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Winslow Gets Two First-Place Wins In A Row At Jacksonville's Coastal Plains Raceway
August 6th, 2008
Commonwealth Progress
by Joe Holliday
SCOTLAND NECK – Driver Eric Winslow, of Scotland Neck, has won his first two races at Coastal Plains Raceway in Jacksonville, back-to-back.
Last season, Winslow was a rookie at East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville, where he ended up as the UCAR champ.
Now racing a Limited Late Model in Jacksonville, Winslow is currently leading the points. He had dropped, during a race when his engine blew, but his first place win brought him back to the top.
On Sat., July 26, Winslow qualified on the pole, the fastest qualifying all year.
"Two or three hundredths of a second," the racer stated. "It was that close.
"There was a ton of cautions in that race," Winslow remarked.
He informed that the track had called in reference to a rule change, and the Winslow Motorsports team got the car ready for the new rules package, which involved installing a new type of carburetor.
Winslow noted that, with the equipment change, the normal nine gallons of fuel his car burns per race was upped to 12 ½ gallons. He mentioned that one car ran out of fuel during that race.
Before the race, there was a problem with the car's starter and a rear end gear needed to be changed. Dustin Turnage loaned a starter and Brandon Hobbs helped with the gear and Winslow's yellow #22 was ready to go.
Winslow led every lap from green to checkered, in the mid-season face-off, earning him his first win in a Limited Late Model. There were 14 cars on the track, as one car's engine blew up and the driver left.
"It was nerve-wracking," the racer mentioned, concerning the high frequency of cautions. "There were two or three restarts. By lap 30, I was freaking out."
During the post race test, "They didn't have the right tool to check the carburetor with," he informed, so Winslow's win was documented on the Tuesday after the race, after a proper test had been performed.
"Pretty much all of the crew was there, minus Tripp Peele," Winslow stated of his exciting evening. Stroud Real Estate of Washington D.C., a sponsor of Winslow Motorsports, was also present.
Winslow informed that he was on the radio in Smithfield on July 29th, for 20-25 minutes, and his website, www.winslowmotorsports.com, has been getting more views. Concerning the team's success so far, Winslow voiced, "We need to keep doing what we're doing – and not have a motor problem. It's hard to get over the hump, but when you do, you know you can do it again."
And do it again, he did. On Sat., Aug. 2, Winslow qualified outside pole and settled into second. A caution arose near lap 30. When the race restarted, Winslow and racer Dustin Turnage ran side-by-side for eight laps.
Winslow took the lead and at the end of the race, went home with another trophy.
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