Tyler Courtney doubles up at East Bay and secures Jean Lynch Classic over Justin Peck

Tyler Courtney. (Jim Fisher photo)

By Tyler Altmeyer

TAMPA, Fla. (February 14, 2023) – For the second time in as many nights, “Sunshine” Tyler Courtney is a Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida, going wire-to-wire in the process while fending off an array of challenges by Buch Motorsports’ Justin Peck. The Jean Lynch Classic | Classic Ink USA Southern Swing presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts victory clinched a $6,000 score for the Indianapolis, Indiana, native, simultaneously bumping his Series win total to 18.

Like one night prior, Justin Peck was in the hunt for much of the second half of the 30-lap program, charging his way forward from ninth before commencing pressure for the top spot. The Monrovia, Indiana, native actually took command twice over Courtney, but each time, Courtney turned back underneath and maintained control.

Anthony Macri finished third in the Jean Lynch Classic, followed by a Hard Charging Zeb Wise, who won the B-Main, and Hunter Schuerenberg.

“I’m not sure if I was making the right lane choices or not,” Tyler Courtney, driver of the Clauson Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC, said. “I was waiting for [Justin Peck], and when I saw the 13 come up on the board, I knew it was time to get going. I gotta say, he raced me with a lot of respect tonight, and I have a lot of fun racing with him…especially if it’s up front. They have an awesome program and they’ve been fun to race with.

“I was probably a pretty big roadblock for him,” Courtney added. “We were OK the whole race, just faded some at the end.”

A caution with five remaining stirred the pot for the leading duo, but Courtney stayed wide and kept command.

“I tried to carry as much momentum as I could, but it was so tough getting through three and four without getting up into the fence. I’m not just going to follow him…I’m going to try whatever I can to get around him,” Peck said. “My guys have been busting their tails this whole trip. They give me an awesome opportunity to drive their cars and we’ve been in the hunt night in and night out.”

The Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will resume the 2023 season with Attica Raceway Park’s annual Core & Main Spring Nationals on Friday and Saturday, April 7-8. The weekend pair will also activate the 2023 All Star points chase, as the contested Florida events did not accumulate points toward the season championship. If each of the Attica events should be forced to move due to weather, the two-day program will then be held the following weekend, Friday and Saturday, April 14-15.

For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. Find subscription here: https://flosports.link/3XJOg5Z

Contingency Awards/Results: East Bay Raceway Park | February 14, 2023:
Classic Ink USA Southern Swing presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts
Jean Lynch Classic
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 39
Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Aaron Reutzel | 13.461
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Hunter Schuerenberg | 12.850
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Cole Macedo
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Sam Haferetpe, Jr.
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Davie Franek
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Tyler Courtney
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting and Embroidery B-Main Winner: Zeb Wise
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Brenham Crouch
Tezos A-Main Winner: Tyler Courtney (2)
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Zeb Wise | +17
Carquest Perseverance Award: Danny Smith

Qualifying

Group (A)
70-Scotty Thiel, 13.124; 2. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 13.165; 3. 50YR-Cole Macedo, 13.265; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 13.308; 5. 43-Mark Smith, 13.834; 6. 47-Dale Howard, 13.883; 7. 25-Chris Myers, 14.050; 8. 9-Liam Martin, 14.054; 9. 66-Danny Smith, 14.093; 10. O8-Brandon Conkel, 14.197

Group (B)
11-Buddy Kofoid, 13.073; 2. 47R-Eric Riggins Jr., 13.203; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.243; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.261; 5. 6-Carson McCarl, 13.453; 6. 5T-Ryan Timms, 13.505; 7. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 13.542; 8. 97UK-Ryan Harrison, 13.552; 9. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.795; 10. 10-Joe Kata, 14.140

Group (C)
55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.850; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri, 12.908; 3. 13-Justin Peck, 13.061; 4. 28F-Davie Franek, 13.084; 5. 26-Zeb Wise, 13.285; 6. 22-Riley Goodno, 13.423; 7. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 13.496; 8. 11M-Brendan Mullen, 13.553; 9. 15-Garrett Green, 13.625; 10. 28M-Conner Morrell, 13.912

Group (D)
55B-Alex Bowman, 12.920; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.075; 3. 3TK-Tim Shaffer, 13.140; 4. 10X-Ryan Smith, 13.357; 5. 22s-Slater Helt, 13.483; 6. 20B-Cody Bova, 13.592; 7. 1-Brenham Crouch, 13.637; 8. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 13.790; 9. 77T-Tyeller Powless, 14.164

Heat 1 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
50YR-Cole Macedo [2]; 2. 9P-Parker Price Miller [1]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [3]; 4. 70-Scotty Thiel [4]; 5. 66-Danny Smith [9]; 6. 47-Dale Howard [6]; 7. 9-Liam Martin [8]; 8. 25-Chris Myers [7]; 9. O8-Brandon Conkel [10]; 10. 43-Mark Smith [5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 2. 11-Buddy Kofoid [4]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms [6]; 4. 47R-Eric Riggins Jr. [1]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 6. 6-Carson McCarl [5]; 7. 2C-Wayne Johnson [7]; 8. 97UK-Ryan Harrison [8]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 10. 10-Joe Kata [10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
28F-Davie Franek [3]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [2]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [1]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [4]; 5. 8-Aaron Reutzel [7]; 6. 26-Zeb Wise [5]; 7. 22-Riley Goodno [6]; 8. 11M-Brendan Mullen [8]; 9. 28M-Conner Morrell [10]; 10. 15-Garrett Green [9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 3TK-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 22s-Slater Helt [5]; 4. 10X-Ryan Smith [3]; 5. 20B-Cody Bova [6]; 6. 1-Brenham Crouch [7]; 7. 16TH-Kevin Newton [8]; 8. 77T-Tyeller Powless [9]; 9. 55B-Alex Bowman [4]

Dash (6 Laps)
7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 11-Buddy Kofoid [3]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [4]; 4. 28F-Davie Franek [5]; 5. 3TK-Tim Shaffer [8]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [6]; 7. 50YR-Cole Macedo [2]; 8. 70-Scotty Thiel [7]

B-main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
26-Zeb Wise [2]; 2. 55B-Alex Bowman [1]; 3. 22-Riley Goodno [6]; 4. 6-Carson McCarl [3]; 5. 1-Brenham Crouch [4]; 6. 47-Dale Howard [5]; 7. 9-Liam Martin [9]; 8. 11M-Brendan Mullen [11]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [14]; 10. O8-Brandon Conkel [16]; 11. 97UK-Ryan Harrison [10]; 12. 28M-Conner Morrell [15]; 13. 25-Chris Myers [12]; 14. 15-Garrett Green [17]; 15. 16TH-Kevin Newton [8]; 16. 77T-Tyeller Powless [13]; 17. 2C-Wayne Johnson [7]

A-main (30 Laps)
7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [9]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [11]; 4. 26-Zeb Wise [21]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 6. 5T-Ryan Timms [14]; 7. 47R-Eric Riggins Jr. [15]; 8. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [12]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel [18]; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser [17]; 11. 55B-Alex Bowman [22]; 12. 28F-Davie Franek [4]; 13. 9P-Parker Price Miller [10]; 14. 10X-Ryan Smith [16]; 15. 6-Carson McCarl [24]; 16. 22-Riley Goodno [23]; 17. 11-Buddy Kofoid [2]; 18. 22s-Slater Helt [13]; 19. 70-Scotty Thiel [8]; 20. 20B-Cody Bova [19]; 21. 3TK-Tim Shaffer [5]; 22. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [6]; 23. 66-Danny Smith [20]; 24. 50YR-Cole Macedo [7] Lap Leaders: Tyler Courtney (1-30)