BMX Racing: Raced BMX bikes from the age of 5 thru 12 mostly in York or Columbia, Md. Won way to many trophies and placed in a couple National events.
Go Karts: Started racing karts at Hunterstown Speedway at the age of 12. Raced in 2 cycle Yamaha class thru out central Pa. dirt tracks with many wins at Hunterstown, Linda's Speedway and Shippensburg. Had his only experience on asphalt at a National street race in Indiana.
Micro Sprints: Cory moved up to micro sprints at age 17. He raced mostly at Trailways and Shippensburg Speedways with occasional visits to Path Valley, Linda’s, Lanco and Lincoln Speedway. Cory won races at Shippensburg and Lincoln in 1998. In 1999 Cory won 11 times at Shippensburg and clinched the track championship.
Cory leads Mike Bittinger and Kevin Nouse
2000: Cory started his 358 sprint car career in the family owned car. The team raced at Lincoln, Williams Grove and KARS events at Silver Springs, Hagerstown and Thunder Valley. The season was filled with many ups and downs. Cory was named rookie of the year at Lincoln Speedway.
2001: Cory and the team continued the same basic schedule this year. He won his first race at Lincoln and consistently improved during the year. He finished 2nd in points at Lincoln and 4th in the final point chase at Williams Grove. Cory was named most improved driver at Lincoln Speedway.
2002: Things continued to improve for Cory and the team this year. Cory recorded 4 wins at Lincoln Speedway and collected his first point championship. Consistency at Williams Grove resulted in a 2nd place finish in points. The team finished 26 feature races with 18 top fives and 25 top tens.
2003: Cory finally had the breakout season you dream of. Four wins at Lincoln and two more at Williams Grove were enough to collect the season long point championships at both tracks. For Cory it was back to back championships at Lincoln. This year saw the team finish 20 races with 6 wins, 13 top threes and 19 top tens. All of this came from an average starting position of 12.85. Cory passed 187 cars in feature competition.
2004: After two unforgettable seasons, Cory and the team had a rough 2004. The year was marred with a couple tough crashes and some mechanical woes that resulted in finishing only 18 of the 26 races. Cory did have 1 win at Williams Grove to go with 6 top threes and 15 top tens. The highlight of the year for Cory was the start of his 410 career in the Haas Racing 11c. He ran the car 9 times with 2 top tens.
2005: Cory was hired by Mike Barshinger to drive his team’s potent 358 sprint car. The team took a little time to gel and Cory raced mid summer with a broken vertebra in his back. By seasons end Cory had 2 wins and clinched his 2nd point championship at Williams Grove Speedway. Cory raced the family owned 410 sprinter all summer at Susquehanna Speedway and highlighted that season by winning both ends of twin twenty lap features on May 26th.
2006: Cory and the Mike Barshinger team were crowned 2006 Track Champions this past weekend at banquets for Williams Grove and Lincoln Speedways. The sweep of the titles and the back to back championships at Williams Grove gives Mike three out of four since he hired Cory to wheel the potent Barshinger sprinter. For Cory it brings his total to six point titles in the 358 division.
The team competed in 35 events this year and had 5 DNF’s. Of the 30 races completed, Cory had 6 wins, 4 seconds, 6 thirds, 3 fourths and 4 fifth place finishes. Cory had a season long average feature finishing position of 4.63. That number was highlighted by an amazing 2.91 average at Williams Grove and followed with a 4.58 at Lincoln. The team passed 162 cars in feature competition from an average starting position of 10.95.
Cory also wheeled the Haas Racing 11c sprint car in 410 action at Lincoln and Susquehanna Speedway. The team competed in 23 races with 8 top tens. Cory’s best finish was a 3rd at Lincoln in the Weldon Sterner memorial.
2007: Cory and the Mike Barshinger team collected their track championship awards on Saturday night at the Lincoln Speedway banquet. For Cory it was a year of records at Lincoln as he became the leading feature winner in 358 competition. It was also Cory’s 4th track title and the second time he has won back to back championships. With his three championships at Williams Grove, Cory’s total now stands at 7 in his eight years in the division. The team had picked up a 3rd place check at the Williams Grove banquet the previous weekend. Cory also drove the Haas Motorsports 11c to 6 top ten and 2 top five finishes in 15 starts at Lincoln.
Future: Cory and Mike have announced they will go 410 racing in 2008. In a combined effort the Barshinger Racing team and Haas Motorsports will join forces. Cory will run the full 410 schedule at Lincoln Speedway as well as all time trial shows at Williams Grove. More races that include the day shows at WG and possibly some of speedweeks could be added as the season progresses. Cory will also compete for the 358 title at Williams Grove.
Cory’s parents Larry and Barb, as well as his wife Julie fully support Cory in his racing. Cory’s sister Kristie is married to former driver Tim Dietz and their son Chase and daughter Alyson are winning go kart racers. Cory and Julie’s son Talan already loves the garage. There is never a non-racing moment when family is together. When Cory is not racing he enjoys playing golf, pool, going hunting and watching TV. Cory has been around racing all his life. His dad started the whole deal racing sprint cars in the early 70’s and was good friends with racers like Kenny Weld and Bobby Allen at that time. Cory would spend a lot of time at the races with the all the other kids racing their match box cars, etc. and dreaming of being a racer himself.
Maybe dreams do come true. |
