PORT ROYAL, Pa. — Port Royal Speedway’s annual The Night Before The Tuscarora 50 gave fans more than they bargained for, not only witnessing multiple lead changes and a chaotic race to the finish, but ultimately a first-time Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 winner Friday night.
Tyler Courtney, the reigning two-time All Star Series champion and ace of the well-known NOS Energy Drink No. 7bc, came out on top at the Juniata County Fairgrounds half-mile, earning command for the second and final time on lap 22 before racing on to a $10,000 score.
Although leading the last third of the 30-lap contest, Courtney faced multiple challenges, forced to fend off not only an All Star championship rival in Zeb Wise, but also 11 track championships, six of which belonging to Lance Dewease with the remaining five owned by Logan Wagner.
Dewease, who drove into second on lap 26, did everything he could to gain the extra spot, but Courtney proved to be too strong, even withstanding one final single file restart as the result of a caution on lap 27.
“Lance [Dewease] is really good at getting guys to run a little too hard. I wasn’t trying to do that, while still getting into the corner low enough to take away his air. My car was just so good…I could stick it anywhere,” Courtney explained. “We’ve been close here so many times, but we always seemed to fade at the end. Tonight, I felt like we kept getting better as the race went on. This makes me very excited for tomorrow.”
Wise, who started second on the A-Main grid, led the first 10 circuits, eventually losing command to Aaron Reutzel after accidental contact with a lapped car ruined his momentum.
Meanwhile, Courtney put himself into a pouncing position by lap 17, first climbing ahead of Wise, then setting his aim on Reutzel. A cushion slip by Reutzel allowed Courtney to scoot by the three-time All Star champion on trip 20, only to lose the lead to the Texan the following lap.
By the exit of turn two on lap 22, Country was back in control, once again taking advantage of a cushion mishap by Reutzel, this time in turns one and two.
Wagner and Dewease each made their presence known during the back half of the 30-lapper, both getting by Wise and Reutzel before beginning their quest for the point. The aforementioned caution on lap 27, which ended up involving early leader Reutzel, stirred-up the final running order.
Dewease held on to finish second, followed by Wise, with a final lunge for third over Logan Wagner and Cory Eliason.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 2. 39M-Lance Dewease[7]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise[2]; 4. 69K-Logan Wagner[8]; 5. 11-Cory Eliason[3]; 6. 9P-Parker Price Miller[5]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich[15]; 8. 19-Brent Marks[9]; 9. 5-Dylan Cisney[11]; 10. 55-Kerry Madsen[10]; 11. 33M-Gerard McIntyre Jr[19]; 12. 11T-TJ Stutts[16]; 13. 55W-Mike Wagner[22]; 14. 45H-Jeff Halligan[26]; 15. 13-Justin Peck[14]; 16. 42-Sye Lynch[18]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[21]; 18. 6-Ryan Smith[20]; 19. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[12]; 20. 70-Kraig Kinser[23]; 21. 45-Kyle Reinhardt[27]; 22. 20-Ryan Taylor[24]; 23. 1-Hunter Schuerenberg[13]; 24. (DNF) 23-Devon Borden[6]; 25. (DNF) 8-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 26. (DNF) 71-Anthony Macri[17]; 27. (DNF) 47K-Kody Lehman[28]; 28. (DNF) 4-Chris Windom[25]