Tyler Courtney Pilots Clauson-Marshall #7BC to Chili Bowl Opening Night Victory
Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / CHILI BOWL NATIONALS MEDIA
Photos By: TOMMY HEIN / RACERSGUIDE.COM
TULSA, Okla. -January 11, 2017- Indiana’s Tyler Courtney spent his morning unveiling the new #Driven2SaveLives program in honor of Bryan Clauson, and spent his evening driving like him as the pilot of the Clauson-Marshall Racing No. 7BC raced to his first preliminary A-Feature win in Chili Bowl competition, and in doing so, locks into his first Chili Bowl Championship feature event.
While the win was a very emotional one for the entire Clauson-Marshall racing team, Tyler explained the win simply when asked to put it into words, “Two words. Parked It.”
“Honestly, I think I’m still in shock. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. This is really cool with a new team, on the so called dream team that Bryan wanted to put together,” said Courtney. “Bryan [Clauson] was the guy that gave me the opportunity seven years ago. He’s a big part of my career and plus, I got to win my first USAC National sprint Car race over him this summer during Sprint Week. That’s something that I’ll always have with me.”
Chili Bowl Preliminary Night Winner No. 41, Courtney, who earned the pole in Tuesday’s Warren CAT Qualifying Night A-Feature, battled the opening laps with Oklahoma’s Matt Sherrell before having to also contend with the Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 71K of Kyle Larson.
Locked in a tight three way battle for the first six rotations around the Tulsa Expo Raceway, Courtney began putting distance of now second running, Larson. Keeping the No. 71K at length as the back of the field came into view, that distance was starting to dwindle as Larson worked the cushion at both ends of the Raceway.
Bumper-to-bumper with 13 to go thanks to a caution for Tony Bruce, Jr., Larson set up for the slide job. Denied the point, the Parker Stores entry quickly regained momentum. Low in one and two, high in three and four with 12 to go, the lead was Larson’s but the caution would again blink on before the lap could be completed.
Slowed again with 10 laps to run, the restart took two attempts as drivers leveled the cone, sending two drivers to the tail.
Returning with a barrage of Slide Jobs, Larson and Courtney used up every inch of the track. Working to the final eight laps, it was Larson off the fourth turn. Running hard to the cushion, the door was open for Courtney to retake the point off the second turn. Following the No. 7BC in on the turn three cushion, Larson skipped four tires into the fluff. Trying to correct the mistake, Larson mashed the throttle, only to jettison the No. 71K skyward. A hard landing and a hit to follow as Matt Westfall had nowhere to run. Despite the crash, both drivers returned to competition.
From there, Tyler Courtney would run away to a 2.775 second advantage over New York’s Larry Wight, who advanced from seventh to the silver podium step.
“It’s pretty amazing for us to be able to come down here,” explained the native New Yorker. “Shawn Michael, Mike Heffner, just the whole crew did an awesome job. We brought a brand new Chili Bowl car and it definitely paid off for us.”
Charging hard the final eight laps, Illinois’ Zach Daum advanced from 10th to the final transfer to secure his sixth Chili Bowl A-Feature.
Asked about the pressure of the Chili Bowl, Daum replied, “I put more pressure on myself than anybody. I try to stay relaxed as much as I can. We spend a lot of money to come to this one race every year and you want to run good. That’s the main goal here. To make the show for one, and put yourself in position to go after a Driller. This is our Daytona. It’s our Indianapolis; this is the Mecca of a Midget races so there’s always a little bit of pressure, but you kind of try to rise to the pressure.”
A preliminary night winner one year ago, Pennsylvania’s Alex Bright came up just shy of the transfer with a run from 12th to fourth. Jonathan Beason rounded out the top-five after starting ninth.
Chase Briscoe crossed sixth with England’s Tom Harris advancing from 22nd to second in the Beast No. 4h. Steven Shebester, Matt Sherrell, and Joey Saldana from 17th made up the top-ten.
For the ninth running of the Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions, Kyle Larson led non-stop to pick up the night’s $6,363.63 check. Normally a $2,500 to win event, Kim and Greg Stewart along with Doug and Mary Harris brought the amount up to honor the late Bryan Clauson. Already a VIROC winner, this win was especially emotional for Larson as he and Clauson were close friends. Following the interview, it was announced by Kim Stewart that the race is going to pay $6,363.63 to win from now on.
Tuesday’s opening of the 31st annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals saw 90 drivers drawing in for competition. Of those 90, six made the Fastenal Flip Count. All drivers were able to walk away.
The 31st annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire continues on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 and is presented by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa.
For continued updates on the 31st annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, fans can follow along with the Chili Bowl on social media, as well as the online PPV broadcast on http://www.racinboys.com. All official results and news can be found at http://www.chilibowl.com.
Results:
Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, Okla.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Warren CAT Qualifying Night
Car Count: 90
Budweiser Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37T-Seth Bergman[2]; 2. 14W-Matt Westfall[1]; 3. 0A-Aaron Schuck[4]; 4. 93-Dustin Morgan[5]; 5. 7S-Pat Schudy[7]; 6. 17G-Dustin Golobic[8]; 7. 05-Brad Loyet[9]; 8. 03-Shayle Bade[3]; 9. (DNF) 7SS-Wade Seiler[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Alex Bright[1]; 2. 5H-Aaron Reutzel[3]; 3. 15X-Mason Moore[6]; 4. 66-Kevin Thomas Jr[9]; 5. 92L-Austin Lambert[2]; 6. 25P-Dylan Peterson[4]; 7. (DNF) 77U-Chris Urish[8]; 8. (DNF) 21T-Ty Hulsey[7]; 9. (DNF) 777-Bailey Huges[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[3]; 2. 9$-Kyle Clark[6]; 3. 99W-Larry Wight[5]; 4. 4R-Ryan Greth[8]; 5. 7AB-Austin Brown[1]; 6. 11F-Floyd Alvis[4]; 7. 3-Jake Neal[7]; 8. (DNF) 6A-Ray Seach[2]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 8J-Jonathan Beason[4]; 2. 71R-Nick Chivello[2]; 3. 33K-Kyle Offill[3]; 4. 1K-Brayton Lynch[5]; 5. 0G-Glenn Styres[7]; 6. 7W-Scott Walton[6]; 7. (DNF) 7U-Joe B. Miller[1]; (DNS) 5J-Jeff Crook
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 3H-Mike Hess[2]; 2. 71K-Kyle Larson[5]; 3. 17E-Blake Edwards[8]; 4. 51J-R.J. Johnson[7]; 5. 9D-Mack DeMan[1]; 6. 77D-Dean Drake Jr[4]; 7. 71WG-Weston Gorham[6]; 8. 14I-Isaac Schreurs[3]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 5D-Zach Daum[1]; 2. 25MP-Michael Pickens[6]; 3. 17K-Michael Koontz[2]; 4. 118-Scott Evans[8]; 5. 13-Glen Saville[4]; 6. 16-Ryan Ruhl[5]; 7. 69B-Bryan Debrick[3]; 8. 15S-Gavin Stout[7]
Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 2. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[3]; 3. 2-Ryan Hall[2]; 4. 77K-Kevin Olson[1]; 5. 16K-Chris Dyson[5]; 6. 57J-Jake Bubak[8]; 7. 88W-Dustin Weland[6]; 8. 76J-Davey Jones[7]
Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 78-Nick Wean[3]; 2. 17-Joey Saldana[8]; 3. 4H-Tom Harris[7]; 4. 45J-C.J. Johnson[1]; 5. 46-Kenney Johnson[4]; 6. 9U-Doug McCune[2]; 7. 7RS-Merril Lamb[6]; 8. (DNF) 27MK-Kyle Keeler[5]
Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Matt Sherrell[3]; 2. 44X-Wesley Smith[5]; 3. 97K-Spencer Bayston[8]; 4. 99P-Dillon Welch[6]; 5. 74-Zach Merritt[1]; 6. 72-Cameron Hagin[7]; 7. 0B-Ross Wece[4]; 8. 56V-Matt Veatch[2]….No. 56V, Matt Veatch, docked 2 spots at the finish for passing before the cone.
Heat 10 (8 Laps): 1. 82M-Steven Shebester[2]; 2. 5CB-Chase Briscoe[4]; 3. 1PW-Paul White[1]; 4. 71D-Domain Ramsay[6]; 5. 91S-Klint Simpson[8]; 6. 11J-Justin Melton[5]; 7. (DNF) 7AU-Lee Redmond[7]; 8. (DNF) 30T-Larry Bratti[3]
Heat 11 (8 Laps): 1. 67F-Kyle O’Gara[1]; 2. 91A-Chris Andrews[3]; 3. 2S-Travis Scott[7]; 4. 5BB-Bobby Brewer[2]; 5. 3CC-Raven Culp[8]; 6. 13JR-Koty Adams[4]; 7. 7CH-Brandon Matus[6]; 8. 2M-Austin Odell[5]
D-Features: Top 2 advance to corresponding C-Feature.
D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 71WG-Weston Gorham[2]; 2. 3-Jake Neal[1]; 3. 21T-Ty Hulsey[4]; 4. 76J-Davey Jones[5]; 5. 56V-Matt Veatch[8]; 6. 03-Shayle Bade[6]; 7. 7RS-Merril Lamb[3]; 8. 30T-Larry Bratti[7]; (DNS) 0B-Ross Wece; (DNS) 27MK-Kyle Keeler; (DNS) 777-Bailey Huges
D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7AU-Lee Redmond[1]; 2. 2M-Austin Odell[7]; 3. 88W-Dustin Weland[2]; 4. 7CH-Brandon Matus[3]; 5. 6A-Ray Seach[9]; 6. 14I-Isaac Schreurs[8]; 7. 7SS-Wade Seiler[10]; 8. (DNF) 7U-Joe B. Miller[6]; 9. (DNF) 15S-Gavin Stout[5]; 10. (DNF) 69B-Bryan Debrick[4]; (DNS) 5J-Jeff Crook
C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.
C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[8]; 2. 0G-Glenn Styres[3]; 3. 77U-Chris Urish[12]; 4. 46-Kenney Johnson[7]; 5. 77K-Kevin Olson[5]; 6. 13JR-Koty Adams[14]; 7. 1PW-Paul White[2]; 8. 71WG-Weston Gorham[15]; 9. 17G-Dustin Golobic[4]; 10. 16K-Chris Dyson[6]; 11. 3-Jake Neal[16]; 12. 74-Zach Merritt[10]; 13. (DNF) 11F-Floyd Alvis[13]; 14. (DNF) 7AB-Austin Brown[9]; 15. (DNF) 93-Dustin Morgan[1]; 16. (DNF) 16-Ryan Ruhl[11]
C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 57J-Jake Bubak[4]; 2. 11J-Justin Melton[11]; 3. 13-Glen Saville[6]; 4. 9D-Mack DeMan[9]; 5. 45J-C.J. Johnson[5]; 6. 25P-Dylan Peterson[12]; 7. 5BB-Bobby Brewer[3]; 8. 7AU-Lee Redmond[15]; 9. 77D-Dean Drake Jr[13]; 10. 92L-Austin Lambert[8]; 11. 2M-Austin Odell[16]; 12. 9U-Doug McCune[14]; 13. 1K-Brayton Lynch[1]; 14. 7W-Scott Walton[10]; 15. (DNF) 72-Cameron Hagin[7]; 16. (DNF) 7S-Pat Schudy[2]
Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.
Qualifying Race 1 (10 Laps): 1. 82M-Steven Shebester[2]; 2. 77-Alex Bright[1]; 3. 99W-Larry Wight[8]; 4. 78-Nick Wean[4]; 5. 4H-Tom Harris[3]; 6. 17-Joey Saldana[6]; 7. 25MP-Michael Pickens[5]; 8. 118-Scott Evans[7]; 9. 3CC-Raven Culp[10]; 10. 0A-Aaron Schuck[9]
Qualifying Race 2 (10 Laps): 1. 5D-Zach Daum[1]; 2. 35-Matt Sherrell[4]; 3. 66-Kevin Thomas Jr[2]; 4. 8J-Jonathan Beason[6]; 5. 17E-Blake Edwards[5]; 6. 51J-R.J. Johnson[8]; 7. 5H-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 8. 33K-Kyle Offill[10]; 9. 2S-Travis Scott[3]; 10. 99P-Dillon Welch[9]
Qualifying Race 3 (10 Laps): 1. 5CB-Chase Briscoe[2]; 2. 71K-Kyle Larson[4]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[6]; 4. 97K-Spencer Bayston[5]; 5. 67F-Kyle O’Gara[1]; 6. 37T-Seth Bergman[3]; 7. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[7]; 8. 71R-Nick Chivello[8]; 9. 17K-Michael Koontz[10]; 10. 71D-Domain Ramsay[9]
Qualifying Race 4 (10 Laps): 1. 3H-Mike Hess[3]; 2. 4R-Ryan Greth[1]; 3. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[5]; 4. 14W-Matt Westfall[8]; 5. 44X-Wesley Smith[4]; 6. 91S-Klint Simpson[9]; 7. 91A-Chris Andrews[7]; 8. 2-Ryan Hall[10]; 9. (DNF) 9$-Kyle Clark[6]; 10. (DNF) 15X-Mason Moore[2]
B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 17-Joey Saldana[1]; 2. 51J-R.J. Johnson[3]; 3. 44X-Wesley Smith[2]; 4. 05-Brad Loyet[13]; 5. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[6]; 6. 77U-Chris Urish[15]; 7. 37T-Seth Bergman[5]; 8. 99P-Dillon Welch[12]; 9. 71R-Nick Chivello[9]; 10. 33K-Kyle Offill[8]; 11. 91S-Klint Simpson[4]; 12. 46-Kenney Johnson[16]; 13. (DNF) 3CC-Raven Culp[10]; 14. (DNF) 0G-Glenn Styres[14]; 15. (DNF) 9$-Kyle Clark[7]; 16. (DNF) 0A-Aaron Schuck[11]
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 5H-Aaron Reutzel[5]; 2. 25MP-Michael Pickens[3]; 3. 4H-Tom Harris[2]; 4. 17E-Blake Edwards[1]; 5. 118-Scott Evans[7]; 6. 57J-Jake Bubak[11]; 7. 11J-Justin Melton[14]; 8. 67F-Kyle O’Gara[4]; 9. 2S-Travis Scott[9]; 10. 2-Ryan Hall[8]; 11. 13-Glen Saville[13]; 12. 17K-Michael Koontz[10]; 13. 9D-Mack DeMan[15]; 14. 91A-Chris Andrews[6]; 15. 71D-Domain Ramsay[12]; (DNS) 15X-Mason Moore
VIROC IX
VIROC IX (20 Laps): 1. 71K-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 97-Rico Abreu[2]; 3. 6K-Dave Darland[3]; 4. 47X-Tim McCreadie[7]; 5. 1R-Thomas Meseraull[11]; 6. 71-Christopher Bell[19]; 7. 76M-Brady Bacon[5]; 8. 84X-Chad Boat[10]; 9. 21K-Cory Kruseman[6]; 10. 21-Daryn Pittman[18]; 11. 67-Tanner Thorson[14]; 12. 5-Jerry Coons Jr[15]; 13. 47-Danny Stratton[9]; 14. 71G-Damion Gardner[13]; 15. 24-Tracy Hines[20]; 16. 1-Sammy Swindell[12]; 17. 05-Brad Loyet[17]; 18. 1ST-J.J. Yeley[4]; 19. 15-Donny Schatz[8]; 20. 22H-John Heydenreich[16]
A-Feature: Top 3 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature.
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]; 2. 99W-Larry Wight[7]; 3. 5D-Zach Daum[10]; 4. 77-Alex Bright[12]; 5. 8J-Jonathan Beason[9]; 6. 5CB-Chase Briscoe[6]; 7. 4H-Tom Harris[22]; 8. 82M-Steven Shebester[5]; 9. 35-Matt Sherrell[3]; 10. 17-Joey Saldana[17]; 11. 25MP-Michael Pickens[20]; 12. 5H-Aaron Reutzel[18]; 13. 05-Brad Loyet[23]; 14. 51J-R.J. Johnson[19]; 15. 97K-Spencer Bayston[11]; 16. 66-Kevin Thomas Jr[16]; 17. 4R-Ryan Greth[13]; 18. 44X-Wesley Smith[21]; 19. 3H-Mike Hess[2]; 20. 78-Nick Wean[15]; 21. 71K-Kyle Larson[4]; 22. 14W-Matt Westfall[14]; 23. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[8]; 24. 17E-Blake Edwards[24]
Lap Leader(s): Matt Sherrell 2-5; Tyler Courtney 1, 6-25;
Hard Charger: Tom Harris +14
