Persistence Pays off for Elliott with

2^nd Place Finish in APC 300

 

A day full of ups and downs for the David Elliott Racing Team finished on a high note as David claimed the runner-up position in the APC 300 at Delaware Speedway.

 

The day started off well with the #37 Pennzoil Chevrolet turning fast times in practice. David was the sixth car to qualify and turned his fastest lap ever at Delaware at 18.942 seconds. The team was ecstatic until post-qualifying inspection showed that the left-front corner was slightly too low and David’s time was disallowed.

 

After a quick check of the car’s suspension, it was discovered that a lock nut on the left front load bolt had backed off, causing the frame to drop by about 1/8 of an inch. The team reset the bolt to the proper height and made sure the nut would not release again.

 

“Having our time thrown out was a real disappointment,” said Elliott. “But we knew our car was fast and I figured that we had a top-5 car if we avoided any more trouble.”

 

With no official time in qualifying, David started at the back of his 50-lap qualifying race. The Pennzoil Chevrolet methodically moved through traffic and David finished in 7^th place, giving him a 13^th place starting position for the 200-lap feature.

 

The feature race saw numerous cautions in the early laps, preventing David from gaining many positions. When the caution flew just after lap 60, the team decided they would pit to change left side tires, since they could only change two tires during a scheduled competition caution somewhere between lap 90 and 110.

 

David returned to the track and immediately radioed in that he had a flat right front tire. Fortunately, the #19 of Brandon Watson stalled on the track and kept the yellow flag out long enough for the crew to change the flat without losing a lap.

 

Over the next 35 laps, David quickly moved from the back of the pack and was running well into the top 10 at the halfway mark, when contact with loose bodywork on the #11 of Cole Weber cut down the left front tire on the #37. Again, fortune smiled on David as the track decided to throw the scheduled competition caution right as the tire went down. This caution gave teams five minutes to change two tires, refuel the car and make minor adjustments without losing track position.

 

As David’s crew had to change two tires, plus the flat on this stop, the #37 had to start at the back of the pack again.

 

Undaunted, David again began moving through the field when the green flag flew again. Over the next 50 laps, he capitalized on several great jumps on restarts to move into second position behind the #52 of Ron Sheridan.

 

Ron and David had the fans sitting on the edge of their seats for the final 50 laps, running nose to tail. With Steve Roblee’s #28 running just a couple car lengths behind in third waiting to pounce if the leaders slipped, the David hounded Sheridan all the way to the finish.

 

“I was better than Ron in turns 3 and 4, but I wasn’t going to bump him to get past,” said a jubilant Elliott after the race. “There are some drivers that will do anything to get a win, even if it means hitting the leader to get by, but that’s not my style of racing”

 

Some would argue that the $10,000 winner’s cheque would have been a good reason to change his style, but David was willing to settle for the $2500 for second place and the respect from fans and his fellow competitors.