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(Photo courtesy Paul Trevino)
Tommy Tarlton Has Strong Dirt Cup
By Gary Costa
Alger, WA (June 20, 2009) – Tommy Tarlton and the Tarlton Motorsports team cruised into Skagit, Washington for the 38th Annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup. Tarlton, who has been running strong in California, made the trek a memorable one.
Piloting the Tarlton & Son, Inc. No. 21 Maxim in Thursday's prelim race, Tarlton had fought back from early qualifying troubles. The team made some changes to the car after qualifying and it quickly showed, as Tarlton finished third in his heat race and went onto a solid fifth place finish in the 30 lap feature event.
The team used what they found from Thursday, and Tommy quickly used it to his advantage as he rocketed around Skagit Speedway's surface to third quick in qualifying. He would then finish second in his heat race and have another solid finish in the main event by finishing seventh.
Tarlton would rack up the all important points for Saturday's 40 lap $25, 000 to win feature event. His consistency sat him in an impressive fifth place with 1,057 points earned for the two days of racing held.
Saturday Tarlton was fast again in the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino No. 21. Tarlton accomplished what he set out to do, finishing a strong fourth in the 6 lap A-scramble. In the 40 lap finale, Tarlton was having a strong run running in the fourth position for most of the race, and then on Lap-35 the car slowed to a stop with a broken motor ending his run.
"It's real frustrating to end the weekend like that. Our car was consistently fast all weekend and the guys just kept digging," Tarlton said. "I don't get to come up here but once a year, and I had a blast. All in all it was a good weekend until we lost the motor, but that's racing."
Tommy Tarlton will be back in action this Friday night at Ocean Speedway. Tommy will be competing in the GLR Investments 360 Sprint Car Series where he currently sits fourth in the point's standings. The following day, he will be racing with the Golden State Challenge Series at the Tulare Thunderbowl. His last GSC visit brought him a second place finish.
Tarlton & Son, Inc will be holding "Oral E. Micham Night at the Races" at the Tulare Thunderbowl. Tommy Tarlton's Winged No. 21 Sprint Car as-well-as Peter Murphy's Non-Winged No. 21 Sprint Car will carry an Oral E. Micham logo on both cars for the night's festivities.
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 BRMS.
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