From Petersen Media
Cory Eliason and the Antaya Motorsports team ended their 2017 King of the West campaign the exact same way it started, and that was in victory lane as Eliason claimed the Tribute to Gary Patterson on Saturday night in Stockton, CA.
“To win the season opener, and season finale in the same year is pretty cool, and I owe it all to these guys who work on this car,” Cory Eliason said. “We definitely would have loved to be in the Championship battle but unfortunately it didn’t play out but we still ended up third overall.”
Timing the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association/Fuel Curve/Fire Protection Management No. 20 car in fourth fastest in qualifying time trials, the Kingsburg, CA driver would race his way to a win in his heat race and earn a spot into the nightly dash.
Running second in the Dash to Dominic Scelzi, Eliason would line up on the front row for the final 30-lap feature of the season on wicked fast Stockton Dirt Track alongside Dominic Scelzi.
Getting the early jump, Eliason would lead the way in a race that would be hampered by stoppages every few laps. Not letting the stoppages mess with his rhythm, Eliason would continue to nail his restarts and keep the likes of Scelzi and Tim Kaeding at bay.
The longest green flag run of the night would go from lap 18-28, and during this 10-lap run, Eliason put on an exhibition through traffic as he left his challengers behind until the red lights flashed with just two to go.
One finale restart stood between Eliason and victory lane, though he would have Tim Kaeding on his rear bumper coming to the green. Just as he had done all night, Eliason had a flawless restart as he drove away from the pack and parked the Antaya Motorsports machine in victory lane for the fifth time in 2017.
“It was a great year for our team,” Eliason said. “I can’t thank everyone enough who made it possible. We were really fast night in and night out, and to end the year with a win is a great feeling.”
Antaya Motorsports would like to thank Good Guys Rod and Custom Association, Fuel Curve, Fire Protection Management, Inc., and Kaeding Performance for their support in 2017.