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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Tyler Courtney celebrates his second-straight USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park. (Rich Forman Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (February 9, 2019).........If Friday's victory at Bubba Raceway Park was one small step toward a successful USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season for Tyler Courtney, then Saturday night's win was a giant leap toward what could be a banner year in the series for the Indianapolis, Indiana driver.

Courtney slid by Tucker Klaasmeyer with nine laps remaining in Saturday's 30-lap "Winter Dirt Games X" feature, blasting to victory for the second time in as many nights on the 3/8-mile, D-shaped dirt track to become just the eighth driver to win the opening two USAC National Midget races of the season, joining Lee Kunzman (1972), Gary Bettenhausen (1975), Rich Vogler (1984-85), Dave Steele (2002), Brad Sweet (2010), Bryan Clauson (2011) and Rico Abreu (2014).

"It's definitely a weight lifted off my shoulders to get the season started off on the right foot," Courtney said. "We've got a great team here and the whole series is tough right now. It's a lot of fun and it's obviously the best way you can start. We've got awesome momentum going for our midget season right now as well as going into the start of the Sprint Car season next week."

Courtney was the Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier earlier in the evening, positioning him sixth for the start of the main event while Tucker Klaasmeyer started from the pole position for the second consecutive night. Just like he did a night earlier, Klaasmeyer scooted away with the lead on the opening lap that was short-lived the first time around as Vermonter Adam Pierson took a nasty tumble in turn three from which he would walk away.

Klaasmeyer was at the head of the pack on the ensuing complete restart as he tried to extend his early-race success from a night earlier when he led the opening four circuits. Klaasmeyer was class as he held control of the field, despite a couple of early yellows that forced him to regain his momentum.

The Paola, Kans. driver was up to the task each time, although Friday night winner Courtney was suddenly in the picture, sliding to second in turn two past teammate Zeb Wise momentarily. Wise countered to get back past Courtney off turn two, but Courtney answered the bell and slid back past Wise between turns three and four to retake the second spot for good on the ninth lap.

Courtney's sights were now set on Klaasmeyer for the race lead, the same as the night before. Crossing the halfway point, Courtney was searching to find a way around, high/low/middle, wherever he may roam, he was going to give it a whirl. Courtney left the bottom open on lap 18 and Chad Boat was there to capitalize to grab second off turn four. Courtney quickly whipped up a remedy to slide back past Boat heading into turn one to reclaim second.

"I was moving around a little bit to see if I could just get a run somewhere else," Courtney recalled. "Then, I moved around to the wrong spot and Chad (Boat) got a run on me on the bottom. I was able to get back by him in three and four. That showed me the bottom, so I knew if I could keep in it perfect, especially on those first couple of laps after a restart, when I ended up getting him, that would be crucial."

One lap later, fifth-running Wise lost a right rear tire, which sent him to the work area for new rubber. But it set up a lap 21 restart which Courtney utilized to make his charge to capture the lead from Klaasmeyer a lap later on the bottom of turn one.

"I got that run off four and I knew that was about the only time I was going to be able to stick it in there," Courtney continued. "I stuck it in there and it stuck. At that point, you can play your own race, run your own laps and try not to worry about anybody else. That makes it a little easier when there's only 10 laps to go instead of trying to run the whole race."

Courtney instantly stretched out his lead to 1.5 second, running the bottom of turns one and two and the middle of turns three and four with the laps dwindling, until Wise's turn two spin collected Holley Hollan to force one final restart with three laps remaining with Boat and K. Thomas just behind. K. Thomas was on the move on the final restart the previous night, racing from sixth to second in the final four laps. With K. Thomas getting around Boat a lap following the restart, Courtney inherently knew he had to be just about perfect.

"I saw him (K. Thomas) on the board, so obviously he's going to be trying something to come through there," Courtney remembered. "I was trying to be perfect those last couple laps, trying to hit my marks, because I didn't feel any pressure before the caution. I knew I was doing something right and, luckily, it worked out. (K. Thomas) got to second again. It's going to be a long season and I don't expect him to let up just as much as I won't let up. It's going to be fun."

Courtney successfully pulled off the double-dip with a half-second advantage over K. Thomas at the checkered with Boat, C.J. Leary and Klaasmeyer rounding out the top-five.

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park were Tyler Courtney (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tucker Klaasmeyer (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tanner Carrick (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Zeb Wise (Auto Meter/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Zane Hendricks (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Tanner Thorson (KSE Racing Products/ProSource Hard Charger).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 9, 2019 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - "Winter Dirt Games X"

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.817; 2. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.818; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-13.819; 4. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-13.841; 5. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.922; 6. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.935; 7. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.004; 8. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.010; 9. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-14.019; 10. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.036; 11. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.040; 12. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-14.042; 13. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-14.065; 14. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.120; 15. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.144; 16. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-14.194; 17. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.221; 18. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-14.253; 19. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-14.261; 20. Sam Johnson, 19J, Reynolds/Jetson-14.269; 21. Karter Sarff, 21KS, Reynolds-14.341; 22. Adam Pierson, 74m, Mancini/Manafort-14.514; 23. Chase Jones, 57B, Ecker-14.591; 24. Tanner Thorson, 3c, Tri-C-NT; 25. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Klaasmeyer, 2. Courtney, 3. Leary, 4. T. Thomas, 5. Elledge, 6. Coons, 7. Pierson, 8. Mitchell. 1:58.77

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Carrick, 2. Boat, 3. Seavey, 4. Hollan, 5. Johnson, 6. Layser, 7. Colwell, 8. Jones. 2:01.73

AUTO METER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Wise, 2. Windom, 3. Thorson, 4. K. Thomas, 5. Hendricks, 6. Sarff, 7. Bodine, 8. Gass. 2:01.60

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (6), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 3. Chad Boat (3), 4. C.J. Leary (4), 5. Tucker Klaasmeyer (1), 6. Jesse Colwell (9), 7. Tanner Thorson (24), 8. Logan Seavey (11), 9. Chris Windom (15), 10. Andrew Layser (7), 11. Tanner Carrick (17), 12. Tyler Thomas (16), 13. Zane Hendricks (18), 14. Karter Sarff (21), 15. Karsyn Elledge (19), 16. Jerry Coons, Jr. (8), 17. Sam Johnson (20), 18. Holley Hollan (14), 19. Ethan Mitchell (13), 20. Zeb Wise (2), 21. Noah Gass (12), 22. Cole Bodine (10), 23. Chase Jones (23), 24. Adam Pierson (22). NT
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**Pierson flipped on the opening lap of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-21 Klaasmeyer, Laps 22-30 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Tanner Thorson (24th to 7th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Zane Hendricks

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-166, 2-K. Thomas-157, 3-Leary-138, 4-Boat-134, 5-Klaasmeyer-125, 6-Windom-121, 7-Carrick-112, 8-Thorson-111, 9-Seavey-100, 10-Colwell-96.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: March 9, 2019 - Southern Illinois Center - Du Quoin, Illinois - Factory Canopies "Shamrock Classic"

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Tyler Courtney celebrates his victory in the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget opener Friday night at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. (USAC Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (February 8, 2019).........Tyler Courtney continued his winning ways in "Winter Dirt Games" at Bubba Raceway Park in Friday's USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship season opener.

The Indianapolis, Indiana driver was victorious in the final two races of last year's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car portion of "Winter Dirt Games" en route to his first career USAC National driving title. Kicking off the year in grand fashion is the goal of anybody with championship ambitions, and Courtney believes this a solid first step in that direction on the midget side of things aboard his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.

"To win anytime is important," Courtney reiterated. "To get the ball rolling this early in the year, and obviously it's early, there's lots of stuff that could happen, but you've got to get yourself put in the right spot coming out of Florida. I think it shows on the sprint car side if you put yourself in the right position starting down here, it kind of makes things a little smoother throughout the year. I think KT and I are a testament that every point counts. You've got to be on top of your game every time you hit the racetrack. I think I only won one midget race last year, so to get one out of the way now, it gives me a better opportunity to win some more throughout the year."

If there's anyone who knows that every point counts in a season-long run, even in the month of February, it's Courtney, who tied with Kevin Thomas, Jr. on the final tally for the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car championship a year ago. And it was those two once again who were tied at the hip, side-by-side in row three for the start of the 30-lapper on the 3/8-mile, D-shaped dirt track.

It was Tucker Klaasmeyer, from the pole, who would lead the opening four circuits before Courtney (and C.J. Leary) put on the attack on the fifth lap. Leary worked a lane higher than Klaasmeyer, as Courtney worked underneath. In turn one, however, Courtney ripped the higher line away from Leary to get to second, then pivoted his charge toward Klaasmeyer and was able to rip around the Paola, Kansas driver for the race lead off turn four.

"C.J. got a run on me, not necessarily the high side of three and four, but I knew I needed to get up there sooner or later," Courtney recalled. "I got back around C.J. in one and two and was able to take his lane away out of three and four and was able to drive right around Tucker. This place is all about getting track position early, especially with the midgets and how close we are."

Courtney instantly stretched his lead as Leary got shuffled back to fourth, allowing Chad Boat to slide to third, then to second by Klaasmeyer on the seventh lap. As the frontrunners began to clamp down on the tail end of the field on lap 12, series Rookie of the Year contender and tenth-place-running Andrew Layser's night ended with a flat right rear tire in turn one.

'C.J. (Leary) got a run on me, not necessarily the high side of three and four, but I knew I needed to get up there sooner or later,' Courtney recalled. 'I got back around C.J. in one and two and was able to take his lane away out of three and four and was able to drive right around Tucker (Klaasmeyer). This place is all about getting track position early, especially with the midgets and how close we are.' (Al Steinberg Photo)

As Courtney would continuously showcase throughout the main event, every restart was on point, as he distanced himself from Boat time and time again, constructing a 1.5 second lead past the halfway mark. Courtney would continue to add to his lead incrementally until traffic was in near-sight, when Zane Hendricks' left rear tire went away, forcing him to a stop in turn one.

Not to be deterred, Courtney busted out on the lap 20 restart, ratcheting up the interval to one second initially and then to two seconds with five to go when Adam Pierson came to a rest in turn two, forcing one final restart for Courtney to conquer. Leary was able to work his way to second underneath Boat in turn two on the 27th lap, but Courtney was clear and gone once again.

Kevin Thomas, Jr. made a stirring charge from sixth to second in the final four laps to claim the runner-up spot behind Courtney, who captured his sixth career series win, putting him in a 12-way tie for 100th all-time. K. Thomas finished second ahead of Chris Windom, Leary and Zeb Wise.

It was Courtney's third consecutive win in his three most recent appearances at Bubba Raceway Park. It's a track that seems fitted not only to his liking, but also to the CMR crew, who certainly have proved they know how to prepare a car to run up front at this place with three of their four pilots finishing in the top-five Friday night, including Courtney at the top.

"I think it kind of fits my style," Courtney said. "Tim (Clauson) on the midget side has them going really good down here, and Rizzy (Tyler Ransbottom) on our sprint car stuff, they obviously work with each other, so we've got a really good feel for this place. I'm just fortunate to be driving them. It's a really good start to the year with our new NOS Energy Drink partnership. This is a fun racetrack and I've taken a liking to it. I won't complain about that."

Contingency award winners Friday night at Bubba Raceway Park were Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Chad Boat (Auto Meter Third Heat Winner), Sam Johnson (Indy Race Parts Semi Winner), Tyler Thomas (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Chris Windom (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Ethan Mitchell (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer) and Karter Sarff (ProSource Hard Work Award).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 8, 2019 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - "Winter Dirt Games X"

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-13.773; 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.801; 3. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.860; 4. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.872; 5. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.875; 6. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-13.898; 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.906; 8. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-13.926; 9. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.931; 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-13.937; 11. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.950; 12. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-13.960; 13. Sam Johnson, 19J, Reynolds/Jetson-13.961; 14. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.971; 15. Chase Jones, 57B, Ecker-14.000; 16. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.002; 17. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-14.008; 18. Tanner Thorson, 3c, Tri-C-14.009; 19. Steve Buckwalter, 0, Buckwalter-14.047; 20. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.078; 21. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-14.085; 22. Adam Pierson, 74m, Mancini/Manafort-14.095; 23. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-14.151; 24. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-14.188; 25. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-14.512; 26. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-15.714; 27. Karter Sarff, 21KS, Reynolds-(Time of 13.879 disallowed).

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Klaasmeyer, 3. Coons, 4. Carrick, 5. Colwell, 6. Buckwalter, 7. Johnson, 8. Elledge, 9. Pierson. 1:58.89

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. T. Thomas, 3. Seavey, 4. Bodine, 5. Windom, 6. Layser, 7. Hollan, 8. Cling, 9. Akard.

AUTO METER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Boat, 2. Thorson, 3. Leary, 4. Wise, 5. Sarff, 6. Gass, 7. Hendricks, 8. Mitchell, 9. Jones. NT

INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer) 1. Johnson, 2. Layser, 3. Hollan, 4. Elledge, 5. Hendricks, 6. Pierson, 7. Gass, 8. Mitchell, 9. Jones, 10. Buckwalter, 11. Cling, 12. Akard. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (5), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6), 3. Chris Windom (11), 4. C.J. Leary (2), 5. Zeb Wise (9), 6. Tanner Carrick (3), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (1), 8. Chad Boat (4), 9. Tanner Thorson (17), 10. Jerry Coons, Jr. (10), 11. Cole Bodine (8), 12. Logan Seavey (14), 13. Tyler Thomas (16), 14. Jesse Colwell (15), 15. Sam Johnson (13), 16. Karsyn Elledge (21), 17. Karter Sarff (22), 18. Holley Hollan (18), 19. Zane Hendricks (12), 20. Adam Pierson (19), 21. Andrew Layser (7), 22. Noah Gass (20).
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**Mitchell flipped during the third heat. Cling flipped during the semi.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Klaasmeyer, Laps 5-30 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (11th to 3rd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Tyler Thomas

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Ethan Mitchell

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Karter Sarff

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-83, 2-K. Thomas-81, 3-Windom-68, 4-Leary-68, 5-Wise-63, 6-Carrick-63, 7-Boat-61, 8-Klaasmeyer-59, 9-Thorson-53, 10-Coons-49.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: February 9, 2019 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - "Winter Dirt Games X"