By T.J. Buffenbarger
(July 16, 2026) — The scene Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway was starkly different than a year ago for Tyler Courntey when he was on his way to the hospital with serious injuries after a massive multi-car accident during the Jokers Wild event. This year Courtney’s Kings Royal week started in the manner one would expect of a former Kings Royal winner with a solid second place finish during the Double Down Duels. The run to second place was done in the same aggressive manner that we have come to expect from Courtney at Eldora, initially moving through the field using the bottom of the race track before shifting his line to defend against Kyle Larson, who was also making his way through the field.
“I just got my wing back a little bit and just tried to go where other guys weren’t,” said Courtney. I was really good on the bottom of the racetrack, but when you look on the board and see the 57 coming at some point, you know where he’s going to be running.”
While pleased with his second-place performance that earned him fourth place in event points going into Thursday’s Jokers Jackpot, Courney felt there was more left on the table if he had moved through the field sooner in the 25-lap feature.
“I wish I would have got to second just a little bit earlier when Brent was in traffic” before that yellow there, and I think we may have had a chance. But they’ve been really good the last month and a half or so. Just an awesome night for us from start to finish. We haven’t been able to say that too many times this year. It’s just a great feeling.”
Eldora Speedway has been the sight of Courtney’s biggest triumphs and lowest moments in the sport, his enthusiasm for blasting around the high banked, half-mile oval seems undiminished, which is also assisted by how well his Clauson/Marshall Racing entry was performing on Wednesday.
“As bad as this place has treated me in the last few years, it’s also treated me really, really well. I’ve made some of my most memorable moments here. Obviously, winning Kings Royal, setting a USAC record here winning five sprint car races in a row. It’s just a place that I hold near and dear to my heart, even as bad as she treats me sometimes.”
“We just had a really great car tonight, and that makes running this place a little bit easier too. This place is treacherous always, but when you have a really good race car, it makes it a little bit easier.”
For Courtney the past month has been a turning point after some struggles through the early part of the season and seems to be catching momentum right when the biggest events in the sport are taking place.
“We’ve kind of turned things around here a little bit the last three weeks or so. Running second at Huset’s and winning at Knoxville a couple weeks ago,” said Courtney. “We’re getting a little momentum going on our side and my confidence back is huge. Now we just have to to take each night as it is and try to try to go take some of Tony’s money this week.”
Other Notes
• One of my observations of Brent Marks on Wednesday was he seemed fast right off the trailer in hot laps. When asked about this after the race, Marks felt they were not as good as I felt he was early in the night and needed to find some speed from the first part of the evening, and by the time they had their car dialed in for the feature Mark’s main concern was defending his position during the green/white/checkered finish to his main event.
With only a couple of laps to go I knew my car was good enough. I could kind of put it anywhere I wanted, so I kind of was a little protective, but at the same time, tried to keep my momentum up and not allow somebody to get a run on me,” said Marks. “I just needed to do that for two laps, and I was fine. So, but yeah, I mean, we had a great car. I feel like we could have put it anywhere we wanted to and once I got back to clean air, I didn’t really feel any of the pressure.”
• Both Marks and Day were complementary about the track conditions on Wednesday night that saw a relatively smooth racing surface with multiple lines, which was a sharp contast to last season where some holes and dips helped contribute to a considerable amount of carnage throughout the weekend at Eldora. “
I felt like we could really move around and not really have to worry about bouncing around really bad,” said Marks . With Sprint Cars just being so light and we’re going so fast here just bouncing around like that can get yourself in big trouble. We’ve seen some really bad crashes last year because of that, so I’m just thankful for the Eldora crew for recognizing that and working hard to fix it.”
Day was not as bothered by the holes, but had a similar response to the conditions.
“I thought it was good too. To be honest with you, I was kind of a fan of the rough and the character that brought last year. I might be one of the only guys that enjoyed it, but I don’t really have too much experience here to know what it was like way before that, or right before that. It’s different than was last year. There’s a lot of banking missing off four as well. I’m sure when they tried to fix that they probably had to bring dirt from other places, and overall, I think it obviously produces great racing, no matter how this place is.