who was running in the second spot and caught Meyers going into the final two turns of the race. Kinser took the lead momentarily going into turn three, but Meyers pulled to the inside in the fourth turn. As the two drag raced with the checkered flag looming in the distance, Meyers fought back and edged out Kinser to the line by just 0.237 seconds.

-source: er

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