DENVER, NC (Nov. 24, 2015) – That didn’t take very long. After settling into the off-season following a record-setting year in the ARCA Racing Series, Sarah Cornett-Ching once again had an urge to climb behind the wheel, and she plans to fulfill that desire this weekend in Lucama, NC, at Southern National Motorsports Park. Cornett-Ching will be behind the wheel of the No. 2 RACE 101 super late model as part of the track’s Thanksgiving Classic weekend, one of the biggest late season races on the east coast.
Cornett-Ching is not completely unfamiliar to super late models, having tested one twice in her career. But she has never competed in a super late model event, much less a prestigious one like the Thanksgiving Classic. The cars she grew up racing in Canada were similar in construction but did not have nearly the power that full-blown super late models do.
“We tested last Friday and I had a blast running the new car and different tires,” she explained. “I love the power these cars have and I love how they feel when you drive them. They respond well and they really seem to suit my driving style. We’ve already got the car ready for race weekend and I can’t wait until the green flag on Sunday.”
Cornett-Ching has not raced a car since her record-setting year came to a close in October at Kansas Speedway. In that race, she clinched a seventh-place finish in series points, becoming the highest-finishing female rookie in the 62-year history of ARCA. Though she has yet to announce her 2016 plans, Sarah seems to have a lot of options on the table.
“It really has been an amazing season this year, something I never imagined in my wildest dreams,” Sarah said about her 2015 rookie campaign. “To have so many people interested in my racing program and wanting us to be part of their business plans and racing operations is really humbling and exhilarating at the same time. We have a direction for 2016 but have had so many options it’s unbelievable. We know for sure we’ll be at Daytona in February, but we hope to have an announcement in the next few weeks. All I know right now is that it will just be nice to relax and race again.”
Despite having so much buzz around her racing career, the 24-year old recently took a trip back home to British Columbia, Canada, to host a season-ending party for supporters, friends and fans who helped to launch her career into the stratosphere nearly a full year ago.
“When we left Daytona last February, the plan was for me to go home with my parents, back to British Columbia and continue to work as a commercial welder until something else came about,” she explained. “But thanks to the support of everyone back home, my dreams came true and if it wasn’t for so many people believing in me, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I thought it was important to go home and tell them ‘thank you’ in person.”
The Thanksgiving Classic runs November 27-29 at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, NC. Practice for super late models runs Friday andSaturday with time trials on Saturday afternoon. The feature event takes the green flag on Sunday. Complete coverage of the super late model race and the associated late model stock car contest will be available from Race22.com.
