PETERSEN MEDIA: With Trophy Cup weekend officially in the books, Tanner Carrick can look back and be proud of his efforts as he ended up sixth in the final standings amongst the 85 cars that entered the coveted event.
“I thought we had a great weekend overall, and if I don’t get into the wall on Saturday night in the feature and cause a little damage, I think we could have even had a little better finish in the race and in the point standings.”
Carrick kicked his weekend off on Thursday night for the opening night of the 28th installment of the popular Trophy Cup. Timing the CVC/Cemex/Interstate Oil backed No. 83T in fifth fastest, Carrick would start and finish fifth in his heat race.
Forced into one of the twin ‘B’ Main events, Carrick took the green flag from the fifth starting position with just four cars earning tickets into the opening night feature event.
Racing to a second-place finish in the semi, Carrick indeed kept his night alive as he moved into the opening night ‘A’ where he rolled off the starting grid from the 15th starting position.
On a very slick racing surface, Carrick was able to work his way forward before the track started to lay rubber. Working into 10th, Carrick was able to keep his tires under him, and salvage his points night as closed Thursday out with a 10thplace finish.
Back in action on Friday night looking to see if he could turn in a better points total, Carrick kicked his night off by timing in eighth fastest after going out late in the qualifying session.
Again, gridding the field from the fifth starting position in his heat race, the Lincoln, CA driver would have his elbows up as he worked his way forward and secured a third place finish in his heat.
Still not having the highest point total in his heat, Carrick was again forced into a ‘B’, where he took the green from the sixth starting position on this night.
Slipping back during Friday’s semi, Carrick’s ninth place finish in the ‘B’ would end his night, as he would keep his Thursday night point total heading into Saturday’s Trophy Cup finale.
Lining up sixth in his fully inverted heat race on Saturday, Carrick had a great run as he worked his way forward and tallied a third place finish with the waving of Ed Entz’s checkered flag.
Helping his point total, Carrick would line up 11th in the 50-lap feature event as he sat 9th in the overall points.
Lining up 11th in the feature, Carrick spnet much of the first half of the race battling for a position inside the Top-10 as the track underwent a fresh re-work prior to the ‘A’.
Getting into 10th at the halfway point, Carrick was up into eighth at the race’s scheduled stop to allow teams to add more fuel. As the track widedned out and allowed guys to get up on the cushion, Carrick was very strong up top but slight contact with the wall with his right rear would cause enough damage to throw him off in the race’s closing laps.
Racing into sixth, Carrick would hang on to the spot as he wrestled his machine around the Thunderbowl as he ultimately finished sixth in the race and also finished sixth in the points.
“We had good speed, we raced really well, and I felt really good all weekend,” Carrick said. “Thanks to my guys for all of their hard work. Hopefully we can pick up a win before our season ends.”
Tanner Carrick would like to thank CVC, Cemex, Interstate Oil, Conti, Harris and Sloan, Emerald, Timberworks Construction, Hanson Truss, Eddie’s Lincoln Auto Body, Simpson Strong-Tie, A&A Concrete Supply, Kaeding Performance, and Arai for their continued support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts: 59, Wins: 6, Top 5’s: 22, Top 10’s: 34
ON TAP: Tanner Carrick will be idle this weekend before returning to action on November 5th in Stockton, CA.
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.