Inside Line Promotions – BAYTOWN, Texas (April 18) – From one extreme to another, Channin Tankersley just about experienced it all last weekend.
The 20-year-old from Highlands, Texas, recorded his best finish of the season – third – on Friday at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas, only to be unable to start a race on Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas.
“Happy the first night and frustrated the second night,” he said.
The roller-coaster season continued in the ASCS Gulf South Region events, with Tankersley starting off with a promising drive to the front. After contact in an opening-lap wreck in his heat race on Friday, Tankersley powered from sixth place to win the race.
“I just jumped up on the top and blew by a couple of drivers, and kinda picked them off from there,” he said.
That made Tankersley the highest in points going into the redraw, meaning he got the first pick of the eight pills to determine the first four rows of the feature. The number eight popped up, placing him on the outside of the fourth row.
Tankersley passed two cars on the start and rode around in sixth for the first half of the race before he figured out the track.
“In turns one and two, there was a low line,” Tankersley said. “In turns three and four, there was a low line and a top line. It was really, really dry and the cushion was probably three feet off the wall. There wasn’t a whole lot to get a hold of.”
He picked off three cars in the second half of the race before settling on third – his first top-five finish of the season.
“All in all, it was a really good night,” Tankersley said. “Of course, we didn’t tear anything up and that was the main thing. It was probably one of my stronger runs of the year.”
However, the high night was quickly followed by a low one. Tankersley pulled in during hot laps on Saturday because the engine wasn’t running well. The team was unable to diagnose the problem and didn’t start the heat race or B Main.
That hurt him in the ASCS Gulf South points, which Tankersley now ranks eighth in.
His next race is April 30 at Battleground Speedway in his hometown of Highlands, Texas. It’s also an ASCS Gulf South event.
QUICK RESULTS –
April 15 – Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas – Heat race: 1 (6); Feature: 3 (8).
April 16 – Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas – Heat race: DNS; Feature: DNS.
SEASON STATS –
6 races, 5 features, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 1 top 10s, 2 top 15, 5 top 20s
UP NEXT –
April 30 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, with the ASCS Gulf South Region
FAVORITE NUMBER –
5: The number of drivers Tankersley passed to win his heat race last Friday at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Tankersley71
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“Custom Vinyl Designs has been with me since I started racing sprint cars,” Tankersley said. “They’ve been really good friends and really good sponsors.”
Tankersley would like to thank his sponsors, including Griffith Truck & Equipment and Miller’s Machine & Welding for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors’ return on investment.
To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit www.insidelinepromotions.com.
- administrator on Apr 18, 2011
- Article Date: 4/18/2011