PETERSEN MEDIA: Returning to the Gold Cup Race of Champions over the weekend, Tanner Carrick entered the event with a slight chip on his shoulder after call against him while leading last year’s finale derailed his bid for his first ever World of Outlaws Sprint Car feature event win. Running well in 360ci action on Wednesday night, Carrick had a very good qualifying night before issues at the start of Saturday’s feature basically ended his race before it got started.”
“We set some lofty goals for our team for this year’s Gold Cup, and we felt short of that,” Carrick said. “It was a great team effort, but I am little disappointed with how our finale went.”
Carrick opened his 2022 Gold Cup Race of Champions up on Wednesday night with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour and got off to a quick start as he timed the CVC/Cemex/Interstate Oil entry in second fastest in his qualifying group.
Lining up on the pole of his heat, the inside line would prove to be tough with grease still occupying the lower groove of the speedway. With the outside pole sitter getting the jump, Carrick quickly settled into second to ensure himself the ninth starting position in the feature event.
Moving into the 30-lap SCCT feature, Carrick got off to a great start as he quickly jumped into the Top-Five on the race’s opening circuit. Running in fifth for the opening 15-laps, lap 16 saw Carrick jump into fourth as he looked for a way to get to the front and battle for the Wednesday night win.
A great run in traffic saw Carrick race into third, and then into second, but close wheel to wheel racing up front ultimately saw Carrick get shuffled back to fourth when the checkered flag flew.
Thursday night marked Carrick’s Gold Cup qualifying night, and he got the night underway by timing in ninth fastest in qualifying time trails.
Gridding the field from the second row in heat race competition, Carrick flexed his muscles as he gained valuable points by racing to a second-place finish and locked into the opening night feature event.
The feature event saw Carrick take the green flag from the inside of the fifth row as he looked to gain points to better himself for Saturday night’s Gold Cup Race of Champions finale.
Slipping back to 13th when the race went green, Carrick settled in and soon began making up for lost track position. Racing into 12th on the 20th lap, Carrick would move into 11th on lap 24, before getting back into the Top-10 with five laps left in the preliminary night feature event.
Once in 10th, Carrick would keep his machine locked in the spot as he accepted the checkered flag with a 10th place finish.
Finding himself in third for his Saturday night heat race, Carrick was able to maintain the position when the race went green as he finished third and was safely in the 40-lap Gold Cup Race of Champions feature event.
When the feature event finally rolled out, the initial went array for Carrick as he would be collected in an opening corner bottle neck which resulted in him coming to a stop and being forced to the tail of the field.
Back in 24th for the second attempted start, Carrick had his work cut out for himself against a very stout field.
Mired in traffic for the duration of the 40-lapper, Carrick capped his Gold Cup off with a 20th place finish after restarting the race from 21st.
“Thanks to my family and our guys for working so hard over an extremely hot week of racing,” Carrick said. “Our results weren’t quite what we had hoped for, but still proud of some of the things we did accomplish.”
Tanner Carrick would like to thank CVC, Cemex, Interstate Oil, Conti, Harris and Sloan, Emerald, Timberworks Construction, Hanson Truss, Eddie’s Lincoln Auto Body, Kaeding Performance, and Arai for their continued support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts: 49, Wins: 5, Top 5’s: 21, Top 10’s: 28
ON TAP: Tanner Carrick will be off this weekend before traveling to Eldora Speedway next week to take part in the 4-Crown Nationals with Keith Kunz Motorsports.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay up to speed with Tanner Carrick by following him on Twitter @Carrick_Tanner or @CarrickMotorsp1, and by clicking over to www.tannercarrick.com.
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