GIBSONTON, Fla. — Despite a chaotic start and caution-filled race, Tyler Courtney prevailed during High Limit Racing’s “Battle at the Bay” finale on Tuesday night.
After placing 13th in Monday’s makeup race earlier in the day, the driver of the No. 7bc Clauson-Marshall Racing entry made up for the slow start to the season during Tuesday evening’s $15,000-to-win feature.
“Pretty mediocre to start the day, but for us to come out and win the second part shows the resilience that we have and the seriousness we have to compete for this championship,” Courtney said. “Coming down here and getting a win just helps build your momentum and confidence for the rest of the season.”
Polesitter Brad Sweet initially took control of the 30-lapper, but on lap six, Courtney completed the pass on the No. 49 Kasey Kahne Racing driver.
At the same time, Corey Day was making his way up to the top three after starting sixth and got around Spencer Bayston for third as the leaders began to catch lapped traffic. Day then set his sights on Sweet and quickly secured second, which opened the door for hard-charging Zeb Wise to pass the No. 49 for third.
On lap 12, the second caution of the race came out for Kyle Larson, who had spun in turn two. It was the second incident of the feature for Larson, who won Monday’s makeup race in the afternoon.
Courtney gapped the field on the restart while Day and Wise battled for second.
Another caution soon flew for Larson, who had tangled with Kasey Kahne. At that point, the No. 57 Silva Motorsports entry had taken on too much damage to continue.
Courtney took off on the restart with Wise, Day, Sweet and Rico Abreu in tow.
There was movement everywhere in the final 10 laps as Day stole second back from Wise, while fourth-place Abreu closed the gap between his No. 24 machine and Wise’s No. 26 Rudeen Racing entry.
With two laps to go, Day was all over Courtney, but couldn’t quite get the job done in the end. Courtney collected the checkered flag, while Day filed a runner-up result in the No. 14 Jason Meyers sprint car.
Wise and Abreu made contact as they approached the checkered flag, which allowed Sweet to sneak into third and pushed Wise back to fourth. Brent Marks finished fifth, while Abreu flipped in turn four and was scored 17th.
Feature Results (30 Laps)
1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Corey Day, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Zeb Wise, 5. Brent Marks, 6. Parker Price-Miller, 7. Chris Windom, 8. Spencer Bayston, 9. Jacob Allen, 10. Ryan Timms, 11. Tanner Thorson, 12. Justin Peck, 13. Dominic Scelzi, 14. Kasey Kahne, 15. Anthony Macri, 16. Austin McCarl, 17. Rico Abreu, 18. Cory Eliason, 19. Brenham Crouch, 20. Conner Morrell, 21. Danny Sams III, 22. Cole Macedo, 23. Dale Howard, 24. Eric Riggins III, 25. Aaron Reutzel, 26. Kyle Larson