Tyler Courtney and crew chief Jake Argo admitted it themselves, this west coast swing offered up more unknowns for them than any other part of the Kubota High Limit Racing schedule - on Friday night, however, they proved they're going to be just fine.
Leading the final 11 laps at Kings Speedway, the Clauson-Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #7BC pounced on Brad Sweet amid some hairy lap traffic and held on for his 11th win of 2024, and fifth win with the series. Being the Peter Murphy Classic, his title came with a nice $20,000 payday at the Hanford, California oval.
The championship difference between Sweet and Courtney is now down to 94-points with another 22 events remaining in the inaugural national touring season for the blossoming series.
For the Clauson-Marshall Racing team, this adventure with Kubota High Limit Racing meant their first-ever trip to the west coast with their #7BC Sprint Car. They've been here with Midgets and Non-Wing cars, Sunshine has made sporadic starts out here, and Argo was even born and raised in SoCal, but competing for a national touring title with little-to-no playbook at these tracks is a whole different animal.
Considering all that, this kid from Indy who simply wanted it more than others, this SoCal product turned crew chief from shock specialist, and this team dedicated to racing on in Bryan Clauson's memory are doing it with the best in the business.
Chasing Sunshine to the stripe was Rico Abreu, making it back-to-back runner-up finishes to start the California trip for this St. Helena, CA native. The #24 team has now found their way to third in Kubota High Limit Racing standings and hitting their stride down the homestretch.
Behind those two was again Brad Sweet in third-place, who for the second-straight night led the majority of the race from the pole but slipped back to hang onto a podium in the closing laps. His winless streak will head to Placerville at 93 days and 27 races since his last victory on May 16.
Rounding out the top-10 at Kings Speedway was Cole Macedo, James McFadden, Cory Eliason, Zeb Wise, Jamie Veal, Dominic Scelzi, and Kasey Kahne.
THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (8/16/24)
Kings Speedway (Hanford, CA)
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime - Cory Eliason (13.197 seconds)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Justin Sanders
DMI Heat Two Winner - James McFadden
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Jock Goodyer
Winters Performance Heat Four Winner - Cole Macedo
C-Main Winner - Dylan Bloomfield
FK Rod Ends Pole Shuffle Winner - Brad Sweet
B-Main Winner - Chris Windom
Jake's Golf Carts Fastest Lap Award - Corey Day (14.561 seconds)
Hard Charger - Dominic Scelzi +14, 23rd-to-9th
Lap Leaders - Brad Sweet 1-24; Tyler Courtney 25-35
Kubota A Feature (35 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 4. 21-Cole Macedo[5]; 5. 83-James McFadden[8]; 6. 8-Cory Eliason[7]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[18]; 8. 17AU-Jamie Veal[11]; 9. 41-Dominic Scelzi[23]; 10. 9-Kasey Kahne[17]; 11. 5-Spencer Bayston[19]; 12. 73-Ryan Bernal[20]; 13. 0-Bud Kaeding[13]; 14. 88N-DJ Netto[15]; 15. 55-Chris Windom[21]; 16. 42X-Justyn Cox[12]; 17. 14-Corey Day[9]; 18. 13-Justin Peck[10]; 19. 57W-Jock Goodyer[6]; 20. 88-Tanner Thorson[22]; 21. 121-Caeden Steele[14]; 22. 83T-Tanner Carrick[24]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[25]; 24. 9P-Parker Price Miller[26]; 25. 17W-Shane Golobic[16]; 26. 2X-Justin Sanders[4]
Updated Championship Standings (After 32/54 Races):
- Kasey Kahne Racing #49 - Brad Sweet (2,040 PTS... -)
- Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC - Tyler Courtney (1,946 PTS... -94)
- Rico Abreu Racing #24 - Rico Abreu (1,784 PTS... -256)
- Murray-Marks Motorosports #19 - Brent Marks (1,752 PTS... -288)
- Jason Meyers Racing #14 - Corey Day (1,696 PTS... -344)
- Roth Motorsports #83 - James McFadden (1,663 PTS... -377)
- Buch Motorsports #13 - Justin Peck (1,645 PTS... -395)
- PPM Racing #9P - Parker Price-Miller (1,588 PTS... -452)
- CJB Motorsports #5 - Spencer Bayston (1,541 PTS... -499)
- Rudeen Racing #26 - Zeb Wise (1,467 PTS... -573)
- Rod Gross Motorsports #88 - Tanner Thorson (1,437 PTS... -603)
- Ridge & Sons Racing #8 - Cory Eliason (1,396 PTS... -644)
- Kasey Kahne Racing #9 - Kasey Kahne (1,283 PTS... -757)
- Vermeer Motorsports #55 - Chris Windom (1,271 PTS... -769)
- Shark Racing #1A - Jacob Allen (1,269 PTS... -771)
- Crouch Motorsports #1 - Brenham Crouch (1,114 PTS... -926)
UP NEXT: The triple header weekend to kickstart the Kubota High Limit Racing west coast swing will conclude on Saturday, August 17 with a one-night stop at Placerville Speedway for the $12,000-to-win, $1,200-to-start Gold Rush Classic. Then, it's onto the 70th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions next week at Chico's Silver Dollar Speedway.
- administrator on Aug 17, 2024
- Article Date: 8/17/2024 by Brian Walker