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(Photo courtesy Steve LaMothe)

Tommy Tarlton Has Strong Gold Cup Run; Finishes 8^th in $50K Finale

By Gary Costa

Chico, CA – (September 11-12, 2009) – Tommy Tarlton has been fast all season. It doesn't matter if the Easton masher climbs into a 360 or 410 Sprint Car, you can guarantee that when you see Tarlton hit the track, you're going to get for your money's worth. Tarlton has been on fire in 360 competition, but has quickly proved that he can be just as fast and competitive in the more powerful 410. The Tarlton Motorsports teams turned in a stellar performance at the 56th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico by finishing a hard fought eighth place finish in the 40 lap finale in the Tarlton & Son, Inc., Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino No. 21.

"I'm really happy with what we did. Finishing eighth with these guys is something to be proud of," an exhausted Tarlton explained after the race. "Our whole week was good. The guys worked hard, and I'm very proud of everyone. I can't thank everyone who supports this car enough; without sponsors like the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino none of this would be possible."

Tarlton gassed-up the Paul Baines wrenched Maxim on his Friday qualifying night, blasting around the speedway with an 11.820. The lap was fast enough for 11^th quick out of the 41 cars that were on the clock. In preliminary action, Tarlton showed that his speed was no fluke, by finishing second in his heat race. After transferring through his heat race, Tarlton would keep the momentum going by finishing third in the 8 lap Crane Cams Dash.

Tarlton would start in the inside of the second row, next to Joey Saldana for the 30 lap feature event. When Jake Vickers unleashed the green flag, Tarlton pulled a wheelie and had to settle the car down to continue. After losing positions, Tarlton battled back nicely, and regained positions lost eventually finishing sixth.

"When we went green, the front end pointed at the sky. I had no choice but to settle it down before entering Turn-1," Tarlton said. "We never gave-up, and worked ourselves back into a respectable finish."

With his sixth place finish and cumulated points, Tarlton would lock himself into the 40 lap A main feature event on Saturday. Tarlton would start out of the 12^th position, next to World of Outlaws star Craig Dollansky.

Tarlton went out for A main hot laps, and the car looked fast. Tarlton was testing the track, moving high and low and preparing himself for the big show. Crew chief Paul Baines and Tarlton kept a close eye on the track throughout the course of the evening. Baines and the Tarlton Motorsports crew made slight changes to the car before rolling out for introductions.

Tarlton, who is known for his take no prisoner driving style, reached up and cinched the belts to ensure that they were tight while idling down the backstretch after the traditional 4-wide formation salute to the fans. When the green lights flashed on, Tarlton was in "kill mode", battling with the best in the business. Tarlton was looking for seventh spot, battling Outlaw traveler, Danny Lasoski throughout the event. But the car began having handling issues, and Tarlton would lose a couple of spots.

An "open red" would quickly fix the problem. The crew made changes to the potent mount, and when racing continued, Tarlton would not only retake the positions lost, but was once again on Lasoski's tail, hounding him through lapped traffic. Tarlton was banging the cushion, giving the No 21 the ride of its life, while Lasoski was running the bottom. Laps would run out, and Tarlton would finish a very respectable eighth place in California's biggest winged 410 Sprint car event.

"Man that was fun! I was trying to get by Danny, but he was running a good line," he said. "I'm having so much fun this year; I'm going to savor this, but now we will turn our focus back on the GLR Investments Series championship."

Catch Tommy Tarlton in action at Ocean Speedway on September 26. Tarlton is the GLR Investments point leader and will be in the hunt for his fifth win in series competition. Saturday, September 19, teammate Peter Murphy will head the Non-Wing portion of Tarlton Motorsports at Santa Maria Speedway in West Coast 360 action. It will also be J&P Construction night at the races. J&P Construction stickers will adorn Murphy's powerful mount for the event.

If you're interested in sponsorship opportunities with Tarlton Motorsports, please contact Gary Costa at [email protected]

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