Tanner Carrick Kicks 2023 Off at Chili Bowl Midget Nationals
(Brendon Bauman Photo)
PETERSEN MEDIA: Tanner Carrick had a quick winter as per usual. This past week, the Lincoln, CA driver kicked his 2023 season off at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals where he recorded a fifth-place finish on his qualifying night and ultimately finished 10th in the Saturday night ‘B’.
“We had a really good car all week,” Tanner Carrick said. “During our qualifying night we made a lot of headway in the feature, and then on Saturday we were just a little too tight and it hurt us as we were in position to battle for a transfer into the big show.”
Taking advantage of some early track time on Monday, Carrick took part in the VIROC exhibition race and put his CVC/Cemex backed Keith Kunz Motorsports entry to the early test.
Going form 15th to 11th in the feature, Carrick was pleased with the early laps and his team went to work on his entry before his qualifying night on Thursday.
Thursday’s action kicked off with the Lincoln, CA driver lining up on the front row of his heat race. Unable to get the jump, Carrick was able to maintain the second position which was vital in Chili Bowl format with points up for grabs.
Finishing second, Carrick transferred into a qualifier where he lined up on the pole and needed to win to ensure a transfer into the Thursday night feature event. Getting a great jump, Carrick took care of business from the front row as he picked up the win and eventually found himself 11th in nightly points which was good enough to transfer him into the feature and put him in the sixth row.
Starting mid pack, Carrick had his elbows up on what turned into a tricky track surface as it would get abrasive and narrow. With each pass bettering his Saturday night starting position, Carrick was methodical in his dealings as he quietly worked his way into the top five.
When the dust settled on his preliminary night feature, Carrick brough home a fifth-place finish which ultimately lined him up in the fourth row on the second ‘B’ on Saturday night.
As Saturday night’s second ‘B’ went green, Carrick was hard on the throttle as he looked to race his way into the 55-lap Chili Bowl feature event. Needing to run inside the Top-7 to transfer, Carrick maintained the seventh and final transfer position in the opening laps as he wrestled a snug car around the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Dropping back to ninth, Carrick would race back up to sixth on the 14th lap but a huge bike dropped him back to eight as he was on the outside and looking in.
Pushing as hard as he could over the course of the final six laps of the race, Carrick would bike on the cushion again as he ultimately slipped back to 10th and ended his 2023 Chili Bowl.
“I really have to thank everyone at KKM for all their hard work,” Carrick said. “It is a grueling week, they bring a ton of cars, and at the end of the day we had a shot race into the ‘A’, we just came up a little short.”
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: 2, Wins: 0, Top 5’s: 1, Top 10’s: 1
ON TAP: Tanner Carrick’s next event is TBD.
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.
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