Getting in one final midget race before the calendar switches to 2018, Tanner Carrick was impressive during the Junior Knepper 55 on Saturday night in Duquoin, IL as he rallied to finish ninth after being involved in multi car pile up on the race’s opening lap.
“I was really happy with how Saturday night went,” Tanner Carrick said. “The last time I ran Duqoin (IL) it was a little rough, so to have really good speed and be in the mix was a good feeling.”
Kicking his night off in heat race action, Carrick made an early statement as he wired the field from the second row and picked up the win aboard the potent Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 71K. By way of the victory, the 2017 USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year would move into a qualifier.
Looking to continue to make points and lock himself into the 55-lap feature event, the Lincoln, CA driver would finish fifth in his qualifier, which put him ninth in event points and lined him up in the fifth row of the ‘A’.
When the ‘A’ main came to life, trouble would strike in the first turn and Carrick would have nowhere to go on the tight confines of the Southern Illinois Center, and he would become involved and be forced to the tail end of the field.
From the back of the pack, Carrick showed patience as passing was at a premium in the opening laps. As the track began to widen out Carrick would begin his charge back forward picking up positions in bunches.
With scattered cautions slowing his progress at times, Carrick remained locked in under green flag conditions and found himself battling inside the Top-10 late in the feature event.
Working his way up to ninth after the race’s final restart, Carrick would take the checkered flag with a ninth place finish.
“I have to thank all of the Keith Kunz Motorsports guys for their hard work all night long,” Tanner Carrick added. “We had a really good car, and I feel like we would have been in the thick of things in the feature had it not have been for the first lap pile up.”
Tanner Carrick and the Keith Kunz Motorsports team would like to thank TRD, Curb Records, IPC, Walker Performance Filtration, Cemex, CVC, and Shell Shock for their support.