David Elliott entered the second round of the Grisdale Triple Crown Series hoping to build on his one-point lead. Unfortunately, thanks to an over-aggressive invader, David slipped to second in points by night's end.

 

The evening started well with the #37 Pennzoil Impala running quick times in practice. The team made a few adjustments as changing weather conditions affected the track's grip.

   

    

 

David started on the pole for the first qualifying heat, led every lap and captured the checkered flag. A full-field inversion for the second heat meant David started in 8th. He quickly began moving forward until  the #56 of Jeff Stewart and #82 of Jason Shaw spun right in front of David. Shawn Chenoweth, who was directly behind David, could not slow up in time and got into the back of the #37. David did a slow spin then pulled back onto the track. Chenoweth had nosed into the side of Shaw, but the track officials somehow missed both of his hits and said he wasn't involved in the accident...giving him his spot back near the front of the field.

    

 

David managed to overcome his adversity (a sign of things to come) and finished 3rd. This finish, combined with his win in the first heat, gave David a fourth place start for the 75-lap feature.

 

With weather threatening, David knew he needed to get to the front as quickly as possible. Following the #05 of Brad Cochoran on the outside, David slotted into second place. After a caution, the #05 and #37 ran side-by-side with David keeping his nose just in front. Another caution flew and David was ruled to be the leader. Restarting in the low lane, David opened up a gap as the #05 and #78 or Mark Watson battled for second.

    

 

The #78 finally claimed second spot, but couldn't close in on the Pennzoil Impala. David led for more than 30 laps before a quick caution let the #78 close back in on the leader. On the restart Watson made an illegal move and slid in behind David before the start/finish line. Although the track threw the black flag at Watson, he kept his position and stayed on David's bumper for 5 laps before the #37 began pulling away. Another quick caution pulled the cars back together again and the track decided that the black flag had been "a mistake".

 

Watson seemed to realize that he had neither the car, not the driving ability to pass David cleanly, so going into turn 3 after the restart, he drove hard into the back end of the #37, sending both cars spinning into the wall. David was irate as he got out of the car to assess the damage. He decided he could still drive the car and returned to the pits. Quick work by the crew, combined with a LOT of duct tape to hold the body together, let David return to the track without losing a lap.

                                

 

Mark "The Weapon" Watson also returned to the track and lined up behind David. The next caution was brought out when, you guessed it, Watson made contact with another car. Deciding he had run into everything he possibly could, Watson climbed from the car, walked back to the pits and called it a night.

 

Despite a car that looked like it was part of a demolition derby, Elliott ran right with the leaders for the rest of the race and claimed a fifth-place finish.

 

After the race, David went to speak with Watson. Watson claimed that he was just "racing hard". After a heated discussion, during which Waston began making up fantasies that David had caused many cars to wreck at Delaware, David decided to walk away before he did anything which could have resulted in a fine or points penalty.

 

The fifth place finish leaves David 2 points behind leader Chenoweth with going into the final race of the Triple Crown Series on August 6th.

 

David and the team had planned to run at Delaware on July 13th race against Kurt and Kyle Bush. But after the damage caused by Watson's move, David decided to skip the Delaware race.

 

"I apologize to the fans who were hoping to see us at Delaware, but I am so livid that I would spend the entire race looking to pay Mark back. That wouldn't be fair to my fans or to the other competitors," explained David. "I don't want to stoop to his level, I drive clean and don't ram cars out of the way to pass them. I will just keep away from him for the next month and hope that I have calmed down by August 6th."

 

The David Elliott Racing Team will return to the track at Flamboro Speedway on July 16th. See you there.