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(Photo courtesy L&J Photography)
Tarlton Sprint Cars Win Winged and Non-Winged Races over Weekend
By Gary Costa
Watsonville, CA – Santa Maria, CA (August 14-15, 2009) – Tarlton Motorsports shined this weekend with Tommy Tarlton winning his fifth main event of the season in a thrilling GLR Investments 360 Winged Sprint Car race, which was his third win in the series in 2009. Peter Murphy captured his sixth win of the season at Santa Maria Speedway in West Coast 360 Non-Winged action. Murphy's win in Santa Maria also was his 50th American Sprint Car win.
"It was a great weekend for us. Whether it's our Winged car or Non-Winged car, we've been fast all year," Tarlton commented on the team's great weekend. "Things are going real good right now. Our sponsors play a huge part in this too, and I can't thank them all enough for their support of Tarlton Motorsports."
Tarlton's wild night would start by whipping around the tacky Ocean Speedway in qualifying clocking in with an 11.871. His time would be good enough for fifth quick out of the 25 cars that tipped the clock. Tarlton would glide the Tarlton & Son, Inc. No 21 into his third starting spot for his 8 lap heat race. When the green flag came out, Tarlton moved past Kurt Nelson and was looking for more as he chased Cory Eliason to the checkers finishing second.
The 30 lap feature was up next for the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Shark powered mount into his sixth starting spot. When the yellow lights turned green, Tarlton was on kill in the Paul Baines wrenched Maxim. By lap 3, Tarlton was locked in a battle with third starting Brad Furr. Tarlton and Furr threw everything that they had at each other. Tarlton eventually moved past Furr and put himself in a position to challenge race leader, Brent Kaeding. Tarlton was able to move past Kaeding on lap 21. A yellow on lap 27 would setup a wild three lap shootout. With the green in the air, Tarlton would lead the first two laps, however on the white flag lap, Kaeding drove the car hard into Turn 3, and pulled next to Tarlton. The pair drag raced to the checkered flag and the two made contact, but Tarlton held on and pulled out the exciting victory. Tarlton now sits only four points behind point leader Kaeding with four races remaining.
"That was a lot of fun. I just held on and hoped for the best," Tarlton said. "The track was fantastic and you were able to run two wide. John Prentice (promoter) does a fantastic job with this place. I want to thank my guys. They work hard every night that we're at the track."
Peter Murphy would be up next in the Tarlton Motorsports Non-Winged Sprint Car at Santa Maria Speedway. The previous evening, Murphy towed to Chico to race a Winged 410 Sprint Car in their weekly Friday night program. The versatile Murphy showed that he hasn't forgotten how to get around a racetrack with a Wing bolted to the top of the racecar, as he timed in sixth quick out of the 19 cars in attendance. Murphy went onto finish fourth in his heat, and second in the main event.
Murphy would qualify the Tarlton & Son, Inc No. 21 second out of the 26 cars that were in attendance at Santa Maria. Murphy would then go onto finish fourth in his heat race.
At the drop of the green Murphy would begin his charge from the third starting spot. The racing surface was slick, and Murphy would have to be patient and make calculated moves. He eventually moved into second place, and set his sight on the leader. Like a shark smelling blood in the water, Murphy began reeling in the leader, and made his move around lap 13. After getting the top-spot, Murphy would charge to victory in the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Maxim. The win would become Murphy's sixth on the season, and the win would also mark his 50th American Sprint Car victory.
"We had a good run in Chico, Tommy won Friday, and we followed it up with a win at Santa Maria," Murphy commenting on his strong performance over the weekend. "Chico was heavy, and you were just on kill there. Here, you had to be real patient out there. The boys did a fantastic job with the car all night, and I can't thank them and all of our sponsors enough."
Tommy Tarlton and Peter Murphy will be back at once again this Saturday at Chowchilla Speedway. Tarlton will compete in the Winged Wright One Construction Series, while Murphy will be competing with the Non-Winged Bandit Sprint Cars.
Tarlton Motorsports efforts are supported by: 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 Brown & Miller Racing Solutions.
Be sure to follow Tarlton Motorsports on the web at www.tarltonandson.com
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