PETERSEN MEDIA: Tanner Carrick took part in two 360ci events over this past weekend and continues to showcase his early season speed at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA as well as at Placerville Speedway in Placerville, CA.
“Friday night we were really good, but just had some tough luck battling up front and in traffic and it resulted in an early spin,” Tanner Carrick said. “Saturday night, we were really good again it just took me a little too long to get going, and once I got into second the leader made a mistake, but I did too and couldn’t capitalize.”
Checking in at Ocean Speedway on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds on Friday night, Carrick kicked things off by timing his potent CVC/Cemex/Interstate Oil backed No. 83T machine in second fastest in qualifying.
From his fourth place starting position in his heat race, Carrick would pick up one position as he finished third and solidified his position in the Ocean Sprints pres. by Taco Bravo Dash where a fourth-place finish pitted him in the second row of the 30-lap feature event.
Jumping into the third position as Ed Entz dropped the green flag, Carrick was able to move into second on the fifth lap and begin chasing after Bud Kaeding as the leaders rapidly reached the back of the field.
In traffic on the slick Ocean Speedway surface, Carrick would pressure Kaeding until near contact on the seventh lap sent Carrick spinning in turn two. Able to keep his car fired, Ocean Speedway rules call for an automatic yellow flag and Carrick was sent to the back of the pack.
With the track ultimately taking a little rubber as the night went on, Carrick was able to work his way forward despite the conditions as he raced his way back to a ninth-place finish.
Saturday night saw the scene shift to Placerville Speedway for the 19th running of the Tribute to Al Hinds, a long time Placerville Speedway promoter.
38 cars checked in for the event, and Carrick was able to rally from a tough first lap in time trials and time in second quickest for the second consecutive night.
Racing to a third-place finish in heat race competition, Carrick was safely in the 25-lap feature event and was also in the important Top-Eight redraw.
Pulling the six, Carrick would take the green flag from the outside of the third row on the slick speedway that had built a cushion up at both ends of the track.
When the race came to life, Carrick would quickly jump into the third position as he soon found himself in a nice battle with Justyn Cox.
Falling back to fourth, Carrick would keep his position firmly in the Top-5, until a lap 17 caution created quite the finish.
The ensuing restart saw Carrick jump to third and make a bid for second as he battled with the lead duo of Shane Golobic and Justin Sanders.
Working the low side of the speedway, Carrick moved into second as Sanders built up a bit of an advantage.
With just two laps to go, Sanders would get extremely sideways on the cushion opening the door for Carrick to close in, but as Sanders made his misstep, Carrick also had a hiccup and could not capitalize.
Settling into second, Carrick would cap his weekend off with a second-place finish.
“It is a good feeling to know that we are a contender to win on any given night right now,” Carrick said. “Big thanks to all my guys for their hard work, and our partners for making this all possible.”
Tanner Carrick would like to thank CVC, Cemex, Interstate Oil, Conti, Harris and Sloan, Emerald, Timberworks Construction, Eddie’s Lincoln Auto Body, Kaeding Performance, and Arai for their continued support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts: 16, Wins: 3, Top 5’s: 6, Top 10’s: 11
ON TAP: Tanner Carrick will be back in action on Friday night at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA and on Saturday night at Placerville Speedway in Placerville, 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.