By Lonnie Wheatley
HANFORD, Cal. (April 23, 2011) – Fresno’s Tommy Tarlton made his ASCS presence known when he rallied from 22nd to claim third in the Lucas Oil ASCS National debut at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in February.
So, when the ASCS Southern California Region contested its inaugural event on Saturday night atop the 3/8-mile Kings clay oval, it seemed only fitting that Tarlton tally the win in the 25-lapper.
While Tarlton gridded the feature field outside the third row, it was pole starter Steven Tiner outgunning fellow front row starter Trey Starks to lead the initial handful of circuits. But when traffic came into play, Tarlton was there to take quick advantage by racing into a lead he would never relinquish.
Tarlton drove the Tarlton & Sons Inc., No. 21 to the checkered flag in front of 15-year-old Washington shoe Starks, with Cory Eliason, Ronnie Day and Mike Faria rounding out the top five.
Nick Green was sixth, Steven Kent was seventh and Tiner slipped to eighth on the final circuit with fuel line issues. Eric Humphries and Jarrod Little completed the top ten.
Faria and Tarlton topped Saturday night’s heat race action.
ASCS Southern California Region Results from Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway:
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 4F-Mike Faria, 2. 22-Ronnie Day, 3. 00-Cory Eliason, 4. 94-Steven Tiner, 5. 7-Steven Kent, 6. 25-Jarrod Little, 7. 88k-Koen Shaw, 8. 17-Nick McColloch.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 2. 15-Eric Humphries, 3. 55-Trey Starks, 4. 14-Nick Green, 5. 4j-Andy Ferris, 6. 35-Albert Pombo, 7. 29-Austin Stone.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 2. 55-Trey Starks, 3. 00-Cory Eliason, 4. 22-Ronnie Day, 5. 4F-Mike Faria, 6. 14-Nick Green, 7. 7-Steven Kent, 8. 94-Steven Tiner, 9. 15-Eric Humphries, 10. 25-Jarrod Little, 11. 17-Nick McColloch, 12. 4j-Andy Ferris, 13. 88k-Koen Shaw, 14. 29-Austin Stone, 15. 35-Albert Pombo.
ASCS Southern California Points (Top 10): 1. Tommy Tarlton 150, 2. Trey Starks 142, 3. Cory Eliason 135, 4. Ronnie Day 130, 5. Mike Faria 125, 6. Nick Green 122, 7. Steven Kent 119, 8. Steven Tiner 116, 9. Eric Humphries 113, 10. Jarrod Little 110.