Tampa, FL - The box score from Tuesday's "Battle at the Finale" finale is a tad misleading, showing that Tyler Courtney passed Brad Sweet for the lead on Lap 7 and then controlled the top spot until the checkered flag. That, however, leaves out the part where there was an epic four-car battle for the lead in lap traffic and the part where Corey Day nearly gave us an all-time photo finish at the end of it all.
While never officially leading a lap, young stars Zeb Wise and Corey Day both snared the lead away from "Sunshine" at different points in the $15,000-to-win finale at East Bay Raceway Park, but the Clauson-Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #7BC prevailed and welcomed every challenge he faced.
Starting with "The Big Cat" Brad Sweet leading the opening six laps, lap traffic changed things when the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 began to slip and the battle for the lead ahead of him heated up. In the middle of a swarm of back markers, at one point the front-four cars of Courtney, Corey Day, Zeb Wise, and Sweet were all under a blanket battling for the lead.
There was one jaw-dropping moment when Wise, Day and Abreu all went three-wide for P2 behind Courtney and contact ensued, sending Rico's Rothwell Hyde #24 airborne down the backstretch, yet somehow he landed on all four wheels and kept racing.
In the end, it became a two-horse race with Tyler Courtney committed to the bottom and Clovis, CA 18-year-old Corey Day ripping the fence and building huge momentum runs around the outside. During the green-white-checkered finish, Day was outside of Courtney at the white flag and setup for a potential photo finish, but one little mistake on the 30th and final lap locked-up the win for "Sunshine."
The $15,000 win marked Tyler Courtney's first trip to Whiskey Myers Victory Lane with the series, making him the eighth winner in High Limit Racing history. It also made him the first driver to win with both High Limit and the World of Outlaws this season, doing so within a one-week span, proving the Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC is one of the top cars in the country.
Driving for Jason Meyers, Corey Day gave the Sander Engineering #14 the ride of a lifetime on the fence at East Bay Raceway Park, but ultimately fell 0.458-seconds short as he finished a career-best runner-up behind Courtney. A P2 and P6 finish for the teenage superstar makes him tied for the way-too-soon championship lead in the 59-race High Limit campaign.
After starting on the pole, leading laps, and then fading outside the top-five at one point, Brad Sweet rallied back to put the Kasey Kahne Racing #49 on the podium. Runs of P3 and P4 for "The Big Cat" have him tied for the High Limit championship lead with California prodigy Corey Day.
The High Limit Racing season will resume next weekend when the Sprint Cars join the Lucas Oil Late Model Series for "Deuces Wild" weekend on February 22-24 at Georgia's Golden Isles Speedway. Tickets are available for purchase at HighLimitRacing.com.
Tuesday, April 13, 2024East Bay Raceway Park (Tampa, FL)
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime - Zeb Wise (12.229)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Tyler Courtney
DMI Heat Two Winner - Brent Marks
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Spencer Bayston
Winters Performance Heat Four Winner - Brad Sweet
FK Rod Ends Dash Winner - Brad Sweet
Jake's Golf Carts Fastest Lap Award - Tyler Courtney (13.563)
Hard Charger - Parker Price-Miller (+17, 23rd-to-6th)
Lap Leaders - Sweet 1-6; Courtney 7-30.
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 2. 14-Corey Day[6]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 4. 26-Zeb Wise[9]; 5. 19-Brent Marks[7]; 6. 9P-Parker Price Miller[23]; 7. 55-Chris Windom[14]; 8. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen[10]; 10. 5T-Ryan Timms[16]; 11. 88-Tanner Thorson[21]; 12. 13-Justin Peck[15]; 13. 83-Dominic Scelzi[3]; 14. 9-Kasey Kahne[11]; 15. 39M-Anthony Macri[20]; 16. 88X-Austin McCarl[12]; 17. 24-Rico Abreu[13]; 18. 8-Cory Eliason[26]; 19. 1-Brenham Crouch[25]; 20. 28M-Conner Morrell[19]; 21. 24D-Danny Sams III[17]; 22. 16T-Cole Macedo[8]; 23. 47-Dale Howard[24]; 24. 47R-Eric Riggins Jr[18]; 25. 87-Aaron Reutzel[22]; 26. 57-Kyle Larson[5]
Story - High Limit Racing
Photo - Unknown
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