- Cory Eliason sweeps the Nor-Cal Posse Shootout presented by Autism Awareness at Placerville Speedway -
Placerville, CA – September 23, 2017…Kingsburg’s Cory Eliason and car owner Rod Tiner have proven to be a potent combo in 2017 and that continued at the inaugural Nor-Cal Posse Shootout presented by Autism Awareness, with the duo claiming a clean sweep of the weekend at Placerville Speedway.
Eliason dominated the opening prelim on Friday, before capturing an exciting 40-lap finale on Saturday evening, earning the $7500 grand prize. Combining Friday’s winnings and his Posse Pole Shuffle winnings each night, the Central Valley wheel-man walked away with $11,300 for the weekend.
“It feels great to come out here and win the first ever Nor-Cal Posse Shootout,” commented Eliason in victory lane to track announcer Brad Kennedy. “Rod Tiner and I have been really fast all year so it’s pretty awesome to get another victory. It took me a long time to finally win at Placerville Speedway and now we have three in a row so that’s pretty special. I want to thank everyone for putting on this event because it was a lot of fun and hopefully it gets bigger and bigger.”
Elk Grove’s Greg Decaires was making his final Placerville Speedway start as a full-time driver and jumped into the lead at the waving of the green flag in the feature. Early on Eliason hounded his rear bumper looking for a way by, which finally came on lap 11 when he charged around the outside of turn four to take command. Just after that a caution flag waved that set up a restart where Hanford’s DJ Netto carved his way into second.
Once lapped traffic came into play after the halfway point things heated up and fans were treated to some tremendous racing on the tight quarter-mile. Netto closed in ever so slightly while running the low line and as Eliason got bound up on the cushion it gave him the chance to make his move. On lap 29 Netto sliced into the lead as the crowd came to their feet. Eliason didn’t give up however, and stayed right with the Tri-C Manufacturing No. 3c machine, before making the move on lap 32 to regain the top-spot.
Netto then returned the favor to take the lead once again, but a caution waved that saved the position for Eliason. After going back green Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi then battled hard with Netto and took over the runner up spot on lap 35 while running the high-side. Up front it was all about Eliason though, who took the checkered flag to claim his third straight victory at the Placerville Speedway.
Scelzi crossed the stripe in second to cap a great weekend that also saw him earn the $600 Brad Sweet Racing/ ADCO Driveline and Custom Exhaust fast time award on Friday, along with a fourth place effort in the opening night A-main. Roseville’s Sean Becker had a strong run in the feature on Saturday to come from row five and make a thrilling final corner pass up top to claim the final spot on the podium. Netto and Decaires rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 were Watsonville’s Justin Sanders, Visalia’s Steven Tiner, Princeton’s Mason Moore, Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto and 21st starter Colby Copeland of Roseville, who took home the $300 hard charger award courtesy of Kevin and Kim Urton.
The $250-to-win Posse Pole Shuffle courtesy of Kyle Larson Racing was captured by Cory Eliason. The B-main was claimed by Tony Gualda. The first set of heat races were picked off by Willie Croft, Mason Moore, Jodie Robinson and Mitchell Faccinto, while the second set of heats were won by Ryan Bernal, Chase Majdic, Shane Hopkins and Colby Copeland. A total of 42 different Winged 360 Sprint Car entrants competed at the inaugural running of the Nor-Cal Posse Shootout presented by Autism Awareness.
Scott Kinney made a late-race pass to claim victory in the companion BCRA Midget Lite feature over Hunter Kinney, Terry Bergstrom, Brent Sexton and Emilee Lindgren. Nineteen BCRA Midget Lites were in action on Saturday with heat races picked up by Scott Kinney, Hunter Kinney and Brent Sexton. Hunter Kinney won opening night on Friday.
The Placerville Speedway will now close the 2017 racing season this coming Saturday September 30 with the Tilford Tribute featuring Ltd. Late Models, Pure Stocks, Sport Mods and Mini Trucks. More info can be found at http://www.placervillespeedway.com/
Photos courtesy of Cleveland Digital Imaging