Fullerton, California (March 14, 2001)- Coming off a race in which he made up an incredible four laps under green flag conditions, Eric Norris and his team are smiling as they prepare to return to the track marking their first career win in the NASCAR Winston West Series.
“I’ve never, ever had a better race car than the one in Tucson last weekend, so we’ll be taking it to Bakersfield for this weekend’s race,” explained Norris. “It may sound silly when you look at where we finished (11), but what they don’t put in the stats is the fact that we made up four laps under green flag conditions. The car was simply perfect.”
In Tucson, Norris qualified 2nd and took the early lead. At lap 38, the race’s first of two unscheduled cautions waved. It was during the caution that the motor in Norris’s Jani-King Ford abruptly shut-off, the result of a faulty kill-switch wire. Quickly diagnosing the problem the Jani-King team sent Norris back to the race seven laps down, where he was able to get back one lap from the leaders under green flag conditions prior to the scheduled caution at lap 125, marking the race’s halfway point. It was the second half of the race that Norris dominated, actually completing three more laps than the entire field before the checkered flag waved for rookie driver Johnny Borneman’s first win. Norris’s 11th place finish keeps him in 6th place in the points standing heading into this Sunday’s Foods Co. 200 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, the site of Norris’s first career win in October, 2000.
“As disappointing as Tucson was from a results standpoint I am really pleased with the performance of our cars and the way our team has come together,” said Norris. “We know we can win any race on our schedule, but going to a place we’ve won at before has us feeling especially good about our chances. We want to win back-to-back races at Bakersfield, but in less dramatic fashion! ”
Norris is referring to last year’s race when he made a controversial last-lap, last corner move on Steve Portenga to post his first career NASCAR win.
The Foods Co. 200 is the fourth race on the 2001 NASCAR Winston West schedule and will be televised on the Fox Sports Network on a tape-delay basis. Eric and his team will be staying at the beautiful Rio Bravo Resort in Bakersfield (661-872-5000).
For more information on Eric Norris, visit www.NorrisRacing.com.
