From the desk of Jason Meyers:
In January of 2004 with the help of Guy Stockbridge and eventually Chris Luck in 2006, I set out to build a World of Outlaw sprint car team capable of winning the World of Outlaws Championship. Over the past eight years, seven seasons of Outlaw competition, the team we created through hard work and sleepless nights has finished in the top-five seven times with three runner up finishes and recently two championships in succession.
Along the way, we had the opportunity to work with some of the finest individuals in motorsports and have made friends for life that we will cherish forever. Many of these folks worked daily within Elite Racing and many were sponsors and supporters that made our dreams reachable through their belief in our marketing and performance capabilities.
This offseason has been like all the rest, filled with obstacles and challenges that force you to analyze your current position and also your short and long term goals. As many of you may know, my wife and I started a family on the road almost five years ago and we have been blessed with two beautiful little girls who not only love their mom and dad, but they love the races. When we decided to have a family, we promised ourselves that when it was time for our children to start school the road would no longer be our home. In just eight short months, our oldest will be starting school and life as we know it will once again change.
Events that occurred over the winter months have given me the opportunity to take a good hard look at where we are in life and where we want to be. In this process, I have learned that it is time for me to be at home and although sprint car racing has given me so much, it can never give me what attending my daughter's sporting events and taking them camping will. It is for this reason that I have decided to depart from my professional career on the road and embark on a new challenge as Dad and Husband. It is time for me to build a career outside of racing that will allow me to fulfill my commitments to my children and wife both financially and in person.
It is my passion for this sport, our team, our sponsors, and the fans that has made this decision very difficult and at times unimaginable. However when I imagine my daughter winning her first game and not being there to tell her good job, I see the reality of what life is all about. The sport of sprint car racing is a wonderful thing and has taken my family all over the world. I look forward to continuing my involvement when time allows whether I am driving, tuning, coaching, or whatever I can do to give back to the sport that has given so much to me. Companies often restructure in order to make it to the next level and that is exactly what I am doing, restructuring my priorities so that we as a family can reach the next level.
I cannot say thank you enough to all of those that have been a part of Elite Racing, my teammates, our owners, our sponsors, our fans, and the World of Outlaws. It has been a great adventure and I look forward to putting on a helmet in three months, six months, or even a year, and participating in a sprint car event somewhere in the world just for fun! Because at the end of the day, that is what sprint car racing is and that is why we all love it!
With that being said, we still have business left to do. To show our appreciation to our sponsors and fans we will be running the "Allstar Appreciation Tour," presented by Allstar Performance. We will be racing the first 14 races of the 2012 World of Outlaw season beginning in Volusia County on February 15th and ending at the famed half-mile in Napa Valley Calistoga Speedway.
Allstar Appreciation Tour 2012
Feb 15thVolusia Speedway Allstars
Feb 16th Volusia Speedway Allstars
Feb 17th Volusia Speedway WoO Opener
Feb 18th Volusia Speedway WoO
Feb 19th Volusia Speedway WoO
Mar 3rd USA Raceway Park WoO
Mar 8th Las Vegas Motor Speedway WoO
Mar 10th Perris Auto Speedway WoO
Mar 16th Tulare Thunderbowl WoO
Mar 17th Tulare Thunderbowl WoO
Mar 23rd Silver Dollar Speedway WoO
Mar 24th Silver Dollar Speedway WoO
Mar 30th Merced Speedway WoO
Mar 31st Calistoga Speedway WoO
One of the most exciting parts about the Allstar Appreciation Tour will be the new car design with many new sponsors as well as the reintroduction of many of our partners of the past that have rejoined Elite Racing for this final tour. We will be announcing these sponsors and introducing the new car design in the coming days so stay tuned to the Elite Racing website, facebook, and twitter feeds for exciting news and announcements.
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World of Outlaws Sprint Cars Look Ahead to West Coast March
Following opener in Florida, ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ springs cross-country for big month
CONCORD, N.C. - Feb. 2, 2012 - While most of the off-season attention is focused on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season-opening event in Florida, a month-long trip to the West Coast awaits the teams.
Following the 41st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., Feb. 17-18-19, the teams head to the opposite coast for the month of March in the West.
"Going out there is great," four-time champion Donny Schatz said. "They've got great facilities. The settings are absolutely unbelievable. It's great to see the following that they have."
It begins on Saturday, March 3, in Tucson, Ariz., with the Wildcat Shootout at USA Raceway - a high-banked, 3/8-mile oval that hasn't hosted a World of Outlaws race since 2007.
The Outlaws then head up to Las Vegas for a Thursday race - March 8 - at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas. Schatz has won a series-best six of the 26 World of Outlaws' events at the semi-banked, half-mile.
The series wraps up that weekend on Saturday, March 10, at Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, Calif. - the first of seven races in California during a 22-day span. Mark Kinser won the first five races at the semi-banked, half-mile track, which has featured six different winners in the last seven events.
Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., then hosts a doubleheader on March 16-17. The high-banked, 1/3-miler has seen Joey Saldana stand in Victory Lane at four of the last seven races, including last season's lone event.
The Mini Gold Cup will be hosted on March 23-24 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., where at least one World of Outlaws race has been held annually since 1979. Steve Kinser owns a series-high 13 victories at the high-banked, quarter-mile oval.
"Especially being in Indiana all winter, you always enjoy catching the good weather," Kinser said. "It's always a fun time at the beginning of the year."
The West Coast swing concludes the following weekend at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif., on March 30 and at Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif., on March 31. Last year was the first Outlaws event at the semi-banked, quarter-mile Merced, which was won by Sammy Swindell. Kinser and Danny Lasoski each have five victories at the semi-banked, half-mile Calistoga.
Tickets for most of the events can be ordered online by clicking WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets or by calling 877-395-8606. For tickets to Las Vegas, click LVMS.com and for tickets to Thunderbowl Raceway, click ThunderbowlRaceway.com.
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Kinser: “I’ve Had Enough Time Off. I’m Ready to Go Race.”
Tony Stewart Racing star geared up for UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit
CONCORD, N.C. - Jan. 31, 2012 - It's that point of the year when the offseason is winding down; just not quickly enough.
Cars are being assembled and plans made. And the itch to get back in the seat is more vibrant than ever. For a guy like Steve Kinser, the King of the Outlaws and the winningest driver in sprint car history, it isn't any different.
"Right now all of the guys are trying to get these cars finished up and head to Volusia," he said. "I've had enough time off. I'm ready to go race."
The World of Outlaws opens the season on Feb. 17-18-19 at the 41st annual UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. It's an event that includes all three major World of Outlaws series competing Feb. 14-25.
Kinser won the first two races at the fast, half-mile oval last year, which started a season when he finished with nine victories. He also place third in the standings - his 28th season with a top-three result in the 34 years of the World of Outlaws.
"That's a bonus," Kinser said of starting the season with a win. "It's not that critical. There have been a lot of times when I've sort of struggled for three or four weeks and got going on later in the year."
The Bloomington, Ind., native, who holds the all-time record of World of Outlaws victories with 570 and championships with 20, has claimed a series-best four wins at Volusia Speedway Park along with Tony Stewart Racing teammate Donny Schatz.
Last year, Kinser qualified in the top 10 each night, finished second in his heat race each night, won the dash twice and finished no worse than second in a feature.
"I like running Volusia," he said. "It's a good, fast race track, even if it's slick. It's the kind of track we really like to run on."
While Kinser said he doesn't know whether three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart will race any sprint car events - he will be in nearby Daytona in preparation for NASCAR's Daytona 500 - that adds to the great environment at Tony Stewart Racing.
"He's not afraid to jump in there," Kinser said. "Nobody really gives anyone advice. We just try to feed each other information."
Tickets can be ordered online by clicking WorldofOutlaws.com/tickets or by calling 877-395-8606.
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