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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Jeremy Correia follows his heredity to championships!

Motorsports are addictive! They are often the motivating factor for many people to get through the hard and long hours they spend working in their profession.  That addiction is often spread through generations like wild fire , such is the case when it comes to Jeremy Correia (Korea).  Jeremy is the grandson of legendary race car driver Shirley Shahan and engine builder H.L. Shahan.  Shirley was known throughout the NHRA for piloting her Chrysler, AMX and AMC's known as the Drag-on Lady!  While Shirley was dominating the Super Stock ranks, Jeremy's grandfather was developing quite the reputation as a tuner.  Not only did H.L. tune for his wife but also famed competitor Butch Leal.  Taking a glance at his genome, it is no wonder that Jeremy found his way to motorsports.

Providing additional motivation to find his way to motorsports was the fact that Jeremy's father was a motor head himself, who found his way to pulling as a mini rod competitor in the late seventies.  In 1998, at the ripe age of 13, Jeremy strapped in behind the wheel of a 2000 pound pulling machine which bolstered a blown Hemi on alcohol. Four years later, Jeremy and his father Clarence purchased a modified tractor that featured four blown Chevrolets.  The Correias traveled to pulls throughout the United States and Canada with their tractor known as Chelsie's Toy and developed a reputation as a formidable opponent in the modified ranks.  The pursuit to continue and grow their program encouraged the team to upgrade their tractor again and thus came the construction of Git-R- Done.  Git-R-Done features a famous Engler chassis which carries four Correia built blown Hemi's with 14-71 high helix blowers.  The new combination has drawn attention from the Correia's west coast competitors and fans world wide as it led to Jeremy capturing three consecutive Pacific Tractor Pullers Association points championships in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

A natural gas and diesel technician by trade, Jeremy resides in Tulare, California with his wife Katharine and the next generation of motorsports enthusiasts his children, Connor and Bristol.   Through hard work and professionalism, the Correia family caught the eye of Lucas Oil Products, one of the motorsports industry's biggest supporters which are known for developing impressions for their brand through grass roots motorsports sponsorships.  Lucas Oil came on board as the title sponsor of Git-R-Done four seasons ago and will be back in 2012 for a fifth year of west coast pulling action.

As an addition to the regular pulling schedule, the team planned to kicked off their 2012 pulling season by bringing the Lucas Oil Git-R-Done to the hallowed grounds of Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.  Having applied, Jeremy was accepted to compete as part of the invitational-only modified class on Wednesday night of the National Farm Machinery Show. As excitement built for their trip to Louisville, the Correia's learned that their current configuration of 4 Hemi's with 14-71's was not within the rule structure of the NFMS.  The Farm Show rules call for a 4 Hemi combination to run the 8-71 blowers with it, as opposed to the larger blower that can be run in the unlimited class with the NTPA and Pacific Coast Pullers.  To attend the show the tractor would have to run with three motors or change the combination entirely by adding 8-71's. The team made the choice to forgo the competition at the National Farm Machinery Show, rather than convert their tractor into a setup they weren't familiar with.

Though the fans may be disappointed that the Lucas Oil Git-R-Done is not making the trip to the east this year, hope is not lost in the fact that one day we may see the Correias pulling somewhere in the Midwest in the future.  For now the west coast fans will continue to be spoiled by witnessing the potent combination that  Clarence and Jeremy Correia have put together for battle!  It is amazing what a motorsports lineage such as Jeremy's can do to influence a generation, and I for one can't wait to see where the Tulare, California native takes us!

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