Merrill, MI – Channin Tankersley is a long way from home, 1,169 miles to be exact. But he’s looking forward to racing this weekend and seeing how he stacks up with some of the best 360 cu in racers in the Great Lakes Region. This weekend the 4 day show “Week of Speed” starts Friday, June 30th at Limaland Raceway Park, then to Fremont Speedway on Saturday, Atomic Speedway on Sunday and ending up back at Waynesfield Raceway Park on Monday for the $4,000.00 to win, SUMMER SPRINT SIZZLER.
Growing up in Highlands, TX, Tankersley started racing motocross at the early age of 5. Five years later, after breaking more bones than Channin cares to remember, he made the move to mini-sprints. I figured it was because it would be a little safer, but Channin said “Nah, I think my mom and dad got tired of going to the hospital all the time and paying all those medical bills!”.
Putting in five years driving mini-sprints, Tankersley made the move to a full size 360 cu in sprint car in 2006 when he was 15. Racing primarily in the Griffith Truck & Equipment ASCS Gulf South Region, Channin has done well for himself. Winning 5 ASCS Gulf South Championships and rookie of the year honors racing with the Lucas Oil ASCS Tour in 2010.
With the support of his father Ricky Tankersley and car owner Bruce Griffith, Jr, Channin has been trying to race in some different regions of the country. This has been difficult since Channin moved to Columbus, OH about 8 months ago for work. Now he’s in Ohio and the car and crew are in Highlands, TX. So Channin has been flying home to race on weekends. This season, Channin has made 12 races and had 1 feature win, 4 top 5 finishes and 5 top 10 finishes.
“I was going to fly South to race in the Arkansas and Mississippi areas this coming weekend, but they cancelled the Saturday night portion, then I saw your 4 day weekend over the 4th! So I called Bruce and told him and he said sure we can do that. He’s been real supportive of me traveling if we can get a 3 day weekend and it makes sense. “ says Tankersley.
This weekend, Tankersley will be in the 17G Old School Racin (OSR) car and seeing how the car and he stack up. In addition to Bruce Griffth and Griffith Truck and Equipment, Channin would like to thank Rocky Lakes Golf Course, Springfield, OH, Intra Services of Channelview, TX, Laney and MDS Boring & Drilling of Houston, TX and the Shriners Childrens Hospitals.
Talking with Ron Hammond, the owner of the K&L NRA Sprint Invaders this afternoon, Ron said “we also have a couple teams coming up from North Carolina and a team from Pennslyvania.” The 4 day race weekend has peaked the interest of a lot of teams around the region along with racing at some great sprint car tracks in the heart of Ohio.
For more information, follow us on Facebook under Great Lakes Super Sprints or on our web page at www.greatlakessupersprints.com or glss.rocks. For additional information follow Nation Racing Alliance – NRA Sprint Invaders on Facebook. For track information go to www.limaland.com , www.fremontohspeedway.com www.atomicspeedway.net www.waynesfieldmotorsportspark.com
- Barry Marlow on Jun 29, 2017
- Article Date: 6/29/2017 by Barry M. Marlow