Lonnie Wheatley, INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March
21, 2018) – With no lucky four-leaf clover to be found in Du
Quoin, Tyler Courtney now shifts his attention to this weekend’s
season-opening POWRi Midget “Turnpike Challenge” at Oklahoma
City’s I-44 Riverside Speedway.
It will mark Sunshine’s second visit to
the cozy 1/5-mile clay oval aboard the Clauson-Marshall Racing
Driven2SaveLives/Indiana Donor Network No. 7bc Midget after
taking in the opening portion of the event last year.
Courtney showed speed in last year’s
Oklahoma City event, recovering from heat race issues to win the
“C” Main and then making a last-corner pass to snare the final
transfer position from “B” Main action before the “A” Main was
postponed a day by rain.
The NOS Energy Drink racer looks to I-44
Riverside Speedway this time around to bounce back after a
“Shamrock Classic” that went awry at the Southern Illinois
Center after a promising start.
In that March 10 USAC Midget season opener
in Du Quoin, Courtney hustled the Stanton Racing Engines-powered
Elk Grove Ford entry from sixth to third in heat race action and
then promptly climbed from fourth to second in short order in
his qualifying race aboard the CSI Shocks/Schoenfeld Headers
machine.
The evening then took a bad turn for
Courtney and the CMR team when he was collected by the spinning
leader of that qualifying race.
“He spun and I just had nowhere to go, I
had to check up,” Courtney sums up.
From what could have been a secure “A”
Main starting position to several rows deep in “B” Main action,
a narrow track brought an early end to his Shamrock Classic.
“The track was pretty much one-lane for our “B” so there
wasn’t really anywhere to go,” Courtney explains.
“It’s not the start you want at all,”
Courtney points out. “You just have to take
those nights and throw them away, move on to the next one.”
Courtney, who picked off a pair of USAC
Sprint Car wins in Florida to kick off the 2018 season, sees
this weekend’s Turnpike Challenge as an excellent opportunity to
rebound.
“We have a good team,” Courtney states.
“We’ll regroup at I-44 and build from there.”
The I-44 Riverside Speedway action unfolds
on Friday and Saturday following a Thursday night practice
session.
2018 Quick Stats:
8 races, 2 wins, 5 top-fives, 5 top-tens.
Up Next:
POWRi Midgets “Turnpike Challenge” at I-44 Riverside Speedway in
Oklahoma City, OK, on Friday and Saturday.
Keep Track:
Keep track of Tyler Courtney’s on-track action including
schedule and results at
www.tylercourtney.com.
If you would like Tyler Courtney Racing
press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail
address to Lonnie Wheatley at
lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The
Wheatley Chronicles” articles on
www.sprintcarmania.com,
Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for
select tracks, drivers and events. For more
information, Wheatley may be contacted at
lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
