This message was edited on
May 18, 2009 at
07:49:13 PM by Gary Costa
Photo courtesy L&J Photography
Tarlton Sprint Cars Capture 2 Main Events over Weekend
By Gary Costa
Watsonville, CA - Tulare, CA (May 15-16, 2009) – It was a fantastic weekend for the Tarlton Motorsports Team. Tommy Tarlton picked up an exciting Friday night victory in Round No. 4 at Ocean Speedway in the GLR Investments 360 Winged Sprint Car Series. Tarlton then finished second the next day at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Round No. 8 with the Golden State Challenge Sprint Cars (GSC). Peter Murphy would take a huge victory the next evening at the Tulare Thunderbowl in Bandit Non-Wing Sprint Car action, and he too would compete with the GSC.
Friday evening, Tommy qualified the Tarlton & Son, Inc No. 21 Maxim on the ¼-mile Ocean Speedway surface timing in at 12.357, which would put him seventh in the qualifying grid. Tarlton would roll out for Heat No. 1 and 8 quick laps later he flashed under the checkered flag to finish second.
In the 30-lap feature, Tarlton would slide into his outside third row starting spot. At the drop of the green flag, and without hesitation, Tarlton got his elbows up. Not wasting anytime, he moved to the top of the race track gaining valuable positions along the way. The Black No. 21 was able to go anywhere that he wanted to plant the car. Tarlton checked out for his first main event victory of the season.
"I'm so pumped right now!" a proud Tarlton said. "This feels so good! I want to thank everyone who works on this team. Now we're going to Tulare and I'm hoping that we do well in front of the fine folks at Turner Construction."
Tarlton & Son, Inc., invited the gang from Turner Construction to take in the Tulare Thunderbowl action for Saturday's program as a thank you gesture for all of their terrific help this year. Tarlton seemed to pick up where he left off in the higher powered 410.
Tarlton qualified in the exact same spot as the night before; seventh, with a 13.700. He would go onto finish third in Heat No. 1. During the dash, a car flipped into the fence. Due to time restraints the race was called after 1-lap in the books. In the 30-lap main event, Tarlton would start inside the second row, and would challenge the leader midway through the event; however, he would have to settle for second place.
"Hey, we had another great night. I wanted to make Turner Construction proud, so I drove my hardest every lap," Tarlton said. "What a great weekend for Team Tarlton, I'm so proud of everyone."
A great weekend it would be. To top off the weekend, Peter Murphy drove the wheels off of the Tarlton & Son, Inc., No 21 in the Bandit Non-Wing portion of the event. To say that Murphy is on fire right now would be an understatement. Going into the event, he hasn't finished out of the top-3 in 6 races entered. He is the point's leader in the West Coast Non-Wing 360 Sprint Car Series and the Bandit Non-Wing Sprint Car Series. Murphy qualified ninth quick out of the 33-car field. He then would get into his fourth position in Heat No. 3. Methodically Murphy would begin picking off cars and charge to front and take the impressive win.
The feature was up next. The "10 pill" was drawn putting Murphy ninth on the grid. Murphy immediately began his charge, by the fourth lap; Murphy was already in the fourth spot and ready to strike. He was up against the fence, actually tagging it a few times. It became "slide job city" as Murphy took command of the lead and drove off to his third main event of the season.
"This is fantastic. We were pretty good tonight," said Murphy. "I banged the wall a few times, but we were able to keep it going. I've been pretty sick this week, but a win always makes you feel better. I'm glad to be able to get a win in front of the people from Turner Construction."
Murphy also competed in the GSC race as well. He qualified eighth, turning a 13.763. He finished third in Heat No. 3, and sixth in the dash (the race was called due to the crash). In the main event, Murphy finished in the sixth position.
Tommy Tarlton will be taking a break the next couple of weeks, then he will be returning to action at Ocean Speedway May 29th to race with the GSC. Peter Murphy will be heading to Santa Maria Speedway this weekend to race with the West Coast 360 Sprint Car organization.
Team Tarlton appreciates support from the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Ridgeline Framing, Shark Racing Engines, Matt & Glass, M & S Motorsports, Sharp Insurance, McLellan Equipment, Elite Racing, BG Products, Pro Signs, VMAC, Kaeding Performance, Pro Shocks, Sander Engineering, Astro Titanium, Simpson, BR Motorsports, Willwood and BRMS.
Photo courtesy Steve Lafond
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