From Bryan Hulbert / chilibowl.com
Landing his first career victory at the Tulsa Expo Raceway, California’s Tanner Carrick wheeled the Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian No. 98 to the front of the field on Lap 22 and held on to top Monday’s Cummins Qualifying Night A-Feature.
Locking into his first Saturday night A-Feature, the win is No. 30 atop the Tulsa Expo Raceway for car owner, Keith Kunz.
Riding third the opening 20 laps, the race for the lead to that point was between Mitchel Moles and Jerry Coons, Jr. Exchanging the lead three times, Moles finally got the advantage on Coons following a restart on Lap 19.
Sliding the No. 85 for the point, Moles looked to have the race in hand before a misstep on the cushion through the fourth turn sent the No. 07w tumbling down the front straightaway on Lap 21.
Putting Tanner Carrick to the point, the No. 98 kept pace around the bottom the final eight revolutions. Winning by 1.225-seconds, the victory was slightly soured when Carrick flipped following the checkered flag.
Asked what happened, Tanner said, “I went through the finish line and when I went to use the brake pedal, there were no brakes. By that time it was too late and I plugged it into the fence."
Tyler Courtney crossed second to lock into his sixth championship A-Feature in as many years. The podium rounded out with California’s Chase Johnson. Moving up eight positions, David Gravel crossed fourth with Open-Wheel Modified royalty, Nick Hoffman, wheeling to a top-five finish.
Rolling out of the C-Features after a throttle return issue sidelined him during his Heat Race, Bixby’s Cannon McIntosh charged ahead 13 positions, for a total of 33 positions gained, to finish sixth. Gary Taylor from 18th made it to seventh, followed by Gavan Boschele in eighth. Alex Bowman crossed ninth with Trey Marcham in tenth.
Monday started with 69 of 72 drivers checking in. The World Wide Technology Raceway Flip Count made it to eight with all drivers unharmed.
Monday night also included the Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions, which saw a nail biter of a race come down to a near photo finish between Justin Grant and Kyle Larson with the NOS Energy Drink No. 2j capturing his first VIROC win by 0.280-seconds. Larson in second was followed by Christopher Bell, Tanner Thorson, and Blake Hahn.
A Feature (30 Laps):
1. 98-Tanner Carrick[3]; 2. 7C-Tyler Courtney[4]; 3. 87-Chase Johnson[6]; 4. 1D-David Gravel[12]; 5. 2H-Nick Hoffman[14]; 6. 08-Cannon McIntosh[19]; 7. 32-Gary Taylor[18]; 8. 5G-Gavan Boschele[7]; 9. 55X-Alex Bowman[8]; 10. 32T-Trey Marcham[10]; 11. 5-Chase Briscoe[5]; 12. 8-Alex Sewell[13]; 13. 22M-Carson Kvapil[22]; 14. 81G-Anton Hernandez[21]; 15. 97X-Jesse Love[11]; 16. 15E-Kinzer Edwards[20]; 17. 22-Sean McClelland[15]; 18. 80-Josh Hawkins[16]; 19. 45K-Kyler Johnson[24]; 20. (DNF) 07W-Mitchel Moles[1]; 21. (DNF) 85-Jerry Coons Jr[2]; 22. (DNF) 28K-Kory Schudy[17]; 23. (DNF) 7MR-Jadon Rogers[23]; 24. (DNF) 61J-Jacob Denney[9]
Lap Leader(s): Mitchel Moles 1-5, 20-21; Jerry Coons, Jr. 6-19; Tanner Carrick 22-30
Hard Charger: Cannon McIntosh +13
Racing continues Tuesday, January 11 with Warren CAT Qualifying Night. The SageNet Center opens at 9:00 A.M. Hot Laps are at 4:00 P.M. with racing at 5:00 P.M. Reserved Seats for Tuesday night are available at the event office for $54, plus tax. Pit Passes are sold at the event and never sell out.
Live coverage can be found on http://www.floracing.com.
For continued updates on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, follow the event on Social Media (@cbnationals) and at http://www.chilibowl.com.
(Image Credit: DPCmedia)
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