Five days before the start of World Finals, Cory Eliason was a busy man.
The 32-year-old made a deal with Ridge & Sons Racing to pilot the No. 8 sprint car during the four-day event at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
On Sunday, the team “threw a car together, loaded up and drove to Indy on Monday,” according to Eliason. From Indianapolis, the Iowa-based crew pointed the hauler south to North Carolina and arrived at the four-tenths-mile dirt oval on Tuesday.
“That’s just kind of how it worked. It was kind of a last-minute deal, but it worked out great for me,” Eliason said. “As far as my year’s gone, it really kind of helps finish it out. It’s been a weird year for me to say the least.”
The California native started the season driving the No. 71 Indy Race Parts machine, owned by Bernie Stuebgen, which he also drove for the majority of last year. Eliason then stepped into the cockpit of the No. 11 Crouch Motorsports sprint car in May after Buddy Kofoid parted ways with the team.
While piloting the No. 11, Eliason won two All Star Circuit of Champions races — one at Weedsport (N.Y.) Speedway and the other at Wisconsin’s Dodge County Fairgrounds.
Finally, Eliason took the reins of the No. 8 from its regular driver Aaron Ruetzel for World Finals. Both Eliason and Reutzel drove Ridge & Sons entries on Nov. 10 at Oklahoma’s Tri-State Speedway.
Though it’s unusual for new driver-team duos to perform well out of the gate, Eliason believes he adapts quickly to new rides.
“I was fast in the 71 when I started the year. I was fast when I was able to get in the Crouch 11 machine, especially working with Brad Alexandria,” Eliason said. “And same thing with (crew chief Tyler) Swank.
“We came here, we’ve made all the shows, we’re fast. Next to the (Knoxville) Nationals, this is probably the toughest race format to lock into and you know, here we are — we’re in it.”
At World Finals, the heat race lineup for the preliminary features on Thursday and Friday are set by the qualifying laps competitors lay down on Wednesday. For Eliason, who only had three hot laps to adjust to a new car, the format wasn’t ideal.
“If we had a few more laps before we had to qualify for both nights, I would be in a lot better position,” Eliason said. “At the same time, our results might not show up, but we’re definitely making strides. Like I said, it’s a new team. Everything on this race car, I’ve never been in or sat in before.
“The only thing that’s usual for me is the steering wheel and the seat right now.”
After putting in fifth and 10th-place qualifying performances on Wednesday, Eliason placed 15th in the No. 8 on opening night at the World Finals. He went on finish 18th on Friday and 20th in Saturday’s finale.
“We threw everything we had at them and came out with some great notes,” Eliason said. “It was a good weekend with the RSR team.”
Eliason finished second Friday night at Tri-State, with Reutzel taking third behind winner Sam Hafertepe Jr.