3/25/2014
Inside Line Promotions
Thomas Takes Two Top 10s During POWRi Doubleheader at Port City
(Photo by Phil Pace Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – TULSA, Okla. (March 25, 2014) – Tyler Thomas sparked his season with a hot start last weekend.
During the Turnpike Challenge, which marked the first-ever POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series event at Port City Raceway, Thomas charged from 11th to finish second on Saturday and he rallied to score a 10th-place result on Sunday.
“I was pleased with how the weekend went,” he said. “I know we had a top-five car both nights. There’s nothing to hang our head on.”
Thomas opened the competition at the tight track on Saturday by advancing from sixth to third place in his heat race, which happened just before a lengthy rain delay.
“The track was pretty wet and narrow,” he said. “Luckily we got our heat race in before the rain came. It was a little better than what it was for the rest of the heat races.
“I went to the bottom on the start and got by two cars. I jumped up top trying to set up third place to get around him. It took me every lap of the heat race. Finally on the last lap I went to the bottom and snuck underneath him.”
That earned Thomas enough points to advance directly into the main event, which he started on the inside of the sixth row.
“We were pretty much set up for the bottom,” he said. “The top was so treacherous and easy to make mistakes. I jumped up top for a few laps and I figured out I was better on the bottom so I committed there. I had to be patient and wait on people to make mistakes.”
Thomas maneuvered through the field and claimed the runner-up position in the closing laps.
He returned to the track on Sunday for the conclusion of the doubleheader and was once again on the move in his heat race. After starting last – seventh – Thomas powered to a third-place finish to lock into the main event.
“I used the top and bottom to get up to third,” he said. “I think I passed Austin Brown for third place with two or three laps to go, but (Brady) Bacon and (Daryn) Pittman were pretty far in front to catch them.”
Thomas then started the 40-lap feature on the inside of the fourth row.
“I got as high as fourth and we were going through traffic and I got hung up on the berm coming out of turn four and lost about four spots,” he said. “We went a couple laps and had a restart. We then went a lap or so and going into turn three the track was still narrow. I got tangled up with a lapped car and had to go to the tail.”
Following the pair of incidents, Thomas rebounded to post a 10th-place result.
He will return to action on April 4 at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Ill., and April 5 at Macon Speedway in Macon, Ill. Thomas will drive for Hans Lein during the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series doubleheader.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 22 – Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. – Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 2 (11).
March 23 – Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. – Heat race: 3 (7); Feature: 10 (7).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 2 top 10s, 3 top 15, 3 top 20
UP NEXT –
April 4 at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Ill., and April 5 at Macon Speedway in Macon, Ill., with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.TylerThomasMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/TylerThomas91
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tyler-Thomas-Motorsports/154971717863656
APPAREL –
Thomas has t-shirts for sale at his race trailer during every event this season. For his schedule, visit http://www.TylerThomasMotorsports.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Quick Racing Products
Based in Pittsburg, Ill., Quick Racing Products distributes a variety of racing parts. For more information, visit http://www.OpenWheelMarketPlace.com/QRP.
“Quick Racing Products is a Triple X dealer and we order all of our stuff through them,” Thomas said. “We’ve developed a great relationship with them. They help us out at the track whenever they can and we appreciate the support.”
Thomas would also like to thank BT Machine Inc., Triple X Race Co., Haynes Equipment, Alpinestars, Factor 1 Racing, Bell Racing, Thriller Photo and Esslinger Engineering for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
