From Bryan Gapinski
SUN PRAIRIE, Wi. (July 8, 2018) — Standing tall in victory lane, Tanner Carrick etched his name in history, claiming the 37th annual Pepsi Nationals at Angell Park Speedway with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League. Carrick will now go down as the 22nd different victor in Pepsi Nationals competition.
Starting in the sixth position after the invert for the main event, Carrick had his work cut out for him to move forward. Early race leader Ryan Robinson held the advantage over Zach Daum in the opening laps until Daum pushed past Robinson for the lead. One of the first drivers to charge the top side of the historic third mile, Carrick utilized the cushion and moved into second early on.
After Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammate Logan Seavey shuffled both Carrick and Daum back with 22 laps down, Carrick’s line off turn four came in as the driver out of Lincoln, California began catching Seavey. Coming off turn four to the checkered, Carrick narrowly edged Seavey at the line, squeaking past on the high side. Zach Daum took fourth, while Jake Neuman completed the drive of the night, charging from 23rd to fourth after electing to take a provisional following mechanical issues at the beginning of the night. Tucker Klaasmeyer rounded out the top five.
“I was glad to see Logan turn it there off the bottom,” commented Tanner Carrick. “He didn’t know I was there and by the time I went to pass him it was a really late chance. I shouldn’t have tried running the middle around Daum on the restart, but I learned my lesson and drove back around them. I can’t thank enough my team for all their hard work. Only two of our cars rolled back in the trailer last night. By the end of the night, we had them all ready to go for today.”
“Another night where we were really and the car was really good,” said Logan Seavey. “It’s just another one of those deals where you get stuck in lap traffic and it paid off for Tanner, obviously. He got a good run and ripped around me on the top. I thought I was going to clear the lapper and get down to the moisture on the bottom, but the 11 car hit the bottom really good there and I couldn’t get down all the way and ended up hung out the in the slick. I can’t say enough about this team.”
“I went with a harder tire and it bit me there,” stated Zach Daum. “It sealed up there on that restart and it took the rubber to get the tire to fire back off. My good instincts said to go with the three and my gut was a little wrong tonight. We’ll take it and move on.”
Midgets
Toyota Quick Time: 71K – TANNER CARRICK
Speedway Motors Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: 71K – TANNER CARRICK, Heat 2: 67K – HOLLY SHELTON, Heat 3: 71 – RYAN ROBINSON, Heat 4: 38 – MITCHELL DAVIS
Mesilla Valley Transportation Feature Winner: 71K – TANNER CARRICK
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 71k – Tanner Carrick 2. 67 – Logan Seavey 3. 5d – Zach Daum 4. 3n – Jake Neuman 5. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer 6. 67k – Holly Shelton 7. 21ks – Karter Sarff 8. 9k – Kyle Schuett 9. 3 – Bill Balog 10. 82 – Mike Hess 11. 72 – Sam Johnson 12. 71 – Ryan Robinson 13. 31 – Ray Seach 14. 57 – Andrew Felker 15. 7 – Austin Brown 16. 2 – Zach Boden 17. 9kl – Kevin Olson 18. 11 – Tyler Baran 19. 14jr – Holley Hollan 20. 99 – Ryan Probst 21. 21 – Kurt Mayhew 22. 20 – Cody Weisensel 23. 51 – Joe B Miller