As the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end.” Elite Racing’s five race winning streak this weekend ended at the Talladega Short Track, but that does not tarnish the dominance that Jason Meyers has shown in the last two months. Also, Meyers became the first driver in ten years to win five consecutive races. As competitive as the World of Outlaws series is, Meyers has turned the 2011 season around and is close to emerging from the year as Champion.
When the night began at Talladega, Meyers was on point winning the dash thus giving him the pole for the feature. On the first lap in turn 1, Meyers established himself as the leader when second place Donny Schatz tucked in behind the 2010 Champion. The first yellow flag come out on Lap 2, setting up the first restart of the race.
When the green flag flew, Meyers chose the inside line. Schatz tried to make a move on the inside, but the Californian held on until the second canary banner slowed racing action on Lap 6. On the ensuing restart, Meyers sprinted out again to the lead, but behind him a challenger was rising. Schatz lost the second position to David Gravel and the youngster began to run down the Champion.
On Lap 8, Gravel was close and waiting for his chance to get under the #14 GLR Investments KPC. For several laps, the two ran nose-to-tail and side-by side for the lead. Just as Gravel edged ahead of Meyers, the 2010 Champion powered back. It was an epic battle of youth vs. experience. Meyers held strong, until Gravel dove to the inside on Lap 14 and made the pass.
Quickly Gravel began to open up a one second lead before the third disruption in racing action happened on Lap 18. With the green flag in the air, there was a three way battle between Meyers, Schatz and Steve Kinser for the second position. Meyers would hold the position until lap 31 when Schatz got to the inside of the Californian placing him back in the 3rd position. Then on the following lap, Meyers lost another position to Kraig Kinser. In the final laps, Meyers held on to the 4th position in his #14 DDNi KPC while Gravel went on to win his first World of Outlaws race.
“This place is always racy,” Meyers stated. “We race with the best dirt track drivers in the world, so you have to have your car set up right. This can be a little bit of a tricky place and if you are just a little off it shows. We did our best to put the GLR Investments, DDNi, MediaTile, Allstar Performance, KPC in a good position, but came up a little short.”
Up Next
After taking a week off, Jason and the Elite Racing team will be ready to take on the World Finals. In two weeks the team will be traveling to The Dirt Track at Charlotte Speedway and all they have to do is show up to clinch the 2011 championship. Last year Meyers swept the two events to win the title. The Californian has 4 victories and in his last 15 appearances at the track, he has only finished outside of the top-10 once. He also has not finished outside the top-10 at the track since May of 2007.
