Eric Yorke Crowned NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division III Champion
With consistency on a weekly basis, Eric Yorke was crowned the 2017 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division III Championship.
“My season, there is not much I did not do that I wanted to,” he reflected.”(I) won a bunch of races, including my first invitational at Spring Velocity, ran consistent all year and had the most points even if they were taken away from me. I am very happy with my season, because I know I had the best year even if the points or whatever don’t show it!”
Kicking off the season, Yorke scored a pair of top-fives leading into the May invitational – Spring Velocity. Starting up front, he led flag-to-flag en route to the victory.
“The most memorable moment of the year has to be winning Spring Velocity,” he said. “I have raced many years, and raced many invitationals, and to finally win one against the best cars in southern Ontario gives me a lot of pride in myself and crew; it was nice to get the monkey off my back so to speak!”
The victory kick-started his points campaign, as he came out and won the following week with a last lap pass on Charlie Smith. The month of June saw the dream year continue with four top-fives, including another win. The victory served notice heading into the second half of the year as Yorke came through the field, going from 18th to ninth in the first three laps, before taking the lead on Lap 8.
While he started July with a fourth, the second week saw a minor disagreement in post-race technical inspection not go in his favor with a disqualification. He was quick to rebound, though, running up front in the next event before being deemed involved in a mid-race caution and placing ninth. He would put the perfect cap on the month, though, scoring the win on July 29.
The momentum carried through August as Yorke scored a pair of runner-ups and pair of fourths. He then placed second and first in the first two nights to start off September, allowing him to enter the final night of racing in a good shape. While he finished eighth, another disagreement in post-race inspection saw Yorke lose his points and finish for the night. The No. 51 Nissan 240SX was essentially disqualified for the front bumper bar that has been on the car for the majority of 2017.
For Yorke, the disqualification was enough to drop him down to fourth in the track standings.
However, things played out different with NASCAR as they only count your best 14 finishes of the year. Their standings put Sunset’s drivers up against competitors from 60 different tracks across North America, with each driver earning points based on their finishes at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks. Ultimately, when the points added up, Yorke completed the year on top.
As a result, he was crowned the 2017 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division III Champion.
“I don’t think it has set in that I won a NASCAR title, even if it is only a short track title,” he said. “(It’s) still an honour and very cool to be able to say I won one!”
For Yorke, it marks his second career Mini Stock Championship as he won the Sunset Speedway track title in 2012.
“I don’t think it is a joke that I say there was the best cars there to race against week in and week out,” he said. “The only thing that changed is I came better prepared as a racer, and came with better equipment which made it possible to run the way I did and put in the results that I did. So I am proud of what I did and I am not gonna say it was easier, but it helps to do your homework and come prepared!”
Yorke and DY Racing are proud to be supported by Can-Alignment Motorsports, Solex Steel, Partimer Signs, Skytec Rentals, Budget Tire, Scentsy Consultant – Lisa DeLeeuw, and Cabral Racing Promotions.
Be sure to check out the DY Racing website at
https://dyracing.wordpress.com and like the DY Racing facebook page at
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By: Ashley McCubbin/AM Marketing – ashleymccubbin17@gmail.com
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