INDIANAPOLIS – In the return of 410 sprint car racing to Marion County, Indianapolis’ newest sprint car star found his way to victory lane with the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions.
Driving the Clauson Marshall Racing-owned, NOS Energy Drink TURBO-sponsored No. 7bc, Tyler Courtney stormed to his second All Star win in three races Thursday night at Circle City Raceway.
Courtney, an Indianapolis native who won a pair of USAC championships before transitioning to full-time winged sprint car racing this year, took the lead from polesitter Hunter Schuerenberg on lap two and set sail from that point on.
Despite five caution flags in the 35-lap main event – including a final yellow which set up a three-lap sprint to the finish – Courtney led the last 34 laps for his second career All Star triumph in 38 starts. The victory was worth $6,000.
He fended off a furious scramble from Carson Short in the waning moments of the feature, taking the twin checkers in front by a scant .142 seconds.
The win pulled Courtney to within 14 points of Ian Madsen for the championship lead through 10 races.
“Man, this is awesome,” said Courtney in victory lane. “I think we just needed to get that first [win] out of the way to get some momentum going on our side, and now to be the inaugural winner here at Circle City Raceway is really, really cool.”
Thursday night’s feature began with Schuerenberg firing off from the top spot on the grid, narrowly leading the opening lap before Courtney muscled his way to the bottom to challenge for the lead.
A turn-three slider on the second trip around the quarter-mile Circle City dirt oval gave Courtney control of the race, and from there the 27-year-old performed a high-wire act with surgical precision as he negotiated traffic and banged his right-rear tire off the cushion lap after lap.
Despite yellow flags which waved on laps nine, 14, 15 and 19, Courtney effortlessly pulled away from his pursuers on each restart, making it seem like he would cruise into the winner’s circle with ease.
However, the move that Short made to take on the first restart of the night at lap 10 was a harbinger of the battle for the win to come.
At that point, Short dove three wide into turn three to pass both Schuerenberg and Thomas Meseraull, taking two positions for the price of one and setting himself up to chase Courtney for the duration of the feature.
Short’s chance came with three laps left, when Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason slowed with a flat tire and brought out the final yellow flag of the night, bunching the field up for a shootout to the finish.
When the green flag reappeared, for the first time all night, Courtney couldn’t get away. Short stayed right on his bumper and worked to the inside of the No. 7bc on the penultimate lap.
The Marion, Ill., native tossed a slide job at Courtney for the race lead in turns three and four coming to the white flag. However, squeezing through the narrowest of holes on the outside, Courtney was able to pass Short back and hold on through the final quarter mile of racing.
“I got a little too conservative there on the last restart. I tried to get away, but it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped,” Courtney noted. “Luckily, Carson’s a good, clean racer and he left me just enough room there off of [turn] four to get our NOS Energy Turbo car back in victory lane where it belongs.
“We knocked this one down, but we’ve got three more nights this weekend to try and do the same thing.”
Though he came home as the runner-up, Short was pleased to be part of the battle in the closing laps and contending for his first All Star victory.
“I was just trying to keep pace with Tyler up there, to where I could get close enough to make a pass,” said Short. “We were neck and neck there for a while. I thought that maybe I could get him, but I didn’t want to slide them in and wreck us both. He did an awesome job. This was an awesome night.”
Schuerenberg completed the podium after fading from the pole, with Zeb Wise and 10-time IRA sprint car champion Bill Balog crossing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Justin Peck, Gio Scelzi, Kerry Madsen, Kyle Reinhardt and Ian Madsen closed the top 10.
The All Star Circuit of Champions field returns to Circle City Raceway on May 21 for a second full program at the quarter-mile dirt track, part of Indiana Invasion week in the Hoosier State.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.