The 2018 season promised a lot for California’s Cory Eliason and he looks set to begin 2019 in the same fashion with Diamond Bay Motorsport team principal Stephen Stahy this week announcing that the 27-year-old as the team’s driver for the 2019 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

Eliason is yet another example of a career that has flourished after having arrived on Australian shores for the first time as a virtual unknown to a majority of Australian Sprintcar fans.

In 2017, Eliason contested the Classic for the first time, driving for South Australia’s Adam Currie having only days before collected the teams biggest ever pay day when they claimed the All-Star Challenge and the $10,000 winner’s purse at Simpson Speedway.

Those that saw Eliason tame not only the tight confines of Simpson Speedway but also a field that included fellow Americans Terry McCarl and the Late Greg Hodnett, would have been impressed and his Classic debut confirmed to all and sundry that he had top end talent!

When the budget team rolled into the pits for the 2017 Classic, few would have anticipated a 12th place finish in Sunday’s A-Main that included a coveted Skwid Signs Hard Charger Award, a result of moving forward from a starting spot of 20th on the grid.

Fast forward to January 2018 and Currie again teamed with Eliason who produced the goods, recording a ninth-place finish on his Saturday Qualifying night. This result was then duplicated with a ninth-place finish in the Classic final.

Upon returning to the US, it was announced that Eliason would drive the famed Roth Motorsport 83 car, a ride that saw Cory claim his first World of Outlaws A-Main win on March 17 at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton CA, before he doubled up to secure a second Outlaw win at the Wine Country Outlaw Showdown on September 15, again in California at Calistoga Speedway.

Despite not being full time on the Outlaw Tour, Eliason recorded a 14th place finish in the World of Outlaws Points for season 2018, which included 12 top 5 results to go with his two victories.

At the 2018 Knoxville Nationals, Eliason, by virtue of contesting the 2018 South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, competed in the Speed Sport News Challenge which yielded another 9th place finish, before he eventually completed his Nationals campaign with a 14th place result in the final nights B-Main.

With it recently being announced that Eliason will partner with Rudeen Racing for the 2019 US Season, his talent will be on show for Australian Sprintcar fans at the Classic aboard the always immaculate Diamond Bay Motorsports W26 entry.

With Jason Johnson having contested the 2018 Classic for Stephen Stahy, it has been a tough few months for the Diamond Bay team, but no doubt seeing the on-track excitement that Cory Eliason will provide, will go some way to dulling the pain.

With Eliason set to arrive in Australia ahead of the Classic, he will have settled nicely into the teams Maxwill Race Engines powered Maxim, with all eyes being on delivering a strong result for the team’s partners Diamond Bay Motorsport, Devil Race Karts, Lone Star Rib House and Burris Speedway Kart Tires.

The 2019 47th edition of the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic will be supported by the following sponsors; Performance Racegear, KRE Race Engines, GJ Gardner Homes, The Lady Bay Resort and KFC.

Copies of the 2019 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic entry form have been forwarded to the 2018 entrants while a PDF version is available for download from the Premier Speedway website www.premierspeedway.com.au

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