Cory Eliason Grabs Second Win of NARC Sprint Car Season
Photos courtesy of TDS Shots
Cory Eliason and the Antaya Motorsports/Goodguys Rod & Custom sprint car team used some late race heroics to pick up their second win of the 2017 season at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA this past Friday night. The team competes in the NARC King of the West Series.
“We continue to get better each time out, and it’s nice to get back into victory lane,” Cory Eliason said. “Brian, Skip, TW, Larry, and everyone that works on this thing does a great job night in and night out, and that shows in our speed I think.”
With 22 cars in attendance for the seaside track’s first sprint car race of the season, Eliason would kick things off by qualifying fourth fastest in time trials.
Heat race action saw the Kingsburg, CA pilot work his way up to a second-place finish which would successfully earn him and the team a berth in the night’s Dash where a third-place finish placed Eliason in the second row of the 30-lap main event.
On an extremely slick Ocean Speedway surface, Eliason slipped back to the fifth spot during the race’s early stages but worked his way up to third as he battled with Justin Sanders and Shane Golobic for track position.
Working into second-place on the 19th lap, Eliason was noticeably closing in on race-long leader, Geoff Ensign. Making his bid for the lead in turns one and two on lap 25, Eliason drove around Ensign him in turns three and four to take command of the race. The final laps saw Eliason keep the field at bay as he rode the Ocean Speedway cushion to claim the team’s second win of the 2017 season.
“It is always nice to get back into victory lane and celebrate with your guys,” Eliason said. “We have another big weekend coming up in Chico so we look to keep this momentum going.”
Goodguys President Marc Meadors, himself a drag racer, knows what it takes to win. “We are proud of Larry, Cory and the entire team on their second big win of the season,” Meadors said. “To beat the best takes preparation, skill, some luck and major dedication. It’s obvious the Antaya Motorsports team has the winning formula. We are proud to be associate sponsors of their team and look forward to a lot more fun this summer!”
2017 BY THE NUMBERS – Carey Eliason: Starts – 6, Wins – 2, Top 5’s – 2, Top 10’s – 2
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