Lonnie Wheatley, INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (August 1, 2018) – The beat continues on for Tyler Courtney on the USAC trail.
After posting a pair of wins over the course of the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car series “Indiana Sprintweek” to run his season total to nine overall triumphs, another four-race set of USAC Midget events awaits this week in the Keystone State with the Fourth Annual PA Midget Week for the USAC National Midget series.
With six top-tens in seven rounds of Indiana Sprintweek, Courtney maintains a close third in USAC points aboard the Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing Priority Aviation No. 7bc Sprint Car.
He takes a ranking of seventh in USAC Midget points aboard the Clauson-Marshall Racing Driven2SaveLives/Indiana Donor Network No. 7bc Midget into this week’s events with second in points a mere 24 markers away. This week’s stops include Path Valley Speedway Park on Thursday, Linda’s Speedway on Friday, Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday and BAPS Motor Speedway on Sunday.
“Sunshine” opened up Indiana Sprintweek by picking up Hard Charger honors at Plymouth Speedway on Friday, July 20, by rallying from 12th to round out the top five.
“We got behind the eight ball in qualifying and with the group of cars we have it’s tough to come through the field like that,” Courtney commented. “To get a top-five tonight after the way we got started is a good way to start Sprintweek.”
After a Kokomo postponement on Saturday night, Courtney cashed in on a front row staring position at Lawrenceburg on Sunday night, July 22, to capture his sixth USAC Sprint Car win of the year. It wasn’t without withstanding several strong challenges over the final half of the race though.
“As a driver, you don’t really want it to be that close,” Courtney said afterward. “I kinda thought I could cruise there for a little bit, but then they come biting at ya.”
After climbing a handful of positions from 12th to finish seventh in the rescheduled event at Kokomo Speedway on Tuesday night, July 24, “Sunshine” picked off his second Terre Haute Action Track win in a row the next night. Courtney needed just three laps to rally from the fifth starting position and was well in command the rest of the way in the non-stop affair.
“We got qualified where we needed to be, got a good start and didn’t have a caution after that,” Courtney said. “To get a second win here and during Sprintweek is pretty huge.”
The tides turned the next night at Putnamville’s Lincoln Park Speedway, where Courtney ultimately settled for 21st on the night after a charge from eighth to win his heat race.
Courtney finished out the week with another pair of strong top-ten showings including a fifth place run at Bloomington Speedway on Friday and then a ninth-place in the Saturday night finale at Haubstadt’s Tri-State Speedway.
With one Midget score to his credit thus far in 2018, Courtney will look to add to that this weekend. “Sunshine” was close to Midget victory lane last year with finishes of second at Path Valley, third at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway and fourth at Linda’s Speedway.
2018 Quick Stats: 48 races, 9 wins, 29 top-fives, 36 top-tens.
Quick Results: USAC Amsoil National Sprint Cars “Indiana Sprintweek”
Friday, July 20 – 5th at Plymouth Speedway
Sunday, July 22 – 1st at Lawrenceburg Speedway
Tuesday, July 24 – 7th at Kokomo Speedway
Wednesday, July 25 – 1st at Terre Haute Action Track
Thursday, July 26 – 21st at Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville)
Friday, July 27 – 5th at Bloomington Speedway
Saturday, July 28 – 9th at Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt)
Up Next: USAC National Midgets PA Midget Week
Thursday, August 2 – Path Valley Speedway Park (Spring Run, PA)
Friday, August 3 – Linda’s Speedway (Jonestown, PA)
Saturday, August 4 – Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (Schaefferstown, PA)
Sunday, August 5 – BAPS Motor Speedway (Newberrytown, PA)
Keep Track: Keep track of Tyler Courtney’s on-track action including schedule and results at 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 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.
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley