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MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES NEWS
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DELAWARE AUTO EXCHANGE MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES RETURNS TO NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY ON APRIL 14TH FOR SEASON OPENER
NEW EGYPT, NJ
By ERIKA PALMAI WAGNER
With just one more month remaining until the start of the 2018 season, the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series presented by the Delaware Auto Exchange is gearing up for their return to New Egypt Speedway for the first time under the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series banner.
The Racesaver/IMCA 305 Sprint Car series, has four scheduled events (April 14th, May 12th, July 21st, August 11th) at the Central New Jersey D-shaped oval, with April 14th being the first.
Leading the list of drivers making a come-back to New Egypt Speedway is 2017 MASS Champion Eddie Wagner, with other MASS talents like Jeff Geiges, Tim Tanner, Bryant Davis, Austin Bishop, Craig Pellegrini Jr., Tom Carberry, Brendon Poff, as well as rookies and newcomers to the series Domenic Melair, CJ Faison, Dan Leaper, and Chloe Andreas looking forward to the event also.
“I am thrilled to be able to come back to my home track and race in front of friends and family who usually are unable to travel to other tracks we race at,” Jeff Geiges, General Manager of MASS and driver of the Stellitano Heating & Air Conditioning #77J. “New Egypt Speedway’s facilities are first class and I am especially thankful for hard working staff members like Pete MacDonald who helped make our return possible”.
Sponsoring the event on April 14th will be MASS's primary marketing partner, Delaware Auto Exchange and also MASS’s associate sponsor Engler Machine and Tool, who has come back on board for 2018, gifting the series with a brand new 305 injection to be raffled off at the end of the year banquet. On April 14th, the top five finishers of the 20 lap feature and five random drivers will be presented a FREE raffle ticket to the drawling of the $3,800 injection. With two ticket race nights on the schedule, Engler will also be sponsoring the front row starters for all the MASS feature events. The pole sitters each night will be rewarded with two tickets for the fuel injection raffle. Other contingency sponsors for this event will be announced in days to come.
For more information on upcoming events, race day LIVE coverage, and exclusive interviews with drivers, visit our Facebook page Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series and our website www.masprintseries.com.
Aaron Reutzel Earns First Outlaw Win in Thunderbowl Thriller
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World of Outlaws
Contact: Anthony Corini
World of Outlaws PR
408-825-3360 | acorini@dirtcar.com
Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article
Reutzel Earns First Outlaw Win in Thunderbowl Thriller
TULARE, CA - March 9, 2018 - Texas native Aaron Reutzel scored his first career World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory in thrilling fashion after exchanging multiple slide jobs with local driver Cory Eliason. A lap 20 yellow for then race leader Sheldon Haudenschild bunched the field together and Reutzel began picking off the leaders in exciting fashion. Eliason settled for second with Donny Schatz completing the podium.
Eliason, aboard the famed Roth Motorsports No.83, won the Craftsman Club Dash, earning the pole for the 35-lap Feature alongside fellow California native Jason Meyers. Eliason, in search of his first Outlaw victory, set the pace for the first 11 laps before giving way to red-hot Sheldon Haudenschild on the 12th circuit.
Sheldon, who set a new Tulare track record in qualifying, seemingly had the fastest car on the track and maneuvered the heavy lapped traffic well as he continued to extend his lead. Coming off of turn four on lap 18, Haudenschild got into the back of a lapped car and the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall No.17 never settled down. Haudenschild muscled his ill-handling machine through turn one and two, before making heavy contact with the frontstretch wall at the completion of the lap, ending the young gun's bid for his third win of the young season.
Eliason assumed the lead, but this time with nine-time Series Champion Donny Schatz alongside of him. The young Visalia, CA native got a strong restart and established a sizeable lead over the veteran. Reutzel, who restarted sixth, came to life as he pounded the cushion, weaving in and out of cars grabbing third on lap 23 and passing Schatz two circuits later to claim the second spot.
Reutzel arrived at leader Eliason on lap 28 and the duo waged war for the top spot, as you would expect of two drivers looking for their first World of Outlaws victory. The duo exchanged sliders in each corner exciting the large Thunderbowl Raceway crowd. Reutzel secured the victory on lap 31 as he powered his Baughman/Reutzel owned No.87 around Eliason down the backstretch and pulled away for his first career Outlaw triumph.
"This is a dream come true. I've led a handful of Outlaw shows in the past, but never been able to finish the job; you start doubting yourself. It's something you don't think will ever happen," a jubilant Reutzel said. "It all played out perfect tonight. This track is truly special. It fits my driving style - gas it up on the fence. I am so lucky to have the people behind me that I do," the former 360-winged sprint car ace added.
Eliason settled for second and was in good spirits, "It's always tough when you are out front in traffic. Aaron drove a great race. Hopefully, the weather cooperates and we get another chance at it tomorrow," the Visalia, CA native said.
Schatz was also pleased with his podium finish as he extended his early Series points lead, "A top-three finish is very respectable for us at Tulare. We usually don't run too well on tracks like this."
Dominic Scelzi and 12th-starting Carson Macedo completed the top five. Tim Kaeding, aboard the Sides Motorsports No.7S, earned KSE Hard Charger honors coming from 16th to finish eighth in his first start for Sides. Action continues Saturday night at the Thunderbowl Raceway as the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series tackles the high-banked bullring once again.
Results from Thunderbowl Raceway - March 9, 2018
Feature (35 Laps) 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4][$10,000]; 2. 83-Cory Eliason [1][$5,000]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [5][$3,000]; 4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [8][$2,700]; 5. 21X-Carson Macedo [12][$2,500]; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman [10][$2,200]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [6][$2,000]; 8. 7S-Tim Kaeding [16][$1,800]; 9. 14-Jason Meyers [2][$1,600]; 10. 24-Rico Abreu [11][$1,450]; 11. 57-Giovanni Scelzi [7][$1,300]; 12. 18-Ian Madsen [14][$1,200]; 13. 45-Paul McMahan [17][$1,100]; 14. 29-Willie Croft [21][$1,000]; 15. 4-Parker Price-Miller [9][$950]; 16. 2-Shane Stewart [19][$900]; 17. 41-Jason Johnson [20][$850]; 18. 21-Brian Brown [18][$750]; 19. 5-David Gravel [13][$725]; 20. 26-Joey Saldana [26][$]; 21. OO-Dane Lorenc [28][$]; 22. 1S-Logan Schuchart [25][$]; 23. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][$700]; 24. 49X-Tim Shaffer [23][$700]; 25. 88N-DJ Netto [22][$700]; 26. 13-Clyde Knipp [27][$]; 27. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [15][$700]; 28. 1A-Jacob Allen [24][$700];
Lap Leaders: Cory Eliason 1-11, 20-30; Sheldon Haudenschild 12-19, Aaron Reutzel 31-35;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 7S-Tim Kaeding[+8]
Qualifying Flight-A: 1. 57-Giovanni Scelzi, 12.568; 2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 12.656; 3. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.673; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12.708; 5. 5-David Gravel, 12.712; 6. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.769; 7. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 12.793; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.854; 9. 45-Paul McMahan, 12.868; 10. 2-Shane Stewart, 12.869; 11. 29-Willie Croft, 12.876; 12. 83JR-Kyle Hirst, 12.897; 13. 26-Joey Saldana, 12.908; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.963; 15. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.975; 16. O-Bud Kaeding, 13.066; 17. 68-Chase Johnson, 13.073; 18. 5H-Michael Kofoid, 13.104; 19. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.268; 20. 10-Matthew Moles, 13.385; 21. 7SS-Jason Sides, 13.533; 22. 98-Sean Watts, 13.825
Qualifying Flight-B: 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.511; 2. 83-Cory Eliason, 12.744; 3. 14-Jason Meyers, 12.768; 4. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.779; 5. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.782; 6. 21X-Carson Macedo, 12.796; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.865; 8. 7S-Tim Kaeding, 12.87; 9. 21-Brian Brown, 12.882; 10. 41-Jason Johnson, 12.91; 11. 88N-DJ Netto, 12.967; 12. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 12.983; 13. 3C-Tanner Thorson, 13.021; 14. 22-Shane Golobic, 13.027; 15. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 13.038; 16. 19-Brent Marks, 13.09; 17. 13-Clyde Knipp, 13.212; 18. 37-Mitchell Faccinto, 13.328; 19. 7-John Carney, 13.446; 20. OO-Dane Lorenc, 13.745; 21. 28-Nathan Rolfe, 13.798
Heat #1 - Flight (A) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 57-Giovanni Scelzi [1]; 3. 4-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 4. 5-David Gravel [3]; 5. 45-Paul McMahan [5]; 6. 29-Willie Croft [6]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8]; 8. 26-Joey Saldana [7]; 9. 68-Chase Johnson [9]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [10]; 11. 7SS-Jason Sides [11]
Heat #2 - Flight (A) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 4. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [6]; 5. 2-Shane Stewart [5]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]; 7. 5H-Michael Kofoid [9]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 9. O-Bud Kaeding [8]; 10. 98-Sean Watts [11]; 11. 10-Matthew Moles [10]
Heat #3 - Flight (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 14-Jason Meyers [2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [4]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 5. 21-Brian Brown [5]; 6. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [8]; 7. 88N-DJ Netto [6]; 8. 3C-Tanner Thorson [7]; 9. 13-Clyde Knipp [9]; 10. 7-John Carney [10]; 11. 28-Nathan Rolfe [11]
Heat #4 - Flight (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 83-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 21X-Carson Macedo [3]; 4. 7S-Tim Kaeding [4]; 5. 41-Jason Johnson [5]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer [6]; 7. 22-Shane Golobic [7]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [8]; 9. 37-Mitchell Faccinto [9]; 10. OO-Dane Lorenc [10]
Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps): 1. 83-Cory Eliason [4]; 2. 14-Jason Meyers [2]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [6]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [7]; 5. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet [8]; 7. 57-Giovanni Scelzi [5]; 8. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [3]
C-Main (10 Laps) - Top 2 Transfer: 1. 68-Chase Johnson [1][-]; 2. 5H-Michael Kofoid [3][-]; 3. 13-Clyde Knipp [2][$150]; 4. 37-Mitchell Faccinto [4][$150]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [5][$150]; 6. 10-Matthew Moles [7][$125]; 7. 7-John Carney [6][$125]; 8. 98-Sean Watts [9][$125]; 9. 28-Nathan Rolfe [10][$125]; 10. OO-Dane Lorenc [8][$125]; 11. 7SS-Jason Sides [11][$125]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer: 1. 29-Willie Croft [3][-]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto [2][-]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4][-]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen [1][-]; 5. 22-Shane Golobic [8][$300]; 6. 26-Joey Saldana [5][$250]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7][$225]; 8. 3C-Tanner Thorson [6][$200]; 9. 5H-Michael Kofoid [14][$200]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart [9][$200]; 11. 68-Chase Johnson [13][$200]; 12. 19-Brent Marks [12][$200]; 13. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [10][$200]; 14. O-Bud Kaeding [11][$200]
LAS VEGAS USAC WEST COAST/SOUTHWEST SPRINT RESULTS
Posted by: | CommentsGRANT SWEEPS LAS VEGAS' "FVP SHOWDOWN" WITH THURSDAY VICTORY
Las Vegas, NV........Justin Grant of Ione, Calif. completed a "clean sweep" of the 7th FVP Showdown for USAC West Coast and Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint Cars at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Thursday night's 25-lap feature victory. Wednesday's winner started sixth in Thursday's race but ran down early leaders Brady Short and Brady Bacon to grab the lead on lap four in Bill Michael's #77M Kodiak Products/Beal's Auto Body Sherman/Ford. He proceeded to lead the final 22 laps to beat Brody Roa, Tyler Courtney and Bacon, who waged a race-long battle for the runner-up spot. Stevie Sussex rounded out the "top-five" at the checkered flag. "These guys are awesome," said Grant about his team. The car really stuck wherever we put it but the rest of the field kept us honest tonight. "I really had to work for this one." Grant was also the fastest qualifier and won his heat race. Colton Hardy came from 17th to 8th to claim the Saldana Racing Products/Racing Optics Hard Charger award.
USAC WEST COAST/SANDS CHEVROLET SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR "Special Event" RACE RESULTS: March 1, 2018 - Las Vegas, Nevada - The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - 7th "FVP Showdown"
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY/BEAVER STRIPES QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Justin Grant, 77M, Michael-19.000; 2. Colby Copeland, 24, Copeland-19.218; 3. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Davis-19.348; 4. Landon Cling, 54, Cling-19.580; 5. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-19.593; 6. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-19.606; 7. Jake Swanson, 34, Grau-19.619; 8. Stevie Sussex, 34AZ, Grau-19.642; 9. Tanner Carrick, 83T, Carrick-19.729; 10. Tyler Courtney, 56, Phulps-19.920; 11. Brady Bacon, 73, Ford-19.986; 12. Dalton Hill, 81D, Double D-19.988; 13. Michael Fanelli, 2, Fanelli-20.042; 14. Kevin Thomas Jr., 42, Cheney-20.042; 15. Brady Short, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-20.296; 16. Dennis Gile, 13G, Gile-20.349; 17. Colton Hardy, 74, Williams-20.374; 18. Koen Shaw, 88K, Shaw-20.885; 19. Larry Kesterson, F2, Kesterson-21.642; 20. Ryan Stolz, 72, Ford-22.287; 21. Johnnie Butler, 54X, Butler-22.615; 22. Austin Ervine, 51, AJ-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Courtney, 3. Swanson, 4. Cling, 5. Gile, 6. Fanelli, 7. Kesterson, 8. Ervine. NT
KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS/ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Sussex, 3. Mihocko, 4. Copeland, 5. Thomas, 6. Hardy, 7. Stolz. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INCORPORATED/ROD END SUPPLY THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Short, 3. Davis, 4. Hill, 5. Carrick, 6. Shaw, 7. Butler. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Stevie Sussex, 6. Brady Short, 7. Colby Copeland, 8. Colton Hardy, 9. Charles Davis Jr., 10. Jake Swanson, 11. Landon Cling, 12. Tye Mihocko, 13. Kevin Thomas Jr., 14. Tanner Carrick, 15. Michael Fanelli, 16. Koen Shaw, 17. Johnnie Butler, 18. Austin Ervine, 19. Larry Kesterson, 20. Dennis Gile, 21. Dalton Hill, 22. Ryan Stolz. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Short, Lap 3 Bacon, Laps 4-25 Grant.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS/RACING OPTICS HARD CHARGER: Colton Hardy (17th-8th)
NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: March 9 - Tulare, California - Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway
NEXT USAC SANDS CHEVROLET SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: March 17 - San Tan Valley, AZ - Arizona Speedway
Sheldon Haudenschild Survives Marathon Vegas Feature for Second Win of 2018
Posted by: | CommentsWorld of Outlaws
Contact: Anthony Corini
World of Outlaws PR
408-825-3360 | acorini@dirtcar.com
Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article
Sheldon Haudenschild Survives Marathon Vegas Feature for Second Win of 2018
Haudenschild and SJM open 2018 Outlaw Season with two wins in four starts
LAS VEGAS, NV - February 28, 2017 - Sheldon Haudenschild and his new Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall racing are firing on all cylinders in 2018. Haudenschild assumed the lead after early leader Brian Brown slowed with a flat tire 10 laps in and held off veterans Donny Schatz and Tim Shaffer on numerous restarts to score the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory on Night 1 of the FVP Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 10th-starting Donny Schatz and 12th-starting Brad Sweet completed the podium.
FVP sponsored driver Brian Brown was vying for a perfect night after setting fast time in Flight B of Qualifying, dominating his Heat and winning the Craftsman Club Dash. Brown led the first 10 laps of the Feature before succumbing to a flat tire in turn four, bringing out the first of many cautions in the 30-lap Feature.
Haudenschild, who had closed in on Brown significantly before his tire blew, assumed the lead with Shaffer to his inside. The next four laps saw three cautions for three different drivers. By the halfway point, Haudenschild separated himself from Shaffer and 16th-starting David Gravel and worked his way into third. A lap later, Donny Schatz blasted underneath Gravel and Shaffer to secure second.
Willie Croft slowed to a stop bringing out the caution with Schatz to the inside of Haudenschild. Brent Marks spun on the ensuing restart, setting up a single-file restart. The next start Logan Schuchart hit the infield tire in turn four and Cory Eliason did the same thing on attempt number three of Lap 21. Schuchart and Eliason, who were both competing for a top-five finish, did not return.
Ian Madsen slowed with seven to go forcing an Open Red and giving Schatz one more chance to steal the win away from Sheldon. It was not meant to be as Haudenschild powered away on the restart and went on to win by 1.417 seconds.
When asked about the multitude of restarts, Haudenschild said, "It was difficult. On one hand, you are happy because you get a couple of laps with a free track, but it gets hard to jump in front of guys like Shaffer and Schatz on consecutive restarts."
"To get a win here, where I don't have a lot of laps is awesome," the Wooster, OH native added. After capturing the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award last season without winning a Feature, Haudenschild has now won two of the four World of Outlaws races completed to open 2018.
Schatz, who edged in front of Haudenschild on one of the Lap 20 restarts only to have it negated by another caution, said, "That's the way racing is," before adding, "It was a handful out there, but the guys gave me a great car and we will settle for second tonight."
Sweet, who quietly worked his way forward late in the race, was happy with third, "It was a marathon," the Grass Valley, CA native said with a grin. "I got up there early and made a few mistakes. Luckily, we had a good enough car to get back up there. We'll be back tomorrow and hopefully put on a better show."
Shaffer and Gravel held on to complete the top five with Jason Johnson, 21st-starting Kerry Madsen, Daryn Pittman, Brent Marks and Jason Meyers completing the top ten. Despite bringing out the caution with 10 laps remaining, Brent Marks still earned KSE Hard Charger honors coming back to finish ninth.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series returns to The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Thursday evening for the conclusion of the FVP Outlaw Showdown. As always, you can catch all the action live on DIRTVision.com.
RACE RESULTS FROM : The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - February 28, 2018
Feature: 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2][$10,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [10][$5,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [12][$3,000]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4][$2,700]; 5. 5-David Gravel [16][$2,500]; 6. 41-Jason Johnson [7][$2,200]; 7. 2M-Kerry Madsen [21][$2,000]; 8. 9-Daryn Pittman [9][$1,800]; 9. 19-Brent Marks [25][$900]; 10. 14-Jason Meyers [3][$1,450]; 11. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [23][$1,300]; 12. 2-Shane Stewart [15][$1,200]; 13. 26-Joey Saldana [26][$400]; 14. 21-Brian Brown [1][$1,000]; 15. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [17][$950]; 16. 18-Ian Madsen [8][$900]; 17. 4-Parker Price-Miller [13][$850]; 18. 11K-Kraig Kinser [24][$750]; 19. 17A-Austin McCarl [14][$725]; 20. 83-Cory Eliason [5][$700]; 21. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6][$700]; 22. 29-Willie Croft [18][$700]; 23. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [19][$700]; 24. 45-Paul McMahan [11][$700]; 25. 24R-Rico Abreu [20][$700]; 26. 24-Terry McCarl [22][$700]; Lap Leaders: Brian Brown 1-10, Sheldon Haudenschild 11-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+16]
Qualifying Flight-A: 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.015; 2. 14-Jason Meyers, 14.131; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 14.134; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 14.14; 5. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 14.188; 6. 2-Shane Stewart, 14.236; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman, 14.247; 8. 45-Paul McMahan, 14.286; 9. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 14.321; 10. 19AZ-Hunter Schuerenberg, 14.342; 11. 24-Terry McCarl, 14.351; 12. 15H-Sam Hafertepe, 14.371; 13. OO-Dane Lorenc, 14.382; 14. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 14.403; 15. 57-Giovanni Scelzi, 14.409; 16. 26-Joey Saldana, 14.416; 17. 3C-Tanner Thorson, 14.479; 18. 45T-Trevor Baker, 14.526; 19. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.562; 20. 11-Max McGhee, 14.576; 21. 19-Brent Marks, 14.599; 22. 2B-Billy Chester, 15.26
Qualifying Flight-B: 1. 21-Brian Brown, 14.106; 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 14.111; 3. 18-Ian Madsen, 14.158; 4. 83-Cory Eliason, 14.198; 5. 17A-Austin McCarl, 14.207; 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 14.21; 7. 15-Donny Schatz, 14.211; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 14.248; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 14.261; 10. 5-David Gravel, 14.267; 11. 29-Willie Croft, 14.348; 12. 24R-Rico Abreu, 14.359; 13. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 14.404; 14. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 14.407; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.469; 16. 83JR-Kyle Hirst, 14.469; 17. 7S-Jason Sides, 14.58; 18. 88N-DJ Netto, 14.68; 19. 13-Clyde Knipp, 14.7; 20. 10-Matthew Moles, 15.102; 21. 22-Cori Andrews, 15.185; 22. 90-Randy Waitman, 15.48
Heat #1 - Flight (A) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [4]; 4. 4-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 5. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [5]; 6. 24-Terry McCarl [6]; 7. 57-Giovanni Scelzi [8]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [11]; 9. 3C-Tanner Thorson [9]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [10]; 11. OO-Dane Lorenc [7]
Heat #2 - Flight (A) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [2]; 2. 14-Jason Meyers [1]; 3. 45-Paul McMahan [4]; 4. 2-Shane Stewart [3]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [6]; 6. 26-Joey Saldana [8]; 7. 19AZ-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 8. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [7]; 9. 2B-Billy Chester [11]; 10. 11-Max McGhee [10]; 11. 45T-Trevor Baker [9]
Heat #3 - Flight (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 17A-Austin McCarl [3]; 5. 29-Willie Croft [6]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8]; 7. 2M-Kerry Madsen [5]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel [7]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [9]; 10. 13-Clyde Knipp [10]; 11. 22-Cori Andrews [11]
Heat #4 - Flight (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer: 1. 41-Jason Johnson [1]; 2. 83-Cory Eliason [2]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 4. 5-David Gravel [5]; 5. 24R-Rico Abreu [6]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 7. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [8]; 8. 55-Brooke Tatnell [7]; 9. 88N-DJ Netto [9]; 10. 10-Matthew Moles [10]; 11. 90-Randy Waitman [11]
Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 3. 14-Jason Meyers [7]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 5. 83-Cory Eliason [8]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 7. 41-Jason Johnson [4]; 8. 18-Ian Madsen [6]
C-Main (10 Laps) - Top 2 Transfer: 1. 7S-Jason Sides [2][-]; 2. 3C-Tanner Thorson [1][-]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [9][$150]; 4. 13-Clyde Knipp [6][$150]; 5. 88N-DJ Netto [4][$150]; 6. 45T-Trevor Baker [3][$125]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [5][$125]; 8. 10-Matthew Moles [8][$125]; 9. 11-Max McGhee [7][$125]; 10. 22-Cori Andrews [10][$125]; 11. 90-Randy Waitman [12][$125]; 12. 2B-Billy Chester [11][$125]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer: 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4][-]; 2. 24-Terry McCarl [3][-]; 3. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [7][-]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [10][-]; 5. 55-Brooke Tatnell [8][$300]; 6. 26-Joey Saldana [11][$250]; 7. 19AZ-Hunter Schuerenberg [1][$225]; 8. 83JR-Kyle Hirst [12][$200]; 9. 57-Giovanni Scelzi [9][$200]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides [13][$200]; 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6][$200]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen [2][$200]; 13. 3C-Tanner Thorson [14][$200]; 14. OO-Dane Lorenc [5][$200]
LAS VEGAS USAC WEST COAST/SOUTHWEST SPRINT RESULTS
Posted by: | CommentsGRANT TAKES 7TH "FVP SHOWDOWN" OPENER AT LAS VEGAS
Las Vegas, NV........Justin Grant of Ione, Calif. led all 25 laps to win Wednesday night's USAC West Coast/Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint feature at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Grant passed pole starter Kevin Thomas Jr. in turn three and built a 2.5-second lead by halfway in his Kodiak Products/Beal's Auto Body Sherman/Ford Michael Special. Thomas broke on lap four and runnerup Brody Roa lost a tire on lap five. Grant had built an eight-second lead by lap 21 then the second of two feature red flags flew for a flip by Michael Curtis. He resumed his lead on the restart and finished with a comfortable lead over second-place finished Dennis Gile.
Brady Bacon took third at the checkered flag ahead of Dalton Hill and Tyler Courtney.
"The car was amazing, a real rocket ship," said Grant in victory lane. "I really didn't even have to hustle it. I knew it was a good car and was looking forward to running it long before I got here."
Brandon Halverson brought the first feature red when he flipped on lap two. Stevie Sussex was second before he pulled off the track on the restart on lap 22.
The "Shootout" continues with night two Thursday at Las Vegas.
USAC WEST COAST/SANDS CHEVROLET SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR "Special Event" RACE RESULTS: February 28, 2018 - Las Vegas, Nevada - The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - 7th "FVP Showdown"
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY/BEAVER STRIPES QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Justin Grant, 77M, Michael-17.663; 2. Brady Bacon, 73, Ford-17.771; 3. Colby Copeland, 24, Copeland-17.807; 4. Tyler Courtney, 56, Phulps-17.842; 5. Brady Short, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-17.953; 6. Landon Cling, 54, Cling-17.988; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 42, Cheney-17.990; 8. Stevie Sussex, 34AZ, Grau-17.994; 9. Michael Curtis, 11C, Turner/Wheeler-18.027; 10. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-18.059; 11. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-18.064; 12. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-18.142; 13. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Davis-18.182; 14. Jake Swanson, 34, Grau-18.193; 15. Colton Hardy, 74, Williams-18.333; 16. Dalton Hill, 81D, Double D-18.448; 17. Brandon Halverson, 13MJ, Halverson-18.523; 18. Tanner Carrick, 83T, Carrick-18.706; 19. Koen Shaw, 88K, Shaw-19.049; 20. Larry Kesterson, F2, Kesterson-20.673; 21. Austin Ervine, 51, AJ-20.866; 22. Johnnie Butler, 54X, Butler-21.103; 23. Ryan Stolz, 72, Ford-NT; 24. Michael Fanelli, 2, Fanelli-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Grant, 3. Courtney, 4. Mihocko, 5. Hill, 6. Davis, 7. Shaw, 8. Butler. NT
KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS/ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Gile, 2. Sussex, 3. Short, 4. Bacon, 5. Swanson, 6. Halverson, 7. Stolz, 8. Kesterson. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INCORPORATED/ROD END SUPPLY THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Copeland, 3. Curtis, 4. Cling, 5. Carrick, 6. Hardy, 7. Ervine. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Dennis Gile, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dalton Hill, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. Jake Swanson, 7. Charles Davis Jr., 8. Brady Short, 9. Tye Mihocko, 10. Landon Cling, 11. Colton Hardy, 12 Koen Shaw, 13. Michael Fanelli, 14. Ryan Stoltz, 15. Johnnie Butler, 16. Stevie Sussex, 17. Austin Ervine, 18. Michael Curtis, 19. Brody Roa, 20. Kevin Thomas Jr., 21. Tanner Carrick, 22. Brandon Halverson, 23. Colby Copeland, 24. Larry Kesterson. NT
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**Kesterson flipped during the second heat. Halverson flipped on lap 2 of the feature. Curtis flips on lap 22 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Grant.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS/RACING OPTICS HARD CHARGER: Michael Fanelli (24th-13th)
NEXT USAC WEST COAST/SANDS CHEVROLET SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: March 1 - Las Vegas, Nevada - The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - 7th "FVP Showdown"
COURTNEY CHECKS OUT FOR 2ND STRAIGHT “WINTER DIRT GAMES” WIN IN OCALA
Posted by: | Comments
The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
COURTNEY CHECKS OUT FOR 2ND STRAIGHT "WINTER DIRT GAMES" WIN IN OCALA
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
February 17, 2018 Ocala, Florida....In the spirit of the Winter Olympic games, Tyler Courtney's performance on Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park could only be described as flawless - even coming from the Russian judge.
No, you won't find any triple axels or double lutzes in his 30-lap performance, but you will find the precise execution of a race where nary a single wheel was turned wrong lap-after-lap on his way to a commanding USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature win, his second in as many nights at "Winter Dirt Games" in his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/Priority Aviation - Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Rider Chevy.
"I think it handled even better tonight," Courtney revealed. "We were able to go pretty much anywhere I put it. Hats off to Tim (Clauson) and the guys. They've worked their tails off since the week after the Chili Bowl leading up to this. This is the least I can do to repay those guys for the hours and the blood, sweat and tears that go into this. This is a really a good way to start off the year. Obviously, it's early, so you can't really worry about points, but it definitely puts us in a good spot heading into Lawrenceburg."
Tyler Courtney won his second straight USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park in the 'Winter Dirt Games' finale. (Rich Forman Photo)
From the drop of the green, pole sitter Courtney checked out, last seen headed northbound on I-75 out of Ocala carrying the winner's check under his arm. Only Chris Windom was able to present a brief challenge in the early stages of the event before falling back into line.
Windom, the defending series champ, charged from fifth to second on the opening lap past a stout group that included C.J. Leary, Chad Boespflug and Dave Darland. Yet, by midway, Courtney had ridden the cushion to more than a half-straightaway lead over Windom, who could never get close enough to present a challenge to Courtney in a race that went caution-free for the final 27 laps following a lap three caution for the stoppage of Garrett Aitken.
"I knew on that one and only restart, I could hear a guy behind me, so I kind of picked it up a little bit to see if I could either gain or lose the motor sound in my ear," Courtney explained. "It kept getting quieter and quieter, so I knew I had to be doing something right. I just kept chugging away and hitting my marks as I searched to see if the track was changing or not. We were able to work through lapped traffic nicely. When they got the move over flag, they either held their ground or moved once and didn't move again. It makes it a lot easier when the lapped cars are good like that. You try not to worry about the guys behind you, you try to worry about your own race, but it's nice when you come in and they say you had a pretty big lead."
When all was said and done, Courtney wrapped up a dominating 2.5 second victory over Windom, Boespflug, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Darland to become the first driver to win back-to-back USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car features this early in the season since Tracy Hines in 2013.
"Winter Dirt Games" is unique in that it is almost like a mini-season within a season. It's a three-race excursion separated on its own island on the schedule in the month of February, preceding the bulk of the season which typically gets underway in late March, early April. In this case, it's a full six weeks until the next series event, March 31 at Indiana's Lawrenceburg Speedway.
'We had a semi-frustrating night the first time out, we just put our nose to the ground and kept digging. I think it obviously proved that if you stay focused on your goals, you can achieve them.' - Tyler Courtney (Al Steinberg Photo)
There may not be much, mechanically-speaking, that a team can take away from what they learned at a uniquely-shaped venue such as the 3/8-mile D-shaped track at Bubba Raceway Park and apply it to the high-banks of Lawrenceburg, but there are certain aspects of it that a driver and crew can learn from each other that will benefit them when the season gets in full swing despite the substantial time off over the next month-and-a-half. After a relatively rough showing, and an 11th place finish in Thursday night's season opener, Courtney and CMNR found something amongst themselves.
"Don't give up," Courtney noted. "We had a semi-frustrating night the first time out, we just put our nose to the ground and kept digging. I think it obviously proved that if you stay focused on your goals, you can achieve them."
"You have to stay humble and keep plugging away," Courtney continued. "I know these guys are going to go back to the shop and get her all maintenanced up and go through everything, just like we're restarting the season again. Luckily, for me, I get to go to Vegas and get to run for Mike Phulps and his 360 team here in the next week or so, so I get to stay fresh, then I get to hop into the midget at Du Quoin (on March 10). As a team, we really don't have a whole lot of downtime here. It makes things a little easier, but anytime you can stay in a racecar, it's beneficial to driving. The more laps you get, the better you're going to get."
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park include Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Indiana Mafia Fast Qualifier), Robert Ballou (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Kody Swanson (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Timmy Buckwalter (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Chris Windom (KSE Racing Products/ProSource Hard Charger), Kyle Cummins (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Johnny Petrozelle (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer), Mario Clouser (ProSource Hard Work Award) and Isaac Chapple (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 17, 2018 - Ocala, Florida - Bubba Raceway Park - "Winter Dirt Games 9"
QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-13.900; 2. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.033; 3. Logan Seavey, 5B, Briscoe-14.094; 4. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.241; 5. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-14.249; 6. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-14.274; 7. Chad Boespflug, 98, NineEight-14.275; 8. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-14.312; 9. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.343; 10. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-14.375; 11. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.375; 12. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling-Hayward/RCR-14.412; 13. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.439; 14. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.458; 15. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.482; 16. Nick Bilbee, 2E, Epperson-14.483; 17. Kent Schmidt, 5K, Schmidt-14.492; 18. Kody Swanson, 3R, Rock Steady-14.675; 19. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-14.707; 20. Garrett Aitken, 32A, Aitken-14.860; 21. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.863; 22. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-14.887; 23. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-14.924; 24. Johnny Petrozelle, 59, Petrozelle-15.007; 25. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-15.078; 26. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.330; 27. Slater Helt, 22s, Helt-15.355; 28. Frank Carlsson, 20, Carlsson-16.271.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Ballou, 2. Thomas, 3. Chapple, 4. Darland, 5. Schmidt, 6. Clouser, 7. Mattox. 1:56.48
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Swanson, 2. Cummins, 3. Andretti, 4. Windom, 5. Grant, 6. Martin, 7. Bell. 1:55.66
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Buckwalter, 2. Short, 3. Stockon, 4. Boespflug, 5. Seavey, 6. Simon, 7. Helt. 1:56.18
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. Bacon, 3. Leary, 4. Aitken, 5. Bilbee, 6. Petrozelle, 7. Carlsson. 1:56.06
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Grant, 2. Bilbee, 3. Seavey, 4. Mattox, 5. Clouser, 6. Simon, 7. Petrozelle, 8. Schmidt, 9. Martin, 10. Bell, 11. Helt, 12. Carlsson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (1), 2. Chris Windom (5), 3. Chad Boespflug (2), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6), 5. Dave Darland (3), 6. C.J. Leary (4), 7. Robert Ballou (9), 8. Carson Short (11), 9. Justin Grant (8), 10. Brady Bacon (12), 11. Logan Seavey (7), 12. Chase Stockon (15), 13. Kyle Cummins (10), 14. Jarett Andretti (14), 15. Nick Bilbee (16), 16. Kody Swanson (17), 17. Timmy Buckwalter (18), 18. Isaac Chapple (13), 19. Mario Clouser (22), 20. Garrett Aitken (19), 21. Brandon Mattox (20), 22. Landon Simon (21). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (5th to 2nd)
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Johnny Petrozelle
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Kyle Cummins
PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Mario Clouser
INDIANA MAFIA FAST QUALIFIER AWARD: Kevin Thomas, Jr.
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Isaac Chapple
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Thomas-227, 2-Windom-219, 3-Courtney-209, 4-Boespflug-182, 5-Leary-179, 6-Cummins-172, 7-Stockon-170, 8-Ballou-170, 9-Grant-168, 10-Short-164.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: March 31 - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - Lawrenceburg Speedway
FLORIDA IS SUNSHINE’S STATE AFTER WINNING “WINTER DIRT GAMES” NIGHT 2
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
FLORIDA IS SUNSHINE'S STATE AFTER WINNING "WINTER DIRT GAMES" NIGHT 2
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Ocala, Florida.........The evolution of Tyler Courtney's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car career has progressed by leaps and bounds over the past few seasons. In 2016, he broke into the win column for the first time. In 2017, he had a career-high five series wins. For 2018, the next logical step would be to contend for a series title.
Although the season is admittedly early, Courtney took a big leap toward that goal after a dominating performance Friday on night two of "Winter Dirt Games 9" at Bubba Raceway Park as he drove his Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing/Priority Aviation - Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Rider Chevy to the front on lap three and led the remaining 28 laps to score his first victory for the team in their new sprinter.
Ocala has been a battleground that has proven to be a thorn in Courtney's side throughout his career. Four of his five starts at the 3/8-mile D-shaped track coming into Friday had resulted in finishes of 11th or worse. After a rough start a year ago and an equally tumultuous beginning on Thursday night, the Indianapolis, Indiana native licked his war wounds and arrived in a new frame of mind, a trait he said he didn't possess at this point last season.
"If I was in this position a year ago, I probably would've struggled again tonight," Courtney admits. "I took last year and learned how to handle myself from one night to the next, especially on a long trip like this. You just have to take last night and put it behind you and reset and give your team your best effort because you know they're going to give you their best effort every night. This is a really good way to start off the trip and year, especially since last year I think I came out either 14th or 15th in points. That makes the road to hoe a long one. This is really cool to start this way with a new team. There's always question marks, but I think we kind of threw those away tonight and, hopefully, made a statement that we're here to be a contender all year."
In 2017, Courtney's performance was clicking at a steady beat with TOPP Motorsports as he posted the best numbers of his career across the board. During the offseason, however, Courtney made the bold jump to Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing full-time, the same team he competes with on the USAC Midget National Championship trail. For most, it takes more than a moment to jell properly with the team and its operations, but Courtney has a familiarity with these particular surroundings as a driver that is second to none, making the adaptation to each other in just the snap of a finger.
'If I was in this position a year ago, I probably would've struggled again tonight. I took last year and learned how to handle myself from one night to the next, especially on a long trip like this. You just have to take last night and put it behind you and reset and give your team your best effort because you know they're going to give you their best effort every night.' - Tyler Courtney (Rich Forman Photo)
"Tim (Clauson) has been a huge part of my career since I started in sprint cars and midgets," Courtney said. "Tim and I have such a close relationship with our head guy, and my roommate, Rizzy (Tyler Ransbottom). We're one big family here, so it's really special, especially to bring out a throwback car that Rizzy and Tim and everyone got to be a part of. Having a family atmosphere like this makes a transition like switching from a team that you ran with for two years a lot easier. The trust and the confidence level is there because I ran with them in the midgets last year, and I think we proved that tonight.
Indeed, they proved that, and it didn't take very long. As C.J. Leary and Kevin Thomas, Jr. tussled for position up front for the first two circuits, fourth-starting Courtney was precise, motoring to the outside of Thomas in turn two on lap three for second, then splitting between he and Leary to his outside as he dove to the bottom in turn three to snare the lead.
The sense of urgency was palpable in Courtney's mind and he knew he needed to take advantage of the space on the track afforded to him before it was discovered by Leary and/or Thomas.
"I knew I needed to get there," Courtney obliges. "I was running that next groove up from where they were and it stuck. I knew it was only a matter of time before they got there too. So, I knew I needed to get by them and get going. Luckily, I was able to get that done in one lap and didn't have to mess around too long. Once you get out front, you can maintain your own pace and run your own race instead of having to chase them and push your stuff. This place is pretty abrasive on tires, so to be able to get out and feel comfortable and manage my stuff, it's a huge advantage compared to those guys."
Seemingly nothing could slow Courtney's pace despite multiple cautions in the first half of the 30-lapper. Courtney simply walked away each time, spurting out to a half-straightaway lead by the eighth lap as he rode the lip up front.
An inadvertent yellow closed up things at the midway point when fifth-running Carson Short made a miraculous save to somehow avoid crunching the tail tank against the outside concrete. Short was repositioned to eighth in the order, the position he was in when the yellow flag was thrown.
That, in turn, erased Courtney's substantial advantage. On the lap 16 restart, an under-the-weather Leary managed to hang with Courtney for the ensuing two laps, but, gradually, Courtney and his CMNR ride proved to be too much for anybody else to handle on this night.
The only flip during the feature event came on lap 19 when Chris Windom and pole sitter Jarett Andretti made wheel-to-wheel contact while battling for the fourth position. Andretti got the worst end of the deal after hopping Windom's right rear and careening hard into the backstretch wall before flipping over. Andretti was uninjured. Windom continued.
On the ensuing restart, Courtney took the tried and true line on the cushion to distance himself from Leary. Nearing the final lap, Courtney's biggest challenge was a bevy of lapped traffic that included Isaac Chapple, Kent Schmidt and Brandon Mattox who ran high, low and middle as they battled for their own positions. Fortunately, for Courtney, he was able to part the sea of machinery and cut through the gridlock without a hindrance to his interval between he and second-place Leary as he raced to a 1.791-second victory over Leary, Thomas, Windom and fast qualifier Kyle Cummins.
As opposed to last year, the start of Courtney's 2018 season has been golden. A title is quite far off in the grand scheme of things, but getting out of the gate in such a positive manner not only provides points toward that goal, but boosts team morale and confidence to the point where running successfully comes second nature.
"Winning races is the reason we race, but there's the big picture at the end and that's a championship," Courtney said without missing a beat. "Not having to play catchup makes life a little easier, but you can't just take three nights like this and think you're good for the rest of the year. You have to finish this trip out strong and keep doing what you're doing. It's 40-plus nights of grueling, intense racing and this is probably the deepest field we've had in many years. It's going to be a fun season!"
Contingency award winners Friday night at Bubba Raceway Park include Kyle Cummins (Indiana Mafia Fast Qualifier), Nick Bilbee (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner, KSE Racing Products/ProSource Hard Charger & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Tyler Courtney (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Kent Schmidt (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Mike Martin (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer), Brandon Mattox (ProSource Hard Work Award) and Brady Bacon (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 16, 2018 - Ocala, Florida - Bubba Raceway Park - "Winter Dirt Games 9"
QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-14.297; 2. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.358; 3. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-14.389; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-14.410; 5. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.500; 6. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.538; 7. Logan Seavey, 5B, Briscoe-14.562; 8. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.605; 9. Tyler Clem, 14c, Clem/TSR-14.620; 10. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.678; 11. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-14.679; 12. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-14.683; 13. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling-Hayward/RCR-14.688; 14. Chad Boespflug, 98, NineEight-14.717; 15. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-14.741; 16. Garrett Aitken, 32A, Aitken-14.752; 17. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-14.768; 18. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-14.800; 19. Kody Swanson, 3R, Rock Steady-14.806; 20. Kent Schmidt, 5K, Schmidt-14.808; 21. Nick Bilbee, 2E, Epperson-14.840; 22. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.904; 23. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-15.076; 24. Slater Helt, 22s, Helt-15.272; 25. Johnny Petrozelle, 59, Petrozelle-15.304; 26. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-15.403; 27. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-15.493; 28. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.586; 29. Frank Carlsson, 20, Carlsson-15.810.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Bilbee, 2. Bacon, 3. Cummins, 4. Leary, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Petrozelle, 7. Carlsson, 8. Clem. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Ballou, 2. Boespflug, 3. Windom, 4. Short, 5. Stockon, 6. Clouser, 7. Simon. 1:59.36
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. Chapple, 3. Swanson, 4. Grant, 5. Seavey, 6. Martin, 7. Mattox. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Schmidt, 2. Darland, 3. Thomas, 4. Andretti, 5. Aitken, 6. Bell, 7. Helt. 2:.05.16
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Seavey, 2. Stockon, 3. Aitken, 4. Clouser, 5. Mattox, 6. Buckwalter, 7. Martin, 8. Bell, 9. Carlsson, 10. Simon, 11. Helt. 3:12.52
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (4), 2. C.J. Leary (2), 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 4. Chris Windom (9), 5. Kyle Cummins (6), 6. Dave Darland (10), 7. Carson Short (5), 8. Chad Boespflug (12), 9. Brady Bacon (11), 10. Chase Stockon (7), 11. Justin Grant (13), 12. Mario Clouser (15), 13. Robert Ballou (20), 14. Timmy Buckwalter (14), 15. Nick Bilbee (19), 16. Logan Seavey (8), 17. Kody Swanson (16), 18. Landon Simon (23), 19. Kent Schmidt (17), 20. Isaac Chapple (21), 21. Brandon Mattox (22), 22. Jarett Andretti (1), 23. Garrett Aitken (18). NT
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**Clem flipped during the first heat. Andretti flipped on lap 19 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Leary, Laps 3-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Robert Ballou (20th to 13th)
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Mike Martin
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Robert Ballou
PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Brandon Mattox
INDIANA MAFIA FAST QUALIFIER AWARD: Kyle Cummins
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Brady Bacon
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Thomas-153, 2-Windom-142, 3-Courtney-131, 4-Cummins-128, 5-Stockon-125, 6-Grant-117, 7-Leary-115, 8-Boespflug-113, 9-Ballou-110, 10-Short-108.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: Feb. 17 - Ocala, Florida - Bubba Raceway Park - "Winter Dirt Games 9"
