ST. LOUIS – Tyler Carpenter and his unbridled self reigned inside The Dome at America’s Center yet again Thursday night.
The Parkersburg, W.Va., late model driver let it all fly and led 24 of the 25 laps for the Gateway Dirt Nationals preliminary win. He made his intentions clear once striking the $5,000 payday.
“I’m winning my ass a Truck ride and y’all are going to have to watch it,” said Carpenter in victory lane, the right door panel falling off his used-up machine.
Niece Motorsports will reward the winner of Saturday’s event finale with an opportunity to race with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway on June 18.
Carpenter did everything in his power to take another step toward that incentive. That included some aggressive maneuvers in traffic. With 10 laps left, Carpenter bounced off a lapped car and triggered an incident that collected Thornton and Sheppard.
“I don’t know what the [explicit] he’s doing,” said Thornton, who finished 17th and led lap 14. “He wants to [explicit] wreck all the lapped cars. I hope somebody dumps his stupid ass.”
Carpenter emerged unscathed in a 1.697-second victory.
“Here’s the way I see it: We don’t come here to make friends,” Carpenter said. “I don’t come here to make enemies, but I don’t come here to make friends, and I’d be doggone if I gave this race up in lapped traffic. I don’t think [Ricky] had a bone in the fight in clean air.
“I ain’t try to toot my own horn but I was going to win this race,” Carpenter said. “I love being the face of this place. Love me or hate me I don’t care.”
Carpenter won the 2019 Gateway Dirt Nationals in an epic race back to the start-finish line versus Sheppard. The one-fifth-mile clay oval continues to be his biggest stage.
“I tell you why I love this place. It’s an equalizer,” Carpenter added. “I can’t run with these guys or sniff their asses on those big tracks. And it ain’t because I don’t have capability. I can wheel just as good as anybody.”
Scott Bloomquist started on the outside front row but an ill-judged attempt at the lead sent him packing early. Bloomquist made his move underneath Carpenter on lap one but ran right into the inside turn three wall. That smashed his nose and the damage resulted in a 20th-place finish.
Bob Gardner and Tanner English finished on the podium. Kyle Hammer and Shannon Babb completed the top five.
Jason Feger, Tanner Collins, Blair Nothdurft, Ryan Montgomery and Jeffrey Ledford rounded out the top 10.
Sheppard, Donny Schatz’s No. 15, was scored in 15th. Thornton finished 17th.
The finish:
Tyler Carpenter, Bob Gardner, Tanner English, Kyle Hammer, Shannon Babb, Jason Feger, Tanner Collins, Blair Nothdurft, Ryan Montgomery, Jeffrey Ledford, Scott Bell, Jayme Zidar, Dewayne Kiefer, David Webster, Jason Zobrist, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton Jr., Trevor Gundaker, Rachel Carpenter, Scott Bloomquist