PETERSEN MEDIA
With one of the biggest races in the country taking place locally for Tarlton Racing, the team opted to roll out two cars for the event with Tommy Tarlton and Jason Meyers each behind the wheel of a 21 machine. In the end it was a wise decision, as Jason Meyers found himself toting the Trophy Cup Championship trophy following the 50-lap feature event on Saturday night.
With 85 cars in the pit area, Tarlton timed his Corporate Lending America/Tachi Palace and Casino/Bandy and Associates machine in 34th quick, while Meyers timed his 21x machine in sixth fastest.
Starting on the front row of his Friday night heat, Tarlton had engine woes under the hood of his machine, but was able hang on to the third and final transfer spot to the opening night feature event.
Starting in the back of his heat due to the inversion, Meyers was up on the wheel as he quickly worked through the field, and also scored the third and final transfer spot.
With both Tarlton cars in the feature, Meyers found himself starting in the second row due to his point total, while Tarlton was lined up in the 11th row, in the 22nd position.
When the 30-lap feature got underway, Meyers quickly jumped into the second spot as he battled with early leader, Roger Crockett.
While chasing down Crockett up front, Tarlton fought his car as he was marred in thick traffic in the rear of the field.
As the race wore on Tarlton searched both the top and bottom of the speedway to find grip on the extremely slick speedway, while Meyers pounded the top of the speedway chasing down Crockett.
With ten-laps to go, Meyers would fall to the third spot as Rico Abreu over took him for the second spot, and a lap later Shane Stewart too got around Meyers.
Towards the end of the feature, Tarlton was able to grab some valuable positions as he ended the race in the 14th spot, and found himself 19th in event points.
Up front, Meyers settled for third behind Stewart and Abreu, and he ended the night in the second spot in event points, as he trailed Shane Stewart by six points.
With Saturday night heat races fully inverted off of points, Meyers would start at the tail end of the second heat, while Tarlton found himself in the third row of his heat.
Continuing to show speed, Meyers scored a third place finish in his heat to keep pace with Stewart in the points, while Tarlton also scored a third place finish, which propelled him to 16th in standings.
With the 50-lap feature fully inverted by points, Tarlton would line up in the fifth row, while Meyers would start the feature off in the 12th row.
As the green waved, Tarlton was very stout early, as he quickly raced his way inside the top five, as he battled against Kyle Larson and Shane Golobic.
In the mean time, Meyers was able to grab a few spots over Stewart, as he took over the Trophy Cup points lead during the early stages of the race.
By the halfway point, Meyers had reached Tarlton as the duo battled just outside the top-10.
As the race wore on, Tarlton faded in the field, and actually elected to pull into the work area on the 36th lap to made chassis adjustments.
Once inside the top five, Meyers continued his charge to the front, as he worked his way up to the second spot as he chased down Kyle Hirst.
With the waning clicking off, he was unable to track down Hirst as his stout run from 23rd ended with a second place finish, but the Trophy Cup Championship.
“I can’t say enough about Tom Tarlton and his team,” said a very excited Meyers. “They have helped me fill a racing void this year, and we were able to score a Nationals prelim win, and now the Trophy Cup!.”
After his changes, Tarlton was able to return to the track and score a ninth place finish in the feature.
“It’s awesome for our team to end up with the Trophy Cup, but for me personally, we just struggled all weekend,” said Tarlton. “Saturday night out car was way too good early in the feature, and we got worse as it went on. We came in for some adjustments that seemed to help, but congratulations to Meyers.”
Tarlton Racing would like to thank Corporate Lending America, Tachi Palace and Casino, Sharp Insurance, Bandy and Associates, Pro Signs, BG Lubricants, K&N Products, All Star Performance and Astro Titanium for their continued support.