Concord, NC— March 31, 2010—Jason Meyers said before heading to Florida to open the 2010 World of Outlaws season that he didn’t need to set the world on fire in the Sunshine State, but rather was looking to be consistent each night, set a tone for the year and most importantly build a strong foundation for the entire nine month, 70-plus race campaign. He did exactly that, finishing a very solid fourth on opening night with a very stout field of cars in attendance and he wrapped up the stay in Florida with a sixth-place effort to head back west firmly among the Top-Five in the series standings, in the fourth spot, only 19 markers out of the lead.
Following a thrilling win at Las Vegas that saw him come all the way from the 18th starting spot to take the victory over 20-time series champion Steve Kinser in an amazing last lap duel, Meyers remained fourth in points, cutting the margin to just 16 points.
A win at his home track of Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California aboard the GLR Investments KPC moved Meyers to within six markers out of the lead following the opener of the two night show, though he was still in the fourth position. He came from eighth to finish second in the finale at Tulare and moved up two spots to second in points, just seven markers behind Joey Saldana.
A fourth-place run at Lone Star Speedway in Texas saw Meyers fall one spot in points to third, though he was still just nine markers out of the lead. He finished 10th at Houston Raceway Park the following night to move back into second in points, 23 markers behind Joey Saldana.
Following a seventh-place run in the opener of Kasey’s King of Bulls Gap Presented By Budweiser on March 19, Meyers moved into second in points. A win in the finale of the two-day event vaulted him into the lead in the championship standings for the first time this season and the first time since the spring of 2008.
“We’re very pleased with how the season has started and will continue to work very hard,” said Meyers recently. “Once again you have seen the level of competition raised this season. I think there are more teams running very strong than there ever have been. It’s going to be a tough season. We’re off to a good start and we’ll keep digging.”
A couple of unknowns greeted competitors in 2010 with the first of those being the new tires from Goodyear. Meyers seems to have adapted pretty well to the new rubber and is the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in all nine races this season as he chases his first series title. On top of the string of Top-10 runs, he has an average finish of fourth this season which leads all drivers as well.
“They have been a challenge and have been different,” explained the California native of the Goodyear tires. “We knew they would be different, we just didn’t know how. So far they have been ok. They have a lot of different characteristics. Goodyear has been doing a great job in giving us the support we need and we continue to learn more and more with the feedback we have given them. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them.”
The second major change in 2010 was bringing back double file restarts, which the World of Outlaws utilized in the early days of the series long before Meyers climbed aboard a sprint car. He used the double file restarts to his advantage at Las Vegas coming from the 18th starting spot to win, having the benefit of a couple of double file restarts that night to gain valuable positions on restarts.
“I’m about 50/50 on that one,” Meyers noted when asked about the double file restarts. “I was a little more to the positive a few weeks ago. So far on the short tracks they haven’t been as good. Hopefully they are good for the fans and that’s why they are doing it, trying to make the racing better for the fans. So far it has somewhat done that. We’ll have to see how it pays off at the short tracks in the weeks to come.”
With a two week break between events, the Elite Racing team which Meyers co-owns along with Chris Luck and Guy Stockbridge is back at their shop in Brownsburg, Indiana preparing for the heart of the World of Outlaws season. The race on April 10 at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma will kick off a stretch of 18 consecutive weekends that the series will be in action. Meyers is looking forward to the schedule picking up soon and is very confident in what he and his team have learned and applied so far this year.
“We’re going to keep working,” stated Meyers. “We’re going to take this time to stock up on some of the things that we have tried this year that have worked for us and work on some other things we been working on. Hopefully we’ll be able to take that time and do a little testing and get prepared for the summer stretch coming up.”
Meyers and the rest of the World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, April 10 for the inaugural visit to Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma. For more information on that event visit http://www.tri-statespeedway.com and for more information on the World of Outlaws visit http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo; Engine Builder's Challenge participants Don Ott Racing Engines, Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines; and Chassis Builder’s Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.
- Tony Veneziano on Mar 31, 2010
- Article Date: 3/31/2010