ATTICA, Ohio — The lights were on, but it was all “Sunshine” this weekend at Attica Raceway Park, as Tyler Courtney, ace of the Clauson Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 7bc, earned his second All Star Circuit of Champions victory in as many days.
Courtney led all 30 circuits to complete a sweep of the Core & Main Spring Nationals and earn $6,000.
Impressive enough, Courtney’s final margin of victory reached nearly four seconds, outrunning fellow All Star Circuit of Champions competitor Zeb Wise to the final checkers, followed by Cole Duncan, Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason and Hunter Schuerenberg.
“It was kinda tricky tonight. The wind changed directions on us a few times and it made it hard to not want to blow off the top of the race track. Determining where the lap cars were going to go made it tricky, too,” Courtney said. “Jake and all the boys have been working their tails off all winter. To start our All Star title defense with two wins, and putting this NOS Energy Drink car where it belongs, is a really good feeling. Hopefully this is momentum we can carry into the summer.”
Wise, commencing his third season as an All Star full-timer, started from the pole position for the 30-lap contest, and although Courtney was able to snag the point at the drop of the green, the former Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race champion hung tough and did all that he could to keep the Clauson Marshall Racing entry within reach.
“I feel like the ‘7’ was better than us, especially through one and two,” Wise explained. “He could roll the top a lot better than I could. At times, it was hard to see getting into one so I just took my time getting through lapped traffic. When Tyler would get by a lapped car, the lapped car would switch lanes because they knew that was the faster way, so it made it tricky to get by them. Everyone on this car belongs back here on the podium. This feels really good after some disappointment last night.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [1]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [10]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 8. 16-DJ Foos [13]; 9. 13-Justin Peck [20]; 10. 11-Parker Price Miller [11]; 11. 97-Greg Wilson [24]; 12. 28-Tim Shaffer [12]; 13. 18-Cole Macedo [22]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee [17]; 15. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [23]; 16. 101-Cale Thomas [14]; 17. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [25]; 18. O9-Craig Mintz [18]; 19. 1-Nate Dussel [19]; 20. 19-Chris Windom [26]; 21. 7-Scott Bogucki [7]; 22. 8-Zach Ames [16]; 23. 3J-Trey Jacobs [15]; 24. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 25. 5-Byron Reed [9]; 26. 3C-Cale Conley [21]