Tanner Carrick 5th at Gold Cup Race of Champions

PETERSEN MEDIA: Spending his weekend in Chico, CA, Tanner Carrick had a very stout Gold Cup Race of Champions as he ran 10^th in the 360ci race on Wednesday night, 8^th on his Thursday preliminary night, and then 5^th in Saturday night’s finale.

“Overall, it was a pretty good week of racing for us,” Tanner Carrick said. “We were in the Top-10 each night, and to run fifth in the Gold Cup finale is really special.”

The curtain raised on the 71^st Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions on Wednesday night for the annual 360ci opener. Timing in third fastest in his qualifying flight, Carrick lined up on the pole of his heat race.

An interesting start saw Carrick back in third by the time the field reached the flag stand. Up to speed, Carrick settled into third which kept him well inside a feature event transfer spot, but did put him 11^th on the starting grid for the 30-lap finale.

When the feature event green, Carrick moved into 10^th, where he settled in as the race ripped off laps in rapid fire fashion. The fast surface saw all 30-laps complete with no stoppages and the race in its entirety was ran in just nine minutes.

Dropping his 410ci powerplant in on Thursday night for his qualifying run with High Limit Racing, Carrick got the night underway by timing the CVC/Cemex/CA Waterfowl backed No. 83T in 12^th fastest in time trials.

Lining up in the second row of his heat race, the Lincoln, CA driver got a nice jump when the green flag was displayed as he moved into third.

Holding on to a third-place finish, Carrick was locked into the feature event where he lined up 11^th based on his event points.

Slipping back to 12^th on the opening two laps, Carrick worked his way back into ninth on the third lap, and was into eighth on the 12^th circuit and briefly made an appearance in the Top-5.

Officially in fifth at the halfway point, a hotly contested battle saw Carrick slip back to sixth a lap later. A late run saw a slight bobble lead to Carrick falling back to eighth where he went on to finish out his prelim night run.

Finding himself on the front row of his qualifier on Saturday night, Carrick simply needed to finish inside the Top-Three to transfer into the Gold Cup feature event. 

Getting a great jump when the field was brought to life, Carrick grabbed the lead and never looked back. Powering to the win, Carrick was locked into the 40-lap finale as he lined up in the 12^th starting position. 

On the slick surface, Carrick settled into 12^th for the first five laps before an early red flag bunched the field back up.

Slipping back to 13^th when the action resumed, Carrick quickly jumped into 12^th and then made his way into 10^th on the 11^th lap.

The extremely slick surface started to take rubber and Carrick was able to move into eighth on the 13^th lap. As the rubber conditions worsened the pace of the race continued to slow way down. Keeping his tire under him, Carrick worked into seventh with just five laps left in the race, and then moved into fifth on the 36^th lap where he went on to finish.

“Really just proud of everyone for their effort,” Tanner Carrick said. “The Saturday feature didn’t have the surface that anyone wanted, but we put ourselves in the right spot and I am very happy to cap the weekend off with a Top-5.”

Tanner Carrick would like to thank CVC, Cemex, California Waterfowl, Interstate Oil, D.R. Horton, Conti, Harris and Sloan, Hanson Truss, TC Guide Service, Eddie’s Lincoln Auto Body, Simpson Strong-Tie, A&A Concrete Supply, Kaeding Performance, and Arai for their continued support.

BY THE NUMBERS: Starts: 41, Wins: 3, Top 5’s: 17, Top 10’s: 27

ON TAP: Tanner Carrick and the Carrick Motorsports team will be at Calistoga Speedway this Saturday and Sunday running double-duty at the Louie Vermeil Classic.

STAY CONNECTED: Stay up to speed with Tanner Carrick by following him on Twitter @Carrick_Tanner or @CarrickMotorsp1, and by clicking over to www.tannercarrick.com.