GIBSONTON, Fla. — Cory Eliason won Tuesday night’s Jean Lynch Classic as the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 closed out a two-night stand at East Bay Raceway Park.
Eliason led every circuit of the 30-lap program and was chased to the line by Dylan Westbrook, Monday night winner Tyler Courtney, Parker Price Miller and Anthony Macri.
Eliason earned a $6,000 payday that may have been convincing on paper, but the challenges were far from unnoticed.
Eliason was forced to take evasive action on lap 15, making hard contact with a slower car while trying to put the driver one lap down. Luckily for Eliason, the Rudeen Racing/Hager Realty Service/Rayce Rudeen Foundation/No. 26 sprint car drove on unscathed.
Despite the aforementioned hiccup with the lapper and a few early race cautions interrupting his momentum, the last half of the 30-lapper went relatively smooth for Eliason, eventually escaping to a 2.6-second lead by the time the checkered flag waved.
The win bumps Eliason’s career total to nine with the All Stars.
“This is a little bit of redemption, for sure. Hats off to my entire team. Last year was a tough year, but we’re starting things off right this year,” said Eliason, who finished second in the 2021 All Star Circuit of Champions driver standings. “I love coming to Florida…I love Volusia and I love East Bay. I wish we actually got to come here more often, but we’ll take what we can when we come here.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [4]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [9]; 4. 11-Parker Price Miller [2]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri [7]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [11]; 7. 11M-Kerry Madsen [10]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [3]; 9. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [23]; 10. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [18]; 11. 18-Gio Scelzi [15]; 12. 2C-Wayne Johnson [14]; 13. 10X-Ryan Smith [22]; 14. 28-Tim Shaffer [19]; 15. 6-Dustin Gates [16]; 16. 28M-Conner Morrell [8]; 17. 40-George Hobaugh [13]; 18. 23B-Brian Bell [21]; 19. 20B-Cody Bova [17]; 20. 19X-Chris Windom [5]; 21. 48-Danny Dietrich [6]; 22. 8-Aaron Reutzel [12]; 23. 66-Danny Smith [20]; 24. 5M-Max Stambaugh [24] Lap Leaders: Cory Eliason (1-30)