From Peterson Media
Returning to action against the World of Outlaws for the first time since the Knoxville Nationals, former two-time series champion, Jason Meyers put together a strong charge on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, NV before a pair of so-so performances closed out his week.
“It was nice to be back in action with the World of Outlaws,” he said. “Tom Tarlton has given me a great opportunity, and hopefully we can get a little better moving forward to give him some strong results.”
Kicking off the year on Wednesday night, Meyers narrowly missed the heat race inversion aboard his Tarlton and Son/Corporate Lending America/Tachi Palace and Casino machine, as he was 19th quickest.
Starting fifth in his heat, ‘Hotfoot’ would secure the fourth spot, and transfer to the feature event, where he gridded the field in the 19th spot.
Despite 35 mile per hour wind gusts, the Las Vegas Dirt Track was in prime shape for the feature event as it provided a multi-groove surface.
Marred in traffic, the Clovis, CA shoe put his Bandy and Associates/Pro Signs/BG Lubricants all over the track as he found holes in traffic and raced his way forward.
In the fast paced race, Meyers would work all the way up to the eight spot when the dust settled.
“We timed in just behind the inversion, and that set us back,” he said. “Paul Baines and the guys gave me a strong car in the feature, and we went forward.”
Back in action on Thursday night, Meyers timed his K&N Products/All Star Performance/Astro Titanium No. 21M in much better as he was the sixth fastest driver in qualifications
“We were much better out of the box on Thursday night, and we thought we would have a better night,” he explained.
Starting third in his heat, Meyers stalked second running, Rico Abreu, looking to secure a berth in the dash, but he was unable to grab the spot thus missing out on the dash.
“It was unfortunate we missed out on the dash spot, because that meant we started outside of the top-10, and started in the 12th spot.”
Starting in the sixth row, Meyers struggled, as he failed to get moving forward.
Trying what he could to get rolling the right direction, he ended up losing several spots, and wound up finishing 17th.
“We missed it a bit in the feature and went backwards,” he said. “It was not a great night, but fortunately we had Tucson, AZ to try and forget about it.”
Making it to Tucson International Raceway on a frigid Saturday night, Meyers was again strong in qualifying as he timed in ninth fastest.
Lining up on the front row of his heat on a narrow track, Meyers gut hung out on the start and fell into the third spot. Hounding Joey Saldana for the second spot, Meyers again came up short on making the dash.
“With this format, it is a must to capitalize on front row heat starting spots, and we did not get the job done,” Meyers explained.
Lining up 12th again, Meyers held strong in the 12th spot early in the feature as passing at a premium on the fast track.
A late restart cost Meyers a pair of positions as he closed his opening week of action with a 14th place finish.
“For the week we either qualified well, and raced just okay, or we qualified poor and raced well,” he said. “We will hit the drawing board this week, and hopefully get it figured out where we can time in well, and race well.”
Tarlton Racing would like to thank Corporate Lending America, Tachi Palace and Casino, Bandy and Associates, Pro Signs, BG Lubricants, K&N Products, All Star Performance and Astro Titanium for their continued support.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-3, Wins-0, Top 5’s-, Top 10’s-1.
ON TAP: Jason and his Tarlton Racing team will be back in action with the World of Outlaws this weekend at the Thunderbowl in Tulare, CA.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Tommy by visiting www.tommytarlton.com or follow @Tarlton_Racing on Twitter.