The Corey Hight Pro Stock debuted in April 2002. Corey
raced at Wiscassett Raceway and finished 4th in the points standings with
several top 5 finishes.
2003 Corey ran a limited schedule in the Hight Chevrolet
Monte Carlo.
In the fall of 2003 Hight Motorsports purchased a new
Distance Racing Products car. The car was displayed at the Northeast Motorsports Expo in
Augusta, ME where it received the award for best appearing Pro-Stock.
During the winter months an agreement was made between
Jeff Taylor and Hight Motorsports to run some races during the 2004 season.
The combination proved competitive with several top finishes including an opening day win
and (other wins) in the first few races at Wiscassett raceway.
The first big race for the pair was at Unity Raceway for the DNK 250. Despite having one
of the fastest cars throughout practice, when it came qualifying time luck was not with
Taylor. He was involved in wrecks in the qualifying and consi races. However he slipped in
the back door of the show after a 2nd place finish in the last chance race. Bad luck
continued as Jeff became involved in a severe race ending wreck on lap 7 of the race.
The team repaired the car and entered the Bank North 250
at Oxford Plains Speedway looking for a performance that showed the abilities of both
driver and car. A decent draw for the qualifying race allowed Jeff to drive to a 3rd place
finish in the heat race giving the teams a starting a top starting position in its first
ever Oxford 250. Throughout the first portions of the main event, Jeff avoided several
wrecks to keep the car clean and towards the front. The car had moved up to 4th place when
a flat right front tire under green took the team out of contention for the win. After
fixing the flat and coming back onto the track 3 laps down, Hight Motorsports cruised to a
16th place finish.
In October of
2004 Hight Motorsports teamed up again with another one of Maines best drivers. This
time it was Racin Ralph Nason, at his home track, Unity Raceway, for the Long John
150. Despite poor results in that race, team owner Corey Hight and Racin Ralph saw
potential.
The team started the 2005 season with Nason
behind the wheel. Over the winter a new car was purchased from Junior Hanley. From the
beginning the car was very fast. In the first race of the year at Unity Raceway Ralph
dominated the race until an altercation late in the race forced him out of the win.
Shortly after that the team ran into a streak of bad luck. From carburetors problems to
motor problems to handling issues everything seemed to be bad. Before long it was July and
the PASS series was back at Unity. After struggling most of the day to get a handle on the
car things came together in the feature. For the last 50 laps it was Racin Ralph and
Mike Rowe, just like the old days. Rowe got the upper hand but Ralph scored 2nd
place, the highest finish for the team in a PASS event.
The next event was the Oxford 250. Ralph was looking to score his record 4th
win. Unfortunately the day ended early when Ralph got caught up in traffic and ended up in
the front stretch wall hard. The damage was great enough so the car would need to go to
the clip doctor in Ontario for repairs. The decision was made to park the car for the
remainder of the year.
During that summer, Ontario racing legend Junior Hanley came down to Maine to work with
the car for a few days to try to help get a handle on the car. A friendship between Corey
and Junior was developed and in the fall of 2005 Corey began to talk to Junior about
driving the car in a few races in 2006.
Junior and Corey both only want to run a few races this year, so the team will try for
quality over quantity. The plan will be to run no more than four races and be the car to
beat at all of them. As Oxford Plains Speedway writer Kalle Oakes said in a recent
article, " The idea that Junior might roll in from Campbellville armed
with anything bearing four wheels and a combustion engine was enough to make most guys
wish they had done more homework over the winter." |