PETERSEN MEDIA
In action at the Ocean Speedway on Friday night, Tommy Tarlton looked to lock himself into this weekend’s Johnny key Classic 50-lap feature event, but a the Easton, CA driver fought a tight racecar and ended up scoring a 14th place finish.
“The track stayed fast, and sticky all night, and we were just tight all night, and really struggled,” Tarlton explained.
With 27 cars on hand, ‘The Night Rider’, timed his Corporate American Investments/Tachi Palace and Casino/Tarlton and Son entry in a dismal 21st fastest, putting him in the back of his heat race.
“We just seemed to be tight all night,” he said. “It really hurt us in qualifying, and Paul Baines and the guys worked hard all night to make it better.”
Starting seventh in his heat, Tarlton would find a way to work his way up to the fifth and final transfer spot to punch a ticket to the feature event, where he found himself starting in the 19th spot.
With the track staying hooked up all night, Tarlton continued to have to manhandle his entry in the feature, and lost the handle on the ninth lap, when he got too tight in the cushion, and half spun down the track.
Tarlton would continue on, and did what he could to gain positions, but the track was limited on passes, and an ill-handling racecar made it tough, and Tarlton would escape the night with a 14th place finish.
“It was not the night we were hoping for, but we will be back this week, and hopefully we can get back into the Johnny Key feature,” he said. “We were fortunate enough to win the Key last year, and we would really like to do it again this year.”
Tarlton Racing would like to thank Corporate America Investments, Tachi Palace and Casino, Tarlton and Son, Bandy and Associates, Pro Signs, BG Lubricants, All Star Performance and Astro Titanium for their continued support.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-13, Wins-3, Top 5’s-8, Top 10’s-11
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Tommy by visiting www.tommytarlton.com, follow @Tarlton_Racing on Twitter, or become a fan on facebook at www.facebook.com/21.