Elite Racing weekend race summary 2010-09-26

Jason Meyers extends points lead at Eldora and Lernerville

Six to go: After more than seventy races and eight months of racing on the World of Outlaws season, the battle for the championship is as fierce as it has been all season. Jason Meyers and his Elite Racing team may have not lit the world on fire this weekend, but consistency has given them the point lead. In the world of racing speed and luck come into play, and so far Meyers leads the way gaining more points in qualifying than any other driver and avoiding trouble on the track. After having two fellow title contenders have incidents on the track, Meyers goes into the last six races of the season with a 50 point lead over Steve Kinser.

An Encounter Eldora Speedway

On Friday night the final race of the year at Eldora Speedway loomed in front of the Elite Racing team. The night began with an uncharacteristic qualifying attempt that left Meyers 16th on the charts. It would be enough to get him the pole position for heat 4, but he would fall one position on the track from making the dash. This relegated the Californian to a 17th place starting position in the A main.

The first five laps of the race were mired with red and yellow flags. Meyers would have to take evasive action to avoid being a part of the incidents going on around the track. When the race got its first sizable green flag run Meyers moved up steadily moving from 17th to 15th.

A red flag on Lap 18 would slow the racing action and as a result Meyers would restart the race in the 13th position. When the green flag fell, Meyers fell back to 15th, but would regain the two positions in the last ten laps of the race. When the checkered flag flew Meyers was trying to track Kraig Kinser down for 12th, while Jac Haudenschild went on to celebrate in Victory Lane.

"Tonight we got behind and had to fight back throughout the evening," stated Meyers. "The team worked very hard to get caught up, but the car did not handle well in the feature. We finished the night in a good position point wise, so we will work hard to make the car better, and come back stronger tomorrow night at Lernerville."

Contending at the Commonwealth Clash

It is funny how much of a difference a day and a few hundred miles can make. At Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pennsylvania, Meyers started out in familiar territory gaining valuable qualifying points by qualifying 4th. "Hotfoot" went on to finish 4th in the dash, thus claiming the 4th starting position in the feature.

When the green flag flew, Meyers would fall back a few positions. By Lap 5 he was in the 7th chasing Danny Lasoski for position. The first caution flag of the night could fly on Lap 9. Meyers would initially fall back on the restart, but within one lap he made a move around Lasoski, Brad Sweet and Tim Shaffer to take over the 6th position.

The yellow flag flew once again on Lap 10. On the restart, in order to miss a car that got out of shape Meyers would fall back to the 8th position. The last part of the race Meyers would work to regain the positions that he lost.

A late race caution on Lap 27 would allow Meyers to pick up two spots as he got by both Lasoski and Sweet to finish in the 6th position. At the front of the pack, Donny Schatz won the Commonwealth clash.

"My guys did a great job tonight and gave me good car to drive," Meyers stated. "This DDNI, GLR, Elite Landscape, Media Tile car has been great all year. We don't want to keep running in the top-ten every night. We really want to go out there and win. That is the way this championship will be won. Even though, we did gain valuable points tonight and are in a good position going into Williams Grove next weekend."

Up Next

Next weekend Jason Meyers and his Elite Racing team will be traveling to the home track of their engine builder Charlie Garrett. Williams Grove Speedway is one of the benchmark tracks on the schedule, along with the National Open being one of the marquee events that each race team works to excel at. On Friday October 1, Meyers will be ready to face off with the famed PA Posse. With $50,000 on the line on Saturday, October 2 this promises to be another thrilling weekend of racing.

Jason on The National Open

"We're absolutely looking forward to going up there. We are still looking for our first win at the Grove for our engine builder Charlie Garrett and for this team. We are running good right now and we'll keep digging. A lot of it has to do with starting position. The cars are so even anymore that the guys that start up front have an advantage as far as winning the race. Things can happen and we've seen races won from further back this year. You definitely have to get yourself in a good position to win there. The Gold Cup for me was really special and the National Open is right up there as well. Those are two peas in a pod and it would be special to win the National Open, especially for Charlie Garrett. That's a race he has never won and it's a special race to him. It would be great for us to win and even better to see the smile on his face if we won it."

-source: ert