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TARLTON SCORES
SECOND GSC VICTORY OF THE SEASON AT OCEAN SPEEDWAY
8/8/2010
- Series press release
 During
much of the 2010 sprint car season in Northern and
Central California few drivers have been more
successful than Tommy Tarlton and on Saturday
night at Ocean Speedway the Easton driver
continued his strong campaign by racing to his
second Golden State Challenge Series win of the
year.
It marked Tarlton’s seventh career GSC win and was
also his 10th top-five finish in 10
series starts this season behind the wheel of his
Corporate America Lending, Tachi Palace Hotel &
Casino No. 21 sprint car.
“We had a blast tonight and it feels really good
to make it two in a row at this place,” said
Tarlton, who won at Ocean Speedway the week before
in the weekly Ocean Sprints presented by Taco
Bravo Series. “The last couple years we’ve won a
lot of 360 races, but this is our second 410 win
of the season and it always means a lot to come
out here and do it with these guys.”
The penultimate main event of the season for the
Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series took
some time to get going as stoppages on the first
two attempts led to complete restarts, with
outside front row starter Brad Furr of Pleasanton
getting the jump on the first try and Tarlton
getting the lead on the second one. When the field
then came through turns three and four on the
third try Furr charging into the top-spot, but got
a little bit too much of an advantage and the
yellow lights came back on, with Furr being called
for a jumped start and being put back to row
three.
With Furr being moved back it placed Scotts
Valley’s Evan Suggs on the outside of the front
row and when the green flag waved again he would
go side by side with Tarlton, before getting the
advantage as the duo completed lap one. The
23-year-old driver was in search of his first
career Golden State Challenge victory and fended
off the relentless challenges of Tarlton in the
early going aboard his Suggs Racing, Lucas Oil
Products No. 33e. The pace of the race continued
to be a slow one as yellows plagued the opening
stages of the feature however, lap-eight would be
the final stoppage as the final 22-laps were
clicked off caution free.
Continuing to run out front Suggs had Tarlton
breathing down his neck when racing got back
underway and did a great job to hold off the
current Ocean Speedway point leader, but a slower
car on lap-14, coupled with a great run by Tarlton
heading into turn three allowed the Easton driver
to slice his way to the front. With Tarlton now in
the top-spot current Golden State Challenge 410
Series point leader Kyle Larson began to kick it
up a notch and on lap-16 would slip under Suggs to
put the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill
Casino-Reno No. 99 into the runner up spot. With
lapped traffic being in play at times Larson tried
hard to come after Tarlton for the lead as both
drivers searched all around the quarter-mile oval
while picking their way through the slower cars.
As Larson looked for his sixth series win of the
year Tarlton hit his marks with the race winding
down and took the white flag just ahead of the
18-year-old, before fending off a final lap
challenge to take the checkered and earn his
fourth Ocean Speedway win of the year.
Larson crossed the stripe just behind Tarlton to
record his fourth podium finish in the past five
Golden State Challenge Series events and maintain
his point lead heading into the season-finale on
August 21 in Placerville. “I was trying really
hard there to catch Tommy, but once I settled down
a little I seemed to close back in on him and just
ran out of laps,” said the Elk Grove driver, who
will bring a nine-point lead into the finale. “Placerville
is always a wild card and you never know what can
happen there, but we’ll just hopefully stay close
to Brent and bring home this title.”
Finishing the race in third and earning his second
straight podium in Golden State Challenge Series
competition was Suggs, who held off a late
challenge from Campbell’s Brent Kaeding. “I’m a
little disappointed to run third after leading so
many laps, but at least we can roll the car into
the trailer in one piece so we’ll take it,” said
Suggs. “We’ve been running this new A.R.T. car and
it’s really good so I’m confident we’ll get a win
here really soon.”
Rounding out the top-five in the main event were
Kaeding in the Al’s Roofing Supply, Williams
Roofing No. 69 and Placerville’s Andy Gregg aboard
the Team Guts Racing, Dale Miller Plumbing No.
16x. For Gregg it was his first top-five finish
of the GSC season. Completing the top-10 were
Grass Valley’s Jason Statler, Corralitos’ Jerry
Bonnema, Penngrove’s Alissa Geving, Elk Grove’s
Bobby McMahan and Furr.
The six-lap dash was captured by Tarlton with
Statler, Suggs and Tarlton claiming the three
10-lap heat races. Andy Gregg began the evening by
carving his way around the Ocean Speedway bullring
in 11.719 seconds to earn his first fast time
effort of the Golden State Challenge Series
season. Full results can be found at
http://www.oceanspeedway.com
Following a week off this coming weekend the
Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series will
invade the Placerville Speedway for championship
night on Saturday August 21. |
