Fullerton, California (May 17, 2001) – Eric Norris actually looks forward to turning 36 years-old this Sunday as he heads to round seven of the NASCAR Winston West Series at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California for the FoodsCo NASCAR Challenge Salinas 250. The NASCAR Winston West veteran figures he’s due for a change in racing luck that has been anything but good the past year.
“I never thought I’d look forward to a birthday after turning 21 until this last year,” laughed Norris. “Maybe turning 36 will change our luck. At this point the Jani-King team and I are willing to try anything to shake off the dark cloud that’s been hovering above us. We’ve even decided to bless our cars with sage this week.”
Indeed, Norris has been plagued by misfortune this year. In four of his six races this season Norris has encountered problems outside his control, likely costing him wins at Tucson and California. Last week at Irwindale, a broken distributor sidelined Norris early, resulting in a 20th place finish and dropping him from 5th to 8th in the championship points standings.
“We need to get back on track while it’s still early enough in the season to make a serious run at the championship. With good finishes this weekend and at Kansas City in early June we’ll be back on course. We’re ready to break-out.”
Norris may very well be celebrating more than his birthday Sunday. Before entering NASCAR in 1997, Norris raced primarily on road courses in Formula 2000 cars. In 1997, Norris finished 13th in a NASCAR Truck at Watkins Glen and followed that up with a 5th place finish in a Winston West car at Sears Point in 1998. At last years Laguna Seca race Norris finished 6th despite losing all but third gear in his transmission early in the race.
“I really like racing road courses and there’s not many out there quite as nice and demanding as Laguna Seca. After last year, I’m confident we can put the Jani-King car in Victory Circle if we keep out of trouble and avoid any mechanical problems that commonly occur on road courses. It’ll be nice to have all four gears and really go racing.”
The FoodsCo NASCAR Challenge 250 takes place this Sunday at 1 pm on the 2.2 – mile Laguna Seca Raceway in scenic Monterey, California.
For more information on Eric Norris and Norris Racing, visit www.NorrisRacing.com.
