By Lonnie Wheatley (Indianapolis, IN) -- 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 http://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 http://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.